Algae for plecos?

[RumpThumper33]

Does there have to be algae in the tank for plecos? If not, what should I feed them?

[vfrex]

Cucumber slices,zuchini slices, they'll also take meaty stuff. Algae is defiantly not enough for a pleco to eat.

[greeneyedlady]

Originally posted by vfrex
Cucumber slices,zuchini slices, they'll also take meaty stuff. Algae is defiantly not enough for a pleco to eat.

hey do you cook the cucumber and zuchini or feed it to them raw?

[NJ Devils Fan]

Plecos usually shy away from eating algae as they get older because they do not like it as much as they do when they are young, hence the need for a regular veggie diet. I feed mine spinach and zuchini every once in a while.

GEL, I prepare my spinach by putting it in the freezer while I boil a pot of water. When the water is boiling, I dip the spinach in the water for about 10 seconds or so, rinse it off, and put it in my tank. For the zuchini, I just put it in boiling water for 10 seconds, rinse off, and put it in the tank.

HTH

[mokmu]

You can feed raw cucumber slices, spinach leaves or squash slices! The reason for the cooking and freezing is to keep the vegetables from floating. Some people say that this is done to soften the vegetable but you don't really need to do that.

Pl*cs have rasping teeth. These teeth are meant to slowly gnaw on the fruit. Pl*cs gnaw on trees and the inside of trees in the wild. I ask you, have you ever seen the pl*co have to heat their food in the wild? Having to cook it is a lot of hullabaloo. Again it is just meant to keep the vegetable from floating. Wash the fruits in running water first then feed it to them. If you need to keep the fruits down just rubberband the darn thing to a rock or ornament. I personally have my own feeding rocks with rubberbands. I put it in the tank when feeding and pull it out when feeding is done.