If plecos eat driftwood...

I think they just graze on it, eating the softer outter part, but im not quite sure.

it would definately take awhile..they scrape the outter/softer layer of wood.
the wood eaters might go thru it quicker(relative term) they have the mouth that is more suited to rasping the wood fibers.
I think almost all plecos benefit with wood in the tank..even tho many don't eat much of it.

I do know that certain wood eating plecos need the wood fiber to aid in food digestion.
I believe some of the wood eaters..it's their main diet..i still doubt they would munch thru your wood all that soon.

interstingly a petco here had their bogwood in tanks and plecos in the tank with the bogwood..it gets messy and I beleive they should have been cleaning the tanks more than they were..

no I dont think that would happen in a plecos life time. I have a bunch in w/ 2 commons and they dont even like it.

I'm sure the wood will rot even before the pleco can leave a visible munching on it.

I have a 3" clown pleco which latches onto a piece of driftwood 95 percent of the time. It also eats zucchini and algae pellet. It will probably take another 300 years for it to finish the driftwood.

Depends on the species of pleco and the type of wood. I had 3 ancistrus species, and one medium sized common. All would munch on the wood in the tank. Mopani is denser, and I could see the rasping marks, but never had big chunks missing or fall off. The softer driftwoods were a different story--not only was the rasping visible, but they'd chew enough that I had wood 'litter' all over the tank--little bits that they'd eaten through a branchy area. If I left them in the tank, they disappeared within a few months, so I suspect those little 'splinters' were eaten as well.

I had a common pleco for a month who I rarely saw on the mopani wood but the filter was clogged with tiny pieces two weeks after introducing the wood. I seem to remember someone else posting here about how their pleco ate the wood until it was tiny. I surmise that my pleco rasped the wood off and then the filter sucked it up. Moral of this story: give the pleco the wood but be prepared to clean the filter more often.

Mine possitively do a number on the wood. :Angel:
The holes slowly get larger and the branches become spears. I am not sure what type of wood it is I pick it up ay my LFS it is attached to a piece of slate.
The plecos in that tank are rhino, royal, gibbeceps, green phantom, king tiger and gold peckolita.
In a 140 gal a piece that reached the top was reduced by 1/4 and the holes to triple there size in less then 10 years.( how long they have been there) I took out the piece last summer. Trying to find a old pic of the tank so I can do a before and after.

MY royal takes about 1/4 inch per month off of any wood surface he can get to. it does definately depend on the species. Some species merely like the wood to hang on to and others require the wood to eat. Royals happen to be one that require driftwood to eat. I don't think common plecos actually consume the wood though. I have known enough people who kept commons without wood.
Dave