a very shy fish
 

Hi everyone. I have a 10 gallon tank with a small pleco inside ( I know, he will soon outgrow it). This pleco has always been quite skittish, I have had him for several months and whenever I walk in the room he swims quickly to his treasure chest hiding place where I can't see him. Lately he's taken to staying there all the time, I haven't seen him for at least a week. I know that he isn't dead or anything, because I can sometimes see his tail shifting around in there. Also, when I drop an algae wafer in at night it is gone in the morning, so I can only assume he comes out when the room is completely dark to feed. Does anyone have any tips on how I can coax him out of hiding? I just don't really know what to do, and this isn't a great situation because if he got sick or something I wouldn't be able to tell. The tank also has two raspboras in it, fyi. Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

OK plecos like almost always hide, just how they are.

I look at mine while there is not alot but some light in the room, sorta imitating dusk (aquarium light off), and from across the room. Sometimes I can move slowly, and smoothly towards the tank to get a close view. And sometimes you get down on your hands and knees and crawl to your tank to try and get a peak at him.

Just make sure that the curtains are closed, your neighbors seem to think you are nuts slowly crawling up to a tank (trust me on this). :lol:

See I used to be able to creep up on him, but I guess now he's decided he hates me completely because he never ever comes out.

Mine hides all the time. I really hate it but then again I know he is alive because the loaches go in and play with him and he plays back. Mine will come out and eat sometimes when I drop a wafer but most of the time he eats at night. Maybe try to coax him out with some zucchini or asparagus.

im finding this all quite difficult to believe (figure of speech only - not suggesting anyone is lying) the firs 2 days i had my plec he hid ina cave but now is all over the place all the time. more that happy to put on a show for me, or pose for a minute or two (no more though, he likes to swim). there are places where he could hide but chooses not to. i obviously have an exception of a fish but thought id add it anyway. is your plec kinda new? maybe hes just getting used to his tank like mine did to begin with

mine used to hide all the time from me until just before he died.

you could try using some under water lights... the blue kind to simulate moon light

sorry, i just noticed that you said youve had him for several monthis - you can ignore my "is he new question?" ill try and read WGOLE posts next time :oops: