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Any tips on how to get a Zebra pleco eating? He has recently been added to the tank, 2 days
and has not taken any Flake, bloodworms, Brine shrimp or Algae wafers (although they aren't big algae eaters)

Instead what is happening, my greedy mollies are eating it all up

Hi and Welcome!

although they aren't big algae eaters

To my knowledge Hypancistrus exclusively eat "meaty" foods.

Whats the tank setup? Can you provide more information about water chemistry, temp, etc.

Water Chemistry is as follows

ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite -0 ppm
Ph- 7.6

Is a mature tank (has been running for 4yrs)

community tank with various non-aggressive fish,
Temp- sitting slightly high 79 F (but zebra's prefer warmer)

They are pretty much only meat eaters but read somewhere that they rarely (so sometimes)
eat algae, so I after trying bloodworm, brineshrimp and flakes to no avail I thought I'd try that

A method I've thought of is to wait till the lights go off and with a straw drop some bloodworms near him in the cave, hoping that the mollies etc don't clock this !!!!

I think 79°F isnt warm enough for the H.zebra. Xingú water is really warm in the mid 80s (around 28-30°C)

If I do put up the temp to say 82F,

How will this effect my other fish? I raised it to 79F but would have gone hotter but was worried about the other fish which I have

2 Red Rainbows
2 Mollies
2 Bristlenose plecos
2 plattys
2 clown loaches

Well thats a problem when you mix fishes with different temp requirements.
Dont have too much experience with the other fishes so i cant really give you any more advice.

Hi ALien Spawn

Zebra's can be a real bugger to acclimatise, and it is quite common for them to starve themselves when first introduced. Problem is, once they stop eating it is difficult to get them eating again. Have you just bought the zebra?
Was he imported or bred in captivity?
How does his belly look?
Are his eyes sunken? When a zebra starves, like ourselves we survive off our fat reserves. Lrocs have a large fat reserve in the head, hence when they stop eating there eyes sink.

If it's stomach seems ok over the next few days, you might find that he is just being very cautious with his food. I would suggest that you feed the rest of the tank as normal, and then, just before you go to bed throw insome blood worms near where he is situated, hopefully he will be brave enough to take some.

As for temp, I agree with Caol_ila, a slightly higher temp would be more appropriate, the clowns and red rainbows should be fine as they can be kept with discus. The others I am not sure of. Have a look in the cat-elog for temps for the bristlenose.

Good luck and keep us posted.

rob

at what point of starvation for a pleco is there no return? Any indications?

Hi!

@phil i never read on any forum that a pleco with sunken eyes+belly was saved. There might be some exceptions this seems to be the line of death...

Update woo hoo well happy I used a straw to put some blood worms near him and guess what? he ate well pleased cheers for all the advice

excellent. congratulation....here's hoping he'll turn into a bit of a porker

rob