[LaurenKK]

My bn pleco spends most of his time ON the heater or on the glass behind it. I have tall plants near the glass in other areas for cover.
The tank is set at 78F.
Is this just his territory?
He wouldn't be doing it for heat?

Also... How to tell if he's eating enough?


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[willow]

hi ya :-D
have you got any drift wood in there with him ?
what do you feed the fish ?

 

[LaurenKK]

I don't have driftwood yet. I'm headed out to the mountains this weekend to my favorite river to grab some (and then scrub the heck out of it and rinse in crazyhot water).

I have some sinking algae wafers for him and he was only interested in zucchini once. I have cucumber in there right now; we'll see if he puts a dent in it. It's hard to catch him in the act since I've found out they are active mostly at night :|

It occurs to me, based on the orientation of his tank, that he may be trying to keep out of direct light. He is in a corner, in the middle of the house, but some diffuse light comes in from the living room window about 60 feet away. The kitchen is also nearby, but when that light comes on he is not directly in the path.

He has a ceramic log hideout that he seems to be using more the last 2 days.

 

[willow]

sounds like he's just trying to keep out of the way,and the more places
he has to choose from to get away,the more secure he'll become,
how long have you had him for,as i got a new female,and at one stage
i thought she had died,however now she skims her way all around the glass
and the bottom of the tank.

 

[LaurenKK]

I've had him/her about the weeks now. Making more use of the ceramic log in the last two days. Yay!
I totally snuck out (literally crawled to the tank Hehe) before opening any of the curtains this morning to catch a glimpse. He was on top of the log at the front of the tank! Got a nice side view that told me two things: 1) he's eating, not looking scrawny. And 2) I'm quite sure he has ich

Plecos can get ich, right? Anything in the aquarium can?
It was only three salt-like spots on one side. His other side has none, so I'm sure it's not a natural coloring pattern.

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[Flint]

If you think he has ich, go ahead and raise your temp to 86F for three weeks. It'll treat everyone in the tank. If the spots haven't at least started to go away by day 4, it's most likely not ich.

 

[willow]

agreed ^^
i shall add that two of my bn's have spots on,and i panicked however
it turned out to be their natural colourings,and the male only started out
with a couple.
anyother fish have spots ?

 

[LaurenKK]

He's the only one in there, and they are only on one side. Fairly certain they are slightly raised.
It's so hard to tell as it is a cylindrical tank, so when he does come sucker onto the glass there's no good angle

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[Flint]

I would raise the temp just to be sure.