Behaviour a little off

[silvernes]

I've noticed my pleco 'Charlie' has been alot more active recently, this is strange because he usually spend all day in his caves, only comming out at night but recently he's been spending alot of time on the glass & even browsing the tank for food in the middle of the day

I recently added a second common pleco 'Henry' as well as a few more Silver Dollars and 3 Chalceus to the tank, could it be that the addition of Henry is bothering Charlie?

I try to feed the plecos extra at night but are the silver dollars eating all their algea pellets & he can't find food?

I moved the slate around a bit today so he's now got 2 caves on one side of the tank and 1 on the other but Henry & Charlie are still swimming about the tank :huh:

Any suggestions?

Or is Charlie just feeling alot more comfortable in the tank so he's just comming out when there is food available (there are also 2 oscars in the tank and the extra mid-level swimmiers has done wonders to reduce and dispell any aggression from them)

Nes.

[MatsP]

I've noticed my pl*co 'Charlie' has been alot more active recently, this is strange because he usually spend all day in his caves, only comming out at night but recently he's been spending alot of time on the glass & even browsing the tank for food in the middle of the day

I recently added a second common pl*co 'Henry' as well as a few more Silver Dollars and 3 Chalceus to the tank, could it be that the addition of Henry is bothering Charlie?

I try to feed the pl*cos extra at night but are the silver dollars eating all their algea pellets & he can't find food?

Could be that he's finding less food, and thus has to "hunt round" more.

Have you tried feeding with something like Courgette/Squash/Eggplant? A slice of that weighted so that is stays at the bottom will probably be appreciated.

I moved the slate around a bit today so he's now got 2 caves on one side of the tank and 1 on the other but Henry & Charlie are still swimming about the tank :huh:

Any suggestions?

Or is Charlie just feeling alot more comfortable in the tank so he's just comming out when there is food available (there are also 2 oscars in the tank and the extra mid-level swimmiers has done wonders to reduce and dispell any aggression from them)

Nes.

It could well be that he's feeling more comfortable. They do get used to their home after a while, and come out more in daylight.

If that's the case, just count yourself lucky. It's now always the case...

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Mats

[silvernes]

Cool beans

He's been in hiding a bit more since I moved their caves around (and created 2 more on the other side) but it still comming out for meals

Hopefully he'll convince his buddy Henry to join him outside as well.

I have been feeding them zuccinni (I have clown loaches ) but I will try those others as well - course if he doesn't like them that means I have to eat it ... I just need to get myself another food-clip first because I nevver find ways of weighing it down that actually work

Nes.

[MatsP]

Cool beans

He's been in hiding a bit more since I moved their caves around (and created 2 more on the other side) but it still comming out for meals

Hopefully he'll convince his buddy Henry to join him outside as well.

I have been feeding them zuccinni (I have clown loaches ) but I will try those others as well - course if he doesn't like them that means I have to eat it ... I just need to get myself another food-clip first because I nevver find ways of weighing it down that actually work

Nes.

I just used a teaspoon (stick it through the skin of the veg), copying what I've seen on some pictures. Seems to work. I've got Guinea Pigs, and they eat just about any vegetable, so I'm not worried about what I buy in that department. And one courgette cost me about 19 pence (UK pounds, about 30 euro/US$ cents), so it's not very expensive, especially since one of those will last for "as long as it looks fresh when you cut the dried bit off".

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Mats

[silvernes]

Yes, I know alot of people use forks to weight down the food but I'm not sure how I feel about having my tanks covered in forks
(inevitable as I don't enjoy getting myself wet up to the shoulder & only clean out my tanks once a week

Nes.

[MatsP]

Yes, I know alot of people use forks to weight down the food but I'm not sure how I feel about having my tanks covered in forks
(inevitable as I don't enjoy getting myself wet up to the shoulder & only clean out my tanks once a week

Nes.

Since I don't enjoy having silverware sitting at the bottom of my tank (especially not the entire set , I made a "teaspoon-picker-upper" with a piece of stiff metal wire. Just make a suitable "hook" on the end that goes around the shaft (handle) of the spoon, and lift it out... Don't get you wet, unless it's raining when you go to out in the garage to get the piece of wire You can make the wire of arbitrary length, as long as you have a stiff enough piece (mine's about 2 foot, but depends on the size (depth) of the tank). Galvanized wire is obviously better than simple iron, but just about any material you can find in your local DIY shop should be good enough, as you're not planning to leave it in the tank for ages...

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Mats

[silvernes]

I've got a ton of craft wire that's plastic coated so it would be great for that!

Nice Idea!! THANKS!!

Nes.