I am looking for some information and advise, during the weekend I purchased L260 from my LFS, when I got it home I noticed that the belly seems concaved inwards like it has not eaten for a while, I have tried feeding frozen brine shrimp and blood worm as well as the usual flake food and it does not seem too botherd.
last night a cooked up a large prawn and dropped it in, it had a chew for a while and swam off.
Are there any foods that anyone can reccomend to fatten up my skinny L260
[I think this belongs in the Loricariidae forum, really - could some moderator please place it in the right place? - Thanks]
Let's get a few things straight:
If you'd just had a VERY stressfull experience (imagine that you get abducted by some evil people or something), you may not want to eat just now... This is a similar scenario to what just happened to your fish. It's currently very stressed because it's just moved.
So whilst you need to get the fish to eat, you shouldn't expect it to be forthcoming just yet.
Also, you'll find that it's most likely to feed when it's dark in the tank.
I think all the foods you've give are good ones for the fish, it's just that you'll have to have some patience.
Now the bad news: It is not uncommon for Hypancistrus species (and other Loricariidae) to go into a starvation mode when seriously stressed. It CAN be hard to get them out of that mode. It seems like yours show at least some interest for food, so that's a good sign. Keep feeding it, and make sure you remove any uneaten old food. Feed after you've turned the lights off.
Make sure the tank is well oxygenated (lots of water movement, by filter, powerhead and/or airstone). Raising the temperature slightly (to around 27-28'C) can also help.
Avoid any urge to "force-feed" the fish. It's usually not a good idea and the fish will most likely just get more stressed by this.
Thanks MatsP for the advice,I have a few pleacs now and afetr reading an article somwhere on the net about not buying a plec with a bloated or shrunken stomach I got a bit concearned after all I paid £30 for this little guy.
When I get chance I'll post som pics of some of my pleacs.
It's always GOOD if the fish hasn't got a sunken belly - that's generally a good sign of healthy, eating fish. Obviously, if it looks too bloated, that's not a good thing either... Unfortunately, getting L260's for much less than £30 is pretty difficult... At least unless you find somewhere they sell babies or someone that has very tiny ones in stock - which makes them even more sensitive to starvation... So there's no easy solution to that one...
