My new Royal (L-190?)

[seanmc]

Hi,

Here's a shot of my new Royal (L-190, I think) that I got at Big Al's in Whitby last week.

Many of them had sunken bellies, but mine looked OK, and last night he ate a cuccumber slice (Yeah!).

It's not the best shot, but here it is (he's about 2" long, maybe a little bigger):

http://www.geocities.com/sean.mckinnon@rogers.com/royal.jpg

Can I feed him another slice tonight? Should you cut the skin off?

Thanks! - Sean

[Zoban]

Beauty speciman and looks like you are doing well for it as I had seen the batch you had to choose from..

I would suggest skinning all veggies as there can be pesticides and such on/in the skin..

Maybe try a slab of potatoe, skin wash and drop in tank will sink on it's own.

[steve-o]

Congrats on the royal, mine are pretty adventurous in the tank, hopefully yours will be too, makes them that much more enjoyable :)

I've been eyeing one of the spotted ones from that same batch.

I try to give the plecs zucchini every other night, and then on the other nights they'll get spirulina wafers and the left over bloodworms and cyclops.

Buddy I normally talk to @ big al's reccommended the cyclops to me for my baby managuense and convict fry, everything is loving the stuff and it's really boosted everyone's growth not just the babies :D

[seanmc]

We're really keen on making sure this guy does OK. Even at $20, this is the most we've every spent on single fish, but we are looking at working our way up to some of the more fancy (ie:expensive) plecos at some point.

I tried freezing some cuccumber slices to see if they would sink when thawed (read somewhere that would work, but it didn't).

Do you remove the seeds from cuccumber (or other veggies)? I wouldn't think they would get eaten, and then you have to find them and get them out afterwards.

Thanks - Sean

[Zoban]

I remove seeds now as when I didn't I had a bit of an issue with seeds that avoided the vac and managed to sprout lil cuc plants in my tanks..

Was rather comical when I first spotted the sprouts and then realised what they were.

Loose seeds can also jam filters pretty good. Shoulda seen the sprouts in the bottom of my ehiem. With Hobs and such a single seed can destroy an impellor aswell.

[steve-o]

Clips w/ suction cups are good for keeping veggies down, and then you can place it at whatever depth you like so you don't have to reach all the way down. You can also tie it to a rock. I've also heard boiling them for a few seconds first gets them to sink. I just stick w/ clips and rocks though.

Tried some pre-cooked thawed shrimp last night, only plec I saw interested in it was my spotted sailfin, royals were content with their driftwood :)

[seanmc]

Hmmm, getting a little worried here.

He ate the one slice of cuccumber, but not another the next day.
Nor has he seemed to like Zucchini.
He may have eaten a couple of Peas, but most didn't get touched.
Tried some Spirulina algae flake, and didn't seem to touch it either.

He does gnaw on the "Balsalm Lake" bogwood (which is quite soft).

I know I'm probably feeding too much, but really am just trying to find something he will eat regularly.

How much should a 2.5" Royal be able to eat?
One slice of cuccumber a day? Every two days? Once a week?

Thanks - Sean

[steve-o]

royals are mostly wood eaters so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I rarely see mine going after the food I put in but they're stomachs look full so I'm not worried.

As long as the woods in there I'm sure your little guy is getting all he needs and just offer the veg's every 2nd or 3rd night. How does his stomach look compared to when you bought him?