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I recently ordered 2 l128 blue phantom plecos. They came in just fine but they refuse to eat anything. I tried feeding them cucumbers, a mix of repashy Soilent green and morning wood, and new life spectrum algaemax wafers and still no luck. I'm afraid they won't last much longer.

Hi chloroink,

How long has this been going on? What is your tank like? Can you please show us pics of the tank and of the fish? Also, what are your water parameters?

Thanks, Eric

Some stores I have know to only feed meaty foods to bulk catfish out.

Have you tried blood worm or something a bit less green? Long term not acceptable I know but might get them to eat.

You need temperature between 26 - 28 degrees Celsius, medium water current , good areation, weak light. My fish eat flakes, wafers, hironomus larvae and big artemia/brine shrimp. According my experience they are not big vegetable eaters.

I've found that persistence pays off in these situations. I've been here with L128 several times, and I appreciate how frustrating it is.

Keep offering the Repashy, and also try raw zucchini/Sweet potato. Put it in the same spot each night, then remove uneaten food first thing in the morning. I found zucchini good as my L128 ate the skin, so it was very obvious if any had been eaten. The raw peeled, sweet potato pieces can be left in for 2 days as they don't break down as quickly as the Repashy or zucchini.

Keep trying this every night and putting the food in a similar place. Hopefully they will begin to recognise it as food, in some cases I had to keep this up for 7-10 days before I got obvious signs that the fish were eating.

Are they in a tank on their own or are there other fish present? I think they might respond better if they are in a tank of their own, or at least without any other bottom dwelling fish while they are settling in.

Good luck.

I've been noticing a lot of poop from one of my plecos. Can they eat cattapa leaves? cuz I have some in their tank to buffer the water.
Also how do you send photos

They could do, or perhaps be grazing on the bio film which forms on the leaves, and then consuming some of the leaf as well.

To attach pictures, click on the full editor and preview button below the reply field, in there is a tab called attachments, once the pictures have been uploaded, you can check the box next to the file name to add inline, so they will appear in the post.

Mine likes blanched zuchinni. Maybe try rubbing the zuchinni with cut garlic (which acts like an appetite stimulant). Or try Thera+ New Life Spectrum (which has garlic).

Tank parameters:
Ph: 6.4
Tds: 187
Temp: 78 f and 82 f
Nitrates: 5 ppm

They're in separate 10 gallon tanks one tank has 4 dwarf pencil fish and the other has 2 German blue rams. One has an aqua clear hob and the other has a sponge filter and a small garden pump to provide flow.

Does he look healthy?

From that picture it looks ok to me. Can you see if there is a sunken look to the belly?

If the belly looks flat or slightly rounded then I don't think there is an imminent risk of them starving, just keep offering the food each night, it can take them a while to get settled in.

The tank looks a bit bare, it may make the fish more comfortable if it has somewhere to hide, maybe try adding a cave or two.

chloroink-
I have introduced raw corn on the cob (albeit frozen and defrosted) as a new addition to my feeding choices. All strip the corn down to the cob in a few minutes. -Barry

chloroink-
I have introduced raw corn on the cob (albeit frozen and defrosted) as a new addition to my feeding choices. All strip the corn down to the cob in a few minutes. -Barry

Can you tell us which species specifically, is eating the corn?