Is my plec normal?

[eurospage]

Hey all, I was just wondering if my common plec is normal or not. Ive got real plants in my tank and he seems to eat certain plants within a day of putting them in there is this a sign of him not getting enough food? Also my friends have got plecs and theirs seem to come out alot and suck the glass during the day, but with mine it only comes out at night and only seem him if i sneek up to the tank. One more question, when doing a water change are you suppose to condition the water before putting it in the tank or can you put the water in and then put the conditioners in? cheers

[Gozza]

Its quite normal for many plecs to be shy especially when they have not been in the tank a long time, he may grown used to you in time. I often have trouble keeping my plecs off one of my sword plants, you could try giving your fish lots fresh vegetables for example courgette, cucumber, yams etc. I personally condition the water before addding it to the tank although there are others who do it the other way. On large tanks it is probably easier to add conditioners to the tank then add water from the tap using some kind of hose. I don't think there is any consensus on the matter but I feel more comfortable sorting the water out before its put in my tank. Hope this is of some help.