Royal behaviour

[Tracey]

OK, so I've had my Royal for about a month now and I have a quick question about his behaviour. From everything I'd read about these guys, I expected him to disappear into the tank and I'd see him maybe once a week, if I was lucky Well, the silly fish is out and about every single day!! He seems really active and quite happy to come out in daylight. He scoots around the tank, munching on the algae on the glass at the front, at the back, on the sides, chewing on his driftwood, guarding his pieces of zuchinni, perching on plant leaves........

Did I just luck out and manage to get a Royal thats settled in really quickly, or is there the possibility that there's something in the tank thats upsetting him and thats whats causing him to be so active. Its just so not what I expected, I'm a little worried

Oh, and he's in a 55 gallon with two G. surinamensis. temp 31C, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate <10.

[StiffMeister]

tracy, your temp is a bit high, lower that to 27C. I think your just lucky with this very active plec. Normally, royals arent that shy and you will see them a lot but sometimes you have those very active plecs.

[Tracey]

Thanks for the heads up on the temp, I'll get onto that when I get home. I've never actually been able to get my heater lower than 28C, will that be ok? It's an old heater, and probably not a very good one

[StiffMeister]

28 is no problem either, but i wouldnt go much higher. If your heater is old and not too good anymore, you might wanna consider buying a new one though... they are pretty cheap and i can tell you from personal experience, you dont want a heater to go crazy with temps.

[Tracey]

Ya, going heater shopping on the weekend. I just wish we could get some of the nice titanium and stainless ones here in NZ that you guys get in the US. Can't even buy one off Ebay cos we're on 240V and they're all made for 110V

I can tell you one thing though, with this crazy little fish, my plastic plants have NEVER been so clean

[StiffMeister]

nice ;)

you can also try heaters from Sera and especially Jager. Very good stuff i can tell from own experience.

[Tracey]

OMG, I need a Royal in all my tanks This thing is an eating machine!!! I've never been a fanatic about keeping my tanks algae free...... as long as I can see in the front of them ok, I let it grow where it wants to....... so I figured there'd be enough there to keep him occupied for a while....... not a chance!!!! I don't think the back wall of his tank has been this clean since it was set up 4 years ago Good thing I've got plenty of algae wafers and veggies for the little monster

[Grubby Sculpin]

Id have to agree with the temp being a bit high. Probably the higher temp speeds up his metabolism which is in turn making him active and eating everything in sight.

[Jackster]

I have an L190 Royal and it often comes out during the day is rather active most of the time.
I would say that being active is not unusual, however, I have had Royals that were being harassed by
other fish (Yellow lab fry) and they would simply hang on the side glass of the tank all day and stay
near the top not moving freely around the tank.

BTW I keep my aquarium temps between 25.5°- 27.8°C (78°- 82°F).

[Tracey]

Lol, settle down guys, I got myself a new heater last weekend and the temp is now down to a much more acceptable 28C and I'm planning on dropping it another degree

Its nice to hear that mine isn't that unusual after all, I was a little worried about him.

[Taylor]

Mine is always out eating wood he even ate hole through one pice. Mine is in with discus and the temp is 86. I have had hime for mabey 3 months so I think royals are pretty flexable on temp.

[garyfromaus]

Hey Tracey, I dunno if this is legal here( this site) but try this site, hes in Brisbane Australia...hes cheap n hes really really good...used him heaps of times http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category7_1.htm moderators...if this isnt legal text I am sure u will censor it..just tryin ta help tks Gary