pleco help

[half0tempo]

I have 2 smallish plecos and I have no idea how I should go about feeding them correctly. I have been dropping one algae wafer per pleco into the tank, but this seems to be to much because there is a lot of waste. But when I only drop one in it seems like one tanks control of the food leaving the other foodless. Also, the 2 plecos are small (2 and 2.5 inches maybe less) so I'm not even sure if they need tablets, can they just survive off of the algae in the tank?

[sublime1184]

A) do you have a lot of algae in the tank?

B) are they eating it?

C) why not drop in two (drop one, let one get control then drop one near the other one)?~~~~Better yet, break one in half and give them each a half


*edit* what kind are "smallish plecos"....if you don't know, look at some pics and see which ones urs look like

[half0tempo]

Oh well, I'm pretty sure they are common plecos, so they could eventually rule the tank but at the moment they are small.

[half0tempo]

A) do you have a lot of algae in the tank?

B) are they eating it?

C) why not drop in two (drop one, let one get control then drop one near the other one)?~~~~Better yet, break one in half and give them each a half


*edit* what kind are "smallish plecos"....if you don't know, look at some pics and see which ones urs look like
Oh! I can't see any algae buildup in my tank, but maybe im colorblind... And wonderful idea, Breaking it in half! Thanks for the help!

[sublime1184]

anytime.....good luck!

[Swimfins]

You can also put in a nice long, big piece of zuchini tied to a rock. They will learn to share it. You'll see one on one end and the other on the other end. :)

[Biznatch]

1 wafer per fish is quite a lot. And I wouldnt' even do that daily. If I were you I would break it up into like 3-4 pices and drop 1 in on each side of the tank. I barely use a whole one and I have a bushy nose, rubber lipped, gold nugget, 10 cories, 3 clown loaches, and 3 khuli loaches who all like to eat them. And I only put 1 in like every couple of days or so. They also like to eat shrimp pellets.

[nursie]

I had a bristlenose that would run the clown loaches off the zucchini. I had to put 2 peices in so everyone was happy.

[Leopardess]

What size tank are they in? Those puppies dont just get big...they get huge! :eek:

And are you positive that they're commons? If you haven't yet, just double-check over at www.planetcatfish.com in their profile gallery. The reason I say this is that if the ID is wrong, you may have a pleco who requires wood in their diet. Plecos are notoriously mislabeled here.

That said, I'd just break them in half, as someone suggested. My 8 cories and little candy strip pleco will devour two whole wafers at a sitting.

[half0tempo]

Thanks for the help guys, wonderful suggestions and I will double check the species.