L091 in hiding for 6+ months

[Almonz]

This is my first time posting because I cannot find a definitive answer to my question anywhere else as info on this species is a little limited. About 6 or 7 months ago I picked up my (now) 6 inch Three Beacon Pleco, Crixus, and he currently resides in my 75 gallon community tank. There is a lot of hiding spaces and no fish are aggressive to him in it, however I rarely if ever see him. He loves to hide in a medium sized cave structure all day and only comes out very late at night. I have only seen him out during the day once and it was very brief, but at night he's very active and leaves huge sand mounds from him scrounging around for me to find the next day. I understand some Pleco are nocturnal, but I would like to see him more often as he is a very handsome fish. Any suggestions or similar experiences? I'd like to see him become more active if possible. Thanks in advance.

P.S. There are two large driftwood pieces in the tank as well that I find him on sometimes at night.

[PlecosAndLoaches]

Mine hides, too. I end up seeing its tail poking out of some crevice. Every so often I "mute" a flashlight and check on my tanks at night to see all the activity.

The reality is, most dark-bodied plecos with bright spots or fringe come from dark environments so they're much more comfortable coming out at night. Not sure there's much you can do about it. When do you feed your fish?

[bekateen]

I agree. A nocturnal fish is a shy fish in daylight. You can try using very dim lighting during the day, or shading half your tank from illumination. This might encourage it to come out more often.

Take a look at this thread: viewtopic.php?t=32779.

[tagamasid1023]

These typically do not keep themselves exposed out during daytime. Turning the lights on certainly wouldn't encourage it to come out furthermore.
If you want to get a "view" of him more, try to rearrange the set-up. Eliminate hiding place in the back of the tand and other corners that would completely conceal him. Add caves and position the opening towards the front of you tank. Lastly, place the tank in a location that would encourage it to venture out.
I keep my trio of these in the basement where it is fairly dark with less human traffic. Because of this, everytime I go down the basement I see them hanging out by the cave or somewhere over a driftwood.

[Almonz]

Thanks for the reply guys, it's been hard to get solid info on this particular breed. I currently feed him at night with variations of sinking pellets, algae wafers, blood worms, and brine shrimp. He eats very well as he has grown some since I've got him and has a plump belly. My tank is setup in the basement and I have a lid that shades the outermost sides of the tank light but not the center, and he hides in the shaded part in a tree branch which has a cave in it. I've tried leaving the lights off during the day to no avail, as well as a moonlight, also no success. The only time I get to see him is about half an hour after lights off using a flashlight hovering over the tank. As you can see I've tried a lot of methods to ween him out haha. I'm going to try feeding bloodworms during the daytime right outside of his spot as it seems to be his favorite food. Maybe moving his spot will help some too as there are many hiding places in the tank for him to choose.

[Calouchi]

Hi there
My 2 L91 are very secretive only seeing a head or tail fin most of the time when lights on. I have provided shaded/ dark areas in tank using bog wood for them to sit under during lights on time. This has helped a little.
I feed my fish just before lights out and they have started to appear more at dusk but the best time to see them is at night.
I have also considered using moon lighting to create a dusky enviroment to help enjoy these elusive fish.
Hope this helps

[plecoloachfish]

I have 2 both of which spend most of their days in caves, sometimes the same one being male and female, rarely find them out in the open unless the lights are off, hoping for a spawn at some point!

[Almonz]

Good luck with the spawning! I currently have two rubberlips in the tank with him, however they are juveniles so I really had a hard time sexing them. I'd love to see fry from them someday if possible. The two rubberlips are always out and about in contrast with my L091. I s'pose it's "good" to hear that this species is an elusive one and mine wasn't the only who was an introvert! Just tried dropping some cucumber outside of his spot today to no avail. I'm going to keep trying this method in hopes it will work eventually. Even if it doesn't my kuhli's love it so no harm done.

[tagamasid1023]

These are on the carnivorous side and have never touched fresh vegetables that I have offered. The closest "greens" they accept are algae wafers and Cory Sinking tabs. They do love the occasional fresh prawns too.
Good luck with your beautiful L091!

[racoll]

Sometimes there are changes you can make to the tank decor that will a big difference on whether your plecs will be seen.

Why not post a picture of the tank and people can advise?

[Almonz]

In the tank on the left is the tree stump decor that all 3 of the plec's hang out (only the L91 actually hides inside it, the other two just sit on top). The other picture you can see where he hides all the time. If you have any suggestions on how I should move stuff around let me know.

[Triactis Trainer]

When I kept 3 of these triactis back over a year ago, I had them in a 55 G that was very dimly lit by a single 24" single strip light. I never had any problems with them coming out for me in the day. I also had well over 100+ pounds of bogwood in there. There were also several other small species of plecos in here and plenty of dither fish that were always scurrying around the tank. They have always been my favorite pleco since I found them! Heck, just take a look at the name!