Pleco wood question, and BNP

thebrandon

thebrandon

I like fish
Jan 29, 2009
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Tucson, AZ
I noticed while surfing around the internet that a lot of people are putting cholla wood in with their plecos. Is this because it is a very porous wood that is easy for them to eat? I have tons and tons of this stuff around the house and if I can put it to good use or share the wealth I would like to:)

I recently got four calico and 4 brown BNP on aquabid that should be here tomorrow.

Has anyone here used cholla wood with their bnp?
 
I have a feeling that people are using it more because it is much cheaper than malaysian driftwood or mopani. "Cholla wood" is not wood at all but the dried internal structure of a cactus. It is known that bristlenose plecos need wood to rasp in order to aid in their digestion. Does Cholla do the same thing if it is soft when kept in water? I don't think you'll find an answer to that question because I don't think cholla has been used for a long time and studied for it's effects on their digestion. Suggest you go to Bristlenoseworld.com or plecoworld.org and ask the question of long time pleco keepers. Let us know what you find out. I was given some and was afraid to put it in the tank with my baby plecos. In it's dry form it is very sharp. Wasn't sure if it would soften up, but when it comes to driftwood....I keep malaysian in all my tanks as a staple.
 
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Cholla rots & falls apart fairly quickly & grows algae from all I've read & seen. I'd pass. Seems like mopani would be awfully hard but I don't know. I have malaysian with my plecs too.
 
You're right about the mopani being very, very hard. I'm not sure if they can rasp that either. With the malaysian the outer surface gets a bit soft from the water so it makes an easy rasp for them but it's not something that they will ever eat all up like a termite and wood! LOL!
 
I tried putting some in an empty tank I have, within a few minutes it started getting very soft and pieces were falling off. Some pieces are much more dense than others, the pieces I have around are pretty moderate. I dont know if I feel safe putting it in the tank with how fast it falls apart.
 
Ya know, I have 7 albino long finned bristle nose juvie's in two tanks. The 4 pleco's in the tank with no driftwood are growing faster than the 3 pleco's in the tank with driftwood. Both tanks are heavily planted, same substrate. But, totally different inhabitants. Not sure what's going on...is it really necessary to have driftwood in a tank w/these pleco's?
 
londonloco said:
is it really necessary to have driftwood in a tank w/these pleco's?
Click to expand...

From planetcatfish:
Another very important factor in maintaining loricariids is the presence of driftwood in the aquarium. With few exceptions, loricariids need wood in their diet. In fact, the natural diet of the members of the genus Panaque is mainly wood. There are many theories as to why they need wood in their diet, but it appears safe to say that, at a minimum, that wood aids in digestion. Any tank that houses loricariids must have driftwood.

If you're not providing wood for digestion aid, how can you know that in the long-term it won't result in early demise due to digestive tract problems. Why they are growing at different rates in different tanks....whatever the reason, it's not because they do or don't have driftwood. Could be genetics, amount of available food, type of wastes accumulating in one tank of water vs. a different tank. No way to know.
 
pinkertd said:
From planetcatfish:
Another very important factor in maintaining loricariids is the presence of driftwood in the aquarium. With few exceptions, loricariids need wood in their diet. In fact, the natural diet of the members of the genus Panaque is mainly wood. There are many theories as to why they need wood in their diet, but it appears safe to say that, at a minimum, that wood aids in digestion. Any tank that houses loricariids must have driftwood.

If you're not providing wood for digestion aid, how can you know that in the long-term it won't result in early demise due to digestive tract problems. Why they are growing at different rates in different tanks....whatever the reason, it's not because they do or don't have driftwood. Could be genetics, amount of available food, type of wastes accumulating in one tank of water vs. a different tank. No way to know.
Click to expand...

Didn't know, hence the question. I can easily add some driftwood to the tank....
 
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