placo and hachet fish?

Question

I just bought a beautiful placo and all he does is hide and i was wondering if he would come out once he is used to the tank?
(His tank mates are 1 Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami, 1 regular dwarf gourami, 8 neon tetras, and 2 hachet fish. they are in a 44 gal tank with heater and filter i do a 10% water change every week and 30% every month)

I also need to know if the food have will give my hachet fish the protien they need it has brine shrimp in it(dried of course) they seem to like it.

thanks pee tee i will get thoes insects ASAP.

Suggestions for any floating foods

Answer 1

It is normal for a pleco to hide. They aren't social like the other fish. I believe they're nocturnal as well, so they come out more when the light is off. Sometimes I would catch mine out of his hiding spot, but he would quickly retreat when he realized he was being watched. Try dropping some algae wafer for him in an open area of the tank bed.
And don't have more than one pleco, they don't mind other fish, but don't get along with each other.

Answer 2

All of your fish except the Plecostomus and the Tetras are surface feeding fish,a food that floats for a long time is important.The hatchet fish really like insects. The pleco needs algae wafers and feedings just before "lights out". Your tank is large enough to have some more mid water swimmers. A few more Neon Tetras wouldn't hurt. Also a few Corydoras Catfish would help clean up the food that gets by the surface and mid-water feeders.Corys do well in groups of five or six and wouldn't add that much to the bio-load of your tank. The brine shrimp food should be OK,as a staple, but if you can find some small,live,nonflying insects once in a while it would be a real treat,for the hatchet fish. Keep up the water changes, that is exactly the way to have healthy fish.--------Good luck,PeeTee

Answer 3

Plecostomus are nocturnal for the most part, and juveniles will eat algae more than flake foods or pellets. As the grow they will tend more toward meatier foods and less toward algae, but they will still graze.

If you have a good algae base, the pleco will come out, and once he is acclimated to the tank he will become more adventurous.

Brine shrimp are high in protein so you should be okay there.