i have a wild ram that ive been feeding freeze dried brine shrimp and blood worm 2-3 times a day. tonight i went in to feed the plecos before lights out and decided to watch for a while. i droped the algae waffers in hopeing to get a glance of my rare plecos when both came out from between the driftwood. i noticed the ram eating the waffer and gaurding it viciously from the plecos . i turned the lights out thinking he d go away i came back ten minutes later turned the light back on and he was still there with the plecos sitting in anticipation. go figure a vegitarian ram
blue ram won t let plecos eat
- Thread starter jd_7655
- Start date
Drop the algea waffer once the light has been out for at least an hour and the room has been in complete darkness. You can also feed sclices of zucchini, brocoli stems and cucumber to them. I also just tried Soy beans and my pleco nibbled at it last night.
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Depends upon the ram species. I believe many of them are omnivores. Being wild he probably isn't used to an abundance of daily food and he's trying to hoard as much as possible. I agree that having lights off for an hour before feeding your plecs would probably be the best suggestion. If that doesn't work you could also try puting two wafers on opposite ends of your tank if its practical.
Might try to devise a way to place the food directly in the pleco's hiding place. It still needs to be done after lights out, but isn't that difficult. I use a 1" lift tube, and drop the food through it so I can control the exact spot the food falls to (+- 3/4") This has worked in my oscars tanks, when the oscars wouldn't let anything get to the bottom without being mauled.
yeah i have a tong grabbing device that i use to put the algae waffer by the plecos befor i turn the lights out. that night just wanted to see if they come out of hideing. i did nt know rams are omnivores i always thought the were carnivorous. i think i m gonna have to get rid of the ram though he goes into the plecos hideing spot and nips at thier fins. i saw them last night and they were pretty tore up
Poor plecos!!
I have a very large leopard sailfin pleco (9+ inches) that was living with my koi. The koi are such pigs that they too ate the algea wafers as fast as they floated down. They are also big enough to root around the drift wood and other items in the tank, so there was no way I could hide the wafers. The pleco, out of desparation, started attacking the smallest koi. He ended up killing it. I felt so bad... I had no idea things were THAT bad. He now lives with one of my oscars, whom can care less about the wafers. (even though he will try to sample one occasionally.)
What kind of rare plecos do you have?
I have a very large leopard sailfin pleco (9+ inches) that was living with my koi. The koi are such pigs that they too ate the algea wafers as fast as they floated down. They are also big enough to root around the drift wood and other items in the tank, so there was no way I could hide the wafers. The pleco, out of desparation, started attacking the smallest koi. He ended up killing it. I felt so bad... I had no idea things were THAT bad. He now lives with one of my oscars, whom can care less about the wafers. (even though he will try to sample one occasionally.)
What kind of rare plecos do you have?