riftlaker

i've had this clown pleco for almost a year now and it never come out of hiding under a piece of driftwood. every time i feed it with algae pellets, the other fishes usually gets it instead, so i only feed my clown pleco at night and i put the pellets right in front of where its hiding. i'm quite worried about my pleco now, because it didn't grow much (still around 3 inches). the plecos at my LFS always come out to scavenge for food, while i hardly ever see my pleco. is there anything wrong with my pleco?
all water parameters are fine, the other tank mates are pearl gouramis and tetras, the tank has been cycled for 1.5 years now

TFA101

nope... mine has the exact same behaviors. She only will come out at night or when she thinks I'm not looking. Otherwise, she's in her log for the most part.

Your pleco's growth is not stunted, clowns only get to be about 3 to 4 inches long, so you have nothing to worry about in that regard.

I feed my clown an hour after the lights go out. I also turn off the surrounding lights so she's in complete darkness. When an hour's passed, all the other fish are resting and the pleco's out to play, that's when I feed her the algae wafers or pellets, whatever I happen to have on hand at the time.

So in short, your pleco's behavior is absolutely normal

jwokmuba2

if you can use some cucumber and weigh it down some how, place it in a cave or under the driftwood close to the side of your tank, he will eat during the day if he is in a dark spot, that way you can see him more often, but if he see's you, he will hide.

EDIT: well i have had my clown pleco for about 6 weeks and sometimes after feeding the other fish flakes of bloodworms he will come out and play, just sort of clean the plants and search the bottom for food, i guess hes relly comfortible.

Borisbbadd

That's how mine behaves, I see him at night every once in a while........

jprime84

I saw mine a lot the first day. I had a lot of algae buildup, and he went on a binge the first day. This morning I couldnt find him before heading to work. He must have found a good spot to sleep it off.

Amanda

I NEVER saw my clown when I had one.

whisper

I have had pleco's for years now and they are always out swimming around even during the day. I try to put things in the tank that they can feel secure but that I can see them. Tarracota flower pots layed on it's side is a good thing. They can get there heads in but I can still see them. Also instead of the driftwood that is hollowed out I use the ones that are just logs and they love to lay on top and eat it.

Diggly

I think the key is plecos, I have 3 clown plecos and 3 bristlenoses in my tank (though I do have a 120g) and I always see them out in the day despite tons of hiding places.

What size tank do you have? try adding a female pleco with your male and seeing if it makes him more active

Aldric

you can also tru useing mellon and mango ( the mango naturaly sinks)