I'm not sure if this is too much of a concern, but I've had my l190 for four days now and it still hasn't begun to start eating. From what I can see though is that he does like to hang out on my driftwood a lot, but I can't really tell if it is munching on it. It does seem pretty lively however. Every time I try to take a peek it would just run away into hiding. Should I be worried? I know people have had difficulties keeping royals, so I'm just a little concerned for my little one.
Royal pleco doesn't seem to be eating?
- Thread starter KnightDoughboy
- Start date
Yep, the royal is a youngster, just a little above 2 inches. I haven't tried any veggies yet, actually. I just stuck to the hikari algae wafers. What are some good veggies that royals love in particular?
Try a bit of potato in for the royal...They love it, and you will be able to tell from that if its eating
I've found that sweet potato is a good starter food, all mine love it, and also because their poo will orange so easily visible. Weigh it down with something, I use stainless steel forks, and place it close to where he hangs out.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I will be trying all of these. Should I be feeding them raw or a little bit cooked?
Panaques usually cope well enough with raw veggies, however if you find he isnt eating still, then blanching it to soften it a little might help, just to get him started. Soaking in garlic juice may also help as it is an appetite stimulator but try some raw veg first. I would lay off the wafers a little too
I have one Royal I bought that looked pretty sunken as all the Royals did in the store tank that L191 took a looong time to adjust and to show some weight he's since grown atleast an inch over three months. They really love sweet potatos my other Royal an L-090 once ate way too much sweet potato I thought he had bloat but just stuffed himself too much and did fine after a day of fast and wood munching now I keep him in a tank by himself with another ABN for gluttons/overeaters 
Good luck with sweet potato I hope you Royal gets accustomed soon , wish I had known that for my L191 that took so long to come around.
Good luck with sweet potato I hope you Royal gets accustomed soon , wish I had known that for my L191 that took so long to come around.I've started to throw in fresh cucumber into the tank and I have been noticing that there are nibbles all over it! I'm not too sure if it is actually the royal eating it or not but I'm hoping for the best. Would zebra danios, dwarf gouramis, or panda corys eat fresh veggies?
Yes, it will be the royal pleco eating the cucumber. But don't solely give it cucumber as it's not a good food.
no not really. Make sure you do not keep any veggies too long in the water or they will foul the water. I normally remove zucchinni and other veggies after 12-24hours. Good sign on the nibbling. cheers jk :thumbup:
If those pleco mouth sized holes or bigger those have got to be pleco munching. never owned Gouramis but cory's have small mouths and only peck at veggies from what I've observed and danios aren't really into them. congrats hope your pleco enjoys all the fresh veggies nom nom:clap:
The good thing with harder veg like sweet potato or pumpkin is you can leave it in there for a few days. The little fish will peck at it to keep the bacteria film off it and eventually when the pleco realises its not a bomb you put in the tank (I have highly suspicious plecos) he will get into it with gusto.
ha, Bren, maybe you should explain to them you would never hurt them...they are too expensive
Georgie
True dat! My royals stakeout out the veg before they eat it, and my biggest actively attacks it before he chomps it down. Cucumber and courgette seem to be the most dangerous for them.
The first time i put a zuchinni in the tank the pleco's just looked at it for a day, took it out and tried another piece for a day, same thing.:wb: by the third try, they finally started eating it.:lol: I guess they take a few days to get use to it, now they get a bit upset when I take whats left of the zuchinni out.:lol:
I've never seen my Zebra Danio's eating the zuchinni.
I've never seen my Zebra Danio's eating the zuchinni.
Hey guys, I have a new issue i wanted to address. It is apparent that my royal is eating the veggies that I leave out for it, but now I'm wondering if it is eating the wood that I have. Am I suppose to see visible wood chips in the water? It is always on the pieces of driftwood that I leave it, I just can't tell if anything is being consumed.
he is not like a beaver. The plec will rasp at the wood, normally slightly knibbling on the wood for the famous layer of aufwuchs. This is micro material and moss etc. You do see in the softer woods sometime a favourite nibbling spot. It is subtle but you can see it. cheers jk :thumbup:
Its quite easy to tell if he is eating the wood... You will find loads of brown muck when you syphon around the base of the wood when you do a water change...I find some woods like mopani not so good as they are too hard, so if it is mopani you have try some bogwood/driftwood or sap free Birch wood.