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One of my zebs, the one on top, looks a little thin. Is this too thin? I've had him for about 5 months and it's about 2" now. It was just under 1" when I bought it 5 months ago.

The bottom L-46, I had for about 2 weeks.

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it looks thin to me. i guess you have to fattern him up

It does look thin to me too! Are its eyes sunken as well!

good point on eyes issue Alistair. i didnot focus on that.

The photo appears that the eyes are sunken, but I physically looked and they aren't. I guess the setup I had blew too much bloodworms to the filter intake. I wrapped a cut up fish net on the outside of the filter intake so food would not get sucked in. Apparantely, it still couldn't find the bloodworms. I'll have to rescape the whole tank, so there are dead spots for the bloodworms to settle in.

Try feeding at 'lights out' and turning the temp up to get it's appetite going. Also does this fish have a favourite hide out, if so place the food there so it is right on the fishes door step, I use a siphon tube others use a turkey baster for this.

I've been squeezing Bloodworms with my turkey baster, under under the wood and slates. I guess when I had the strong water current before, when the pleco would swim towards the food, they would create some current under their little hiding places, forcing the BW out. I've placed some plants to reduce current and also lowered the filter flow a bit now.

I guess the other problem is, I started shaving the frozen BW so they would be a bit smaller. Unfortunately, they were easily getting blown away with the water current. Before, I never cut them up, so they were a little heavier and stayed in place.

crazie.eddie wrote:I've been squeezing Bloodworms with my turkey baster, under under the wood and slates. I guess when I had the strong water current before, when the pleco would swim towards the food, they would create some current under their little hiding places, forcing the BW out. I've placed some plants to reduce current and also lowered the filter flow a bit now.

I guess the other problem is, I started shaving the frozen BW so they would be a bit smaller. Unfortunately, they were easily getting blown away with the water current. Before, I never cut them up, so they were a little heavier and stayed in place.

if all you are feeding him is frozen bloodworm then it's not surprising he's thin. Bloodworm isn't the most nutritious meal, and certainly won't provide a full balanced diet if that is all he is given. Try a mix of frozen and tablet food.

Bloodworm does have quite a high water content as well! Also fish are like us they have likes and dislikes, my zebs like brine shrimp but arn't to fushed about bloodworm, whereas my clown plec can't get enough of it!

The breeder where I got it from feeds it BW practically. When I got it, I've been feeding it BW every other day and I alternate with beefheart mix, hikari sinking carnivore pellets, & shrimp pellets on the alternate days. The BW is the only frozen food I have that sinks or at least heavy enough that doesn't get blown away from the current. It appears to much prefer the BW, but a little of the beefheart mix. I can't tell if it even eats the sinking carnifore pellets or shrimp pellets since they break down easier.

The temp I keep the zebras are at 82°.

I would have to think that it was my original design and the smaller pieces of BW I cut up. The BW would get sucked to the filter intake, but not into the filter, since I cut up a piece of net for a pre-filter.

crazie.eddie wrote:but a little of the beefheart mix.

I might be mistaken, but my understanding is that very few fish can digest beef heart. Discus is one of those, Zebras are not?

i guess try to change temperature to 84-86 'F i guess that might help a bit.

I have been led to believe that beef heart can leave fatty deposits with in the bodies of certain fish, rather like the human condition 'furred arteries' which is caused by a diet high in saturated fats.

Try a shrimp/white bait mix instead of beefheart.

Get some bloodworm, spirulina powder, fresh crushed garlic, and maybe some good quality flake food, mix it in with some good quality low fat fish, pop it through a manual mincer a couple of times, give it a good stir up and roll it out flat to 5mm, in individual resealable plastic food bags. Pop it in the freezer and snap bits of as needed - yum!

My L333's go blinkin nuts for it.

Tom.