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I just purchased a Queen Arabesque pl*co for my 55 gallon tank and I was wondering what to feed her. I have offered sinking carnivore pellets and sinking spirulina tablets...all after lights out, and I haven't noticed her eating them. I do see her come out and graze the glass (which does have algae). Is there any tips that y'all can offer. She sure is a pretty little thing and I want to make sure she has enough to eat.

I feed mine a mixture of

JBL Sinking general tablets (tabis)
JBL Vege Tablets (Novo Fect)
Hikari Alage wafers
Wardley shrimp pellets
JBL Pleco Chips

each night

an occasional feed of sliced zuchinni (courgette) (maybe twice a week)

and a once a week feed of mixed frozen

blood worms
white worms
daphnia
brine shrimp

tank contains 5 Queen a's and a dozen c. triliniatus.

When I had mine, I fed it...
Hikari sinking carnivore pellets
Shrimp pellets
Algae discs (at times it doesn't care for the stuff)
Zuchini
Frozen peas (skinned)
FBW (if it doesn't get blown from the current)

Crazyred: The first few days, the fish may not be particularly interested in food, as it's too stressed to care about such things. It's also possible that it doesn't quite recognise YOUR types of food - fish learn that certain things are food after a while. Keep trying, don't overfeed and good luck.

Also, Hypancistrus are mainly carnivores, and not algae-eaters, so if it crawls around eating at the glasss, it's probably not really eating the algae, but looking for small creatures that live within the algae (quite possibly scraping some of the algae off too, of course).

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Mats

Excellent replies! Thank you guys! I think you were right Matt, she seems to have started eating now. I've noticed that her little belly is fat in the morning these last couple of days. I just drop in a different kind of food near her each night. Last night, it was Wardley's shrimp pellets. She seems to like my Tetra Min tablets too. I will feed Hikari sinking carnivore wafers tonight.

Thanks for the help.

Feed it whatever you fed your L-316.

Yep, that's the plan. I wanted to stay with the Hypancistrus family for a reason. She just didn't seem to be eating the first couple of days. She was probably vey stressed by the shipping. My L-316 eats anything and everything (mostly carnivore stuff). I figure my Queen wil do the same....and she is....now. Hypancistrus sp. are the best pl*cos. not quite as much waste as the others.