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I have had my young L270 (sold to me as chocolate zebra) for around 6 month now. While i know it is still alive, i can count on my fingers how many times i have seen the flash of its tail fin from within its hiding spots. I have tried tempting it out with various types of food; carnivorous pellets, shrimp, prawns, cucumber etc. but not once has it shown interest in any of them. This worries me as i have no idea what is has eaten for the last 6 months! Theres of course the chance the it has emerged after the lights are out and eaten the offered food but there are enough pairs of eyes in the room that surely will have seen that by now.

I am aware that they have been known to reject food if they are stressed by their surroundings. But if my plec is stressed i cant determine by what. It shares the tank with a wee shoal of corydoras paleatus and a very active and good natured young bristlenose. As far as im aware, all the tankmates are very happy and healthy, with no history of disease. The tank has a large thick and dark planted area to one side with a lot of spider wood tangled amongst it and due to a surface layer of lemna minor it is relatively dimly lit too (ill try include a photo). The wood creates lots of caves and hiding spots enjoyed by all the tank mates. It does unfortunately receive direct sunlight for around an hour in the day, though it is concentrated onto the open parts of the tank and the lights are shut off to compensate. I dont have the apparatus to check, but i am confident the water is well oxygenated due to the plants and waterfall filter.

In terms of feeding, the fish get cory pellets and protein tabs regularly, and perhaps every second week or so ill treat the bristlenose to cucumber or prawn (the later less often) which the corys will clean up as well. I have not tried blood worms yet as i think the corys would have devoured them before it even touches the ground.

So all in all, im worried for the well being of my L270. It displays no sign activity other than occasionally moving between hiding spots (by a hidden path that i cannot easily observe). And i have barely seen more than a fin in six months, so i am unable to tell if it appears healthy or otherwise.
If anybody has any tips for de-stressing him, id be very grateful. Thanks in advance!
tank stats
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>size: ~80L
>substrate: fine sand
>planted: heavily with full layer of surface duck weed, NO CO2 injection
>hardscape: lots of spider and bog wood
>filtration: waterfall filter
>flow: probably quite low
>weekly 10+% treated water changes
>temp: ~25'C
>pH: ~6.4
>KH: ~5'd
>GH: ~4'd
>trace NO3

if you can get a look at its belly make sure its not sunken in. if the fish is wild caught it may be that he is supper skidish, ive had wild plecos for over a year before they even started getting comfortable. also your temp is a bit to low, i would bump it up to 27-28C or around 80-83F

It sounds like you have no dither fish in the upper water, which can be great to reassure others that it is safe to come out and "play."

Given the last poster suggested a temp of 27/28C, which presumably is for the benefit of the L270, there seem to be a significant conflict of interest as regards temperature in this tank... I would would have no issues whatsoever in placing a group of Corydorus paleatus in an unheated tank, even in our relatively cool kitchen during mid winter. Common Bristlenose species are normally not regarded as being as sub-tropical loving as C. paleatus, but like my Chaetostoma spp. quartet, I would have no issues placing them in one of my indoor unheated tanks that typically sit at ~21C.

RE: nobody of the goat
in terms of temperature, im very annoyed at myself for missing this very important point! I spent hours searching various information pages trying to find compatible conditions for various species, evidentially i made a bit of an error with it. I suppose i kept searching until i found larger ranges that worked for me.

Is this therefore a salvageable situation? It is almost out of the question to separate them into different tanks, i dont have the resources to do so. C paleatus are hardy but i dont think i want to push them to high in their comfort zone just to see my L270.

In terms of mid level dithers, i would be hesitant as it begins to push the tank to overcrowding. There is 8 corys and two juvenille plecs, hopefully going to grow up soon. Do you think i will be pushing the limits of space in an 80L tank?

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RE: slimeslayer
Im unable ever to see the underside of it. However whenever i catch glimpses, its colours are very vibrant and fins are usually erect. Both of which are comforting

I feel you, all i know with my fish is that they eat, but ive never seen one of them eat, neater my chocolate catfish or my L200.

Do you know if it’s wild cout? Then you might want to consider a cure for worms in their belly. Just finished off the 6th cure on my plecos. So hopefully they will eat more now.

Try socking your food in GarlicGuard from seachem or what it’s cald. It gives the fish a better appetite.

conor wrote: 18 Apr 2018, 14:54in terms of temperature, im very annoyed at myself for missing this very important point! I spent hours searching various information pages trying to find compatible conditions for various species, evidentially i made a bit of an error with it. I suppose i kept searching until i found larger ranges that worked for me.

Is this therefore a salvageable situation? It is almost out of the question to separate them into different tanks, i dont have the resources to do so. C paleatus are hardy but i dont think i want to push them to high in their comfort zone just to see my L270.

Hi conor,

As far as resolving the issue of paleatus preferring cooler temps, is there the option of returning the paleatus to a store and trading for a warmer water species?

Good luck, Eric

I would agree that the water is too cold for Hypancistrus. This would explain their lack of activity.

I collected these fish in the wild, and the temperature was upper 20s.

I would also maybe remove the duckweed and add more water movement at the surface.

Thanks for all the advice folks!
It seems pretty clear now where ive gone wrong, so ill start figuring out a solution for it.
Cheers!