Royal Pleco Rescue = HELP

[sidguppy, posts: 3827]

this is a fish that not only likes to graze, it must graze

a Bristlenose can be compared to a horse, but one that's immune to colic.
in order to stay healthy, it will graze on algae all day and most of the gut is filled with undigestible stuff.
however, especially the common bristlenose can handle a lot of animal matter and will rarely bloat up.


a Panaque can best be compared with a horse that has been created by crossing a beaver with a mustang and a belt-sander......
this is a wood-eater and a grazer both.
so even if you feed it a lot, it'll graze; just out of instinct!
this beastie REALLY needs to have its' gut filled with all kinds of plant fiber.
even when it's very well fed, it will graze, it has to!

that's why panaque's in a tank without wood get into trouble.
once the gut is empty of undigestible "wood" it'll bloat up and developes a flagellate infection and dies.

to keep your Panaque happy is to add wood, preferably real bogwood that's a bit on the soft side, although a panaque is quite powerful enough to feed on the much harder mangrove wood, except for Mopani.

any plant that's wide-leafed enough to 'sit on' or put the suckermouth on, will be destroyed sooner or later

they REALLY love Echinodorus.......it's a part of their natural diet.
once the forests flood and the Panaque's can get everywhere this is stuff they encounter and eat next to wood.

1 trick of combining plants and Panaque is to use slimleafed plants like regular Vallisneria (V gigantea gets quickly eaten), Crinum calamistratum etcv
also fine leafed ones like for example Heteranthera zosterifolia are safe.
they cannot 'get a grip' on plants like that.

but they are also huge and clumsy and they can uproot a lot

in general; Panaque's truly love planted tanks, but not the way the hobbyists has intended

it's an "all you can eat buffet" with exotic foodstuff

[I heartmypleco, posts: 91]

Great! This is all very reassuring as most my plants are slim leafed as well as I have loads and loads of driftwood in the 90. I'll post some pics up tomorrow .. I posted a video of my tank in tank talk but that was before I added even more driftwood than what you'll see in the video. P.S. does anyone actually read the posts or look at the pics? There's DW in there with him
In the QT tank visible in the first pic I put up.. Also to the person asking what I'm feeding him if you had read my posts you'll see I'm having trouble feeding him due to his illness. But he has wood .. I have tried veggies, algae wafers, and some meaty foods. I expect him to regain his appetite in a few days when he's no longer fungus riddled. I posted a progress pic.. He looks much better than in that first pic I posted which was about a couple days after bringing him home. Again thanks everyone for the information.

[I heartmypleco, posts: 91]

Also im growing baby tears.. Hope that won't be a problem

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

You can try always keeping some zucchini (courgette) in the tank in an effort to keep the panaque disinterested in your plants--stick a stainless steel fork in it to hold it down--replace every other day. However, there are no guarantees that it will work. Heck, your plants might be okay anyway. It's hard to say how an individual will behave. Just know that royal panaques are notorious for going to town on most plants.

BTW, sidguppy's post is spot on. Lots of good info in it.

[I heartmypleco, posts: 91]

I'll try that... ill leave out the fork as i usually blanch my zucchini in a pot and once i do that it sinks right away pretty much.. maybe im boiling it too much though and thats why it sinks? blanch less?

[xingumike, posts: 79]

I have never had Panaque eat Anubias or Java fern, L27c, L191, L104 and L204 all left them alone

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

No need to blanch the zucchini for the panaque. You're just denaturing the vitamins, antioxidants, & nutrients in the skin & flesh. This is a fish that regularly eats wood, so it won't have any problems eating raw zucchini, skin and all.

[plecomanpat, posts: 192]

on the contrary in my case...my planted 180 gallon has 7 royals ( 2 L190, 2 L191, 1 L90papa, 1 L27 golden line and 1 L27 xingu) though the largest is only 7" and smallest 4" they do not bother my plants (various crypts,apons, red tiger lotus, and some bunch plants) although there is alot of wood in the tank and they are fed often and a varied diet. Mine love the zuccini, yellow squash, cucumber, romaine lettuce, even throw in cantelope rinds every now and then...but be cautious not to let the uneaten parts(w/exception of the lettuce) go to long in the water as it may spoil and taint the water. As they get bigger they are a little more boisterous and will up root your plants....Enjoy

[I heartmypleco, posts: 91]

Hey everyone, sorry I havnt been active in the past few days. He is a lot better and since has been re-homed into the 90 gallon. He's munching away at wood and even leaving teeth marks! So that's good. I will post some pics later, I know i've been saying that but it was abusy weekend.

[Scleropages, posts: 425]

Good to hear it's doing better. Enjoy it--they are great plecos--real characters.

[Lframe, posts: 13]

Yeah. Glad to hear he is recovering. I also have L190 9" and he chews a lot of wood. And clean the tank algae as well. Only thong is clean tank bottom every day with a gravel cleaner

[sidguppy, posts: 3827]

comes with the job

if you keep a cat or a dog or a baby, you'll be cleaning up poop every day
nobody ever stopped keeping those because of the poop issues....


so if you want to keep a Panaque, compare it to those
it comes with the fish

[Taratron, posts: 742]

Simple thing I do to sink zucchini: don't boil it, just stick a fork in it and let it sink.

However make sure it isn't your mom's good cutlery or she will be very mad. Not that I know about this.