Shy fish

I have a pleco that I rarely see and I'm wondering if I'm doing
something that bothers the fish. I don't know anybody else that has
an aquarium so my only other frame of reference is the LFS. Whenever
I go in there, I see their pleco's attached to the glass, doing their
thing. Mine hides out in the castle. I will occasionally see him
lounging on the bottom of the ship, but he's usually tucked up inside.
I know he's there keeping the tank free of algae because it continues
to be gone once he did the original cleaning. I know they are more of
a nocturnal fish, but I guess I expected him to be out a little more.
I'd just like to see him out doing his thing because I enjoy watching
the fish do their fish things. Are they normally this reclusive?
Anyway to entice him out to enjoy more of the tank?

Thanks.

On 8 Jan 2004 10:34:52 -0800, Mark wrote:
I have a pleco that I rarely see
snip
I'd just like to see him out doing his thing because I enjoy watching
the fish do their fish things. Are they normally this reclusive?

I have a common pleco and a clown syno catfish.

The common plec, when it was ickle, would be out eating anything
and everything. Now it lounges about and seems to have got more
shy - any time I move lots he glides back to his cave. He's about
7-8" now. He hides out with the clown syno who is the same length
and I only ever see her at night if I put the light on and surprise
them, like if I get up for a 2am drink. This could be because he
is getting lazy - I think they get lazier as they get older and
certainly he doesnt bother cleaning algae anymore, just hunts
down waste food (which I've intended for him to eat anyway).

The only time he gets up in a "wow. Got to have this at all costs"
kind of way is when I feed cucumber. I feed a thick slice, the
skin rinsed, and weighed with a bit of lead so it stands up on its
end and both sides of the slice can be attacked. He goes nuts for
that. So do the other fish, so I have to feed 2-3 slices at once.

I have a bristlenose too, much more shy than the common plec was
at a smaller size, but you can see plants shaking vigourously
now and again - he hides lots but he doesnt shirk on the eating

Hope that helps. Just sit still and dont make sudden movements,
have a routine for the room that the tank is in, and try enticing
with cucumber, is my opinion


--
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)/

The only time I see my pleco is right after turning on the lights in the
morning, while he is dashing back into the cave. My raphael catfish is the
same. It would be cool if they would cruise the tank, they would look like
whales compared to the rest of the fish.

JOhn

"Mark" wrote in message
om...
I have a pleco that I rarely see and I'm wondering if I'm doing
something that bothers the fish. I don't know anybody else that has
an aquarium so my only other frame of reference is the LFS. Whenever
I go in there, I see their pleco's attached to the glass, doing their
thing. Mine hides out in the castle. I will occasionally see him
lounging on the bottom of the ship, but he's usually tucked up inside.
I know he's there keeping the tank free of algae because it continues
to be gone once he did the original cleaning. I know they are more of
a nocturnal fish, but I guess I expected him to be out a little more.
I'd just like to see him out doing his thing because I enjoy watching
the fish do their fish things. Are they normally this reclusive?
Anyway to entice him out to enjoy more of the tank?

Thanks.