Need help feeding pleco

if he refuses to eat you can try this: pick out your favorite fish foods (algae wafers, flake, whatever), crush/grind it into a powder (plastic bag and a rolling pin work well if you dont have a mortar and pestle). separate and egg yolk from the white; throw away the egg yolk. mix the egg white and powdered fish food together with a little garlic juice. paint mixture onto a rock and let the egg white COMPLETELY dry (about 24 hours). toss in the rock just before or after lights out.

a lot of plecos will take to this method; it imitates their natural methods for feeding, but is a lot faster than growing algae on rocks in a bucket. you can slowly wean them off of this method of feeding after a week or two by leaving the rock in the tank and dropping the food directly onto the rock. the fish learns to associate the rock with dinner.
 
inkyjenn said:
if he refuses to eat you can try this: pick out your favorite fish foods (algae wafers, flake, whatever), crush/grind it into a powder (plastic bag and a rolling pin work well if you dont have a mortar and pestle). separate and egg yolk from the white; throw away the egg yolk. mix the egg white and powdered fish food together with a little garlic juice. paint mixture onto a rock and let the egg white COMPLETELY dry (about 24 hours). toss in the rock just before or after lights out.

a lot of plecos will take to this method; it imitates their natural methods for feeding, but is a lot faster than growing algae on rocks in a bucket. you can slowly wean them off of this method of feeding after a week or two by leaving the rock in the tank and dropping the food directly onto the rock. the fish learns to associate the rock with dinner.
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Wow - that's really neat, I've never heard that.
 
That does sound like a good idea!

Your Pleco is a common and will outgrow that tank. You will need at least a 4ft tank for him. If you are not able or will be unable to meet his housing needs start considering to re-home him. He can grow quite long. Failing to get him into a larger tank will cause stunting which is a health hazard.

As far as food goes, mine like yours, will not eat any veggies. He will eat the Hikari algae wafer. I do not feed mine everyday as he "cleans up" all the uneaten fish food in the tank as well as eating the algae. I also give him sinking cichlid pellets as he seems to thoroughly enjoy them. They are Hikari Cichlid Gold, small pellets. At feeding time I have seen him compete with the Oscar and the convict! He was a rescue and I have no idea what he was fed before I got him. I only know what I have found that he seems to like.
 
you could also try rubbing the wafers with a clove of garlic.

mine love nori, i just clip it into the algae clip.

you could also check out the inverts section for snail jello recipies, mine all love those.
 
My plecos take a beating from my cichlids but they still swim to the top to snatch floating pellets from the surface of the water.They will find food lol
 
That's a cool trick with the egg whites- how very clever!

I wouldn't be worried yet. Give him a little time to settle in. My commons will eat EVERYTHING that goes in the tank, but they are very very skittish even though I've had them in the same tank for 4 years. I can't imagine how much more scaredy-cat they'd be if I just moved them. Try putting in food in the tank at lights out when the other fish go to sleep. As others mentioned he will be active at night and his tank mates won't get to eat it all before he gets there.

If I feed the fish when its dark in the room and only the tank lights are on then sit back away from the tank for a moment (so the fish can't see me) the plecos will come out and eat with the other fish. As soon as they catch any movement outside the tank they dive for cover. Back away from the tank and sit still for a while with the room lights off, he may be more likely to come out and eat with the others.

Also, I notice you are looking for a cave for him, something natural looking. In my tanks I have lots and rocks and driftwood. Its prettier and my plecos each have their own spot on the underside of a piece of wood or between rocks. They don't need something enclosed on all sides to feel comfortable, just a secluded spot. The driftwood is good for them too.
 
inkyjenn said:
if he refuses to eat you can try this: pick out your favorite fish foods (algae wafers, flake, whatever), crush/grind it into a powder (plastic bag and a rolling pin work well if you dont have a mortar and pestle). separate and egg yolk from the white; throw away the egg yolk. mix the egg white and powdered fish food together with a little garlic juice. paint mixture onto a rock and let the egg white COMPLETELY dry (about 24 hours). toss in the rock just before or after lights out.

a lot of plecos will take to this method; it imitates their natural methods for feeding, but is a lot faster than growing algae on rocks in a bucket. you can slowly wean them off of this method of feeding after a week or two by leaving the rock in the tank and dropping the food directly onto the rock. the fish learns to associate the rock with dinner.
Click to expand...

That is an awesome idea! I'm going to try this tomorrow. Thanks!
 
excuzzzeme said:
That does sound like a good idea!

Your Pleco is a common and will outgrow that tank. You will need at least a 4ft tank for him. If you are not able or will be unable to meet his housing needs start considering to re-home him. He can grow quite long. Failing to get him into a larger tank will cause stunting which is a health hazard.

As far as food goes, mine like yours, will not eat any veggies. He will eat the Hikari algae wafer. I do not feed mine everyday as he "cleans up" all the uneaten fish food in the tank as well as eating the algae. I also give him sinking cichlid pellets as he seems to thoroughly enjoy them. They are Hikari Cichlid Gold, small pellets. At feeding time I have seen him compete with the Oscar and the convict! He was a rescue and I have no idea what he was fed before I got him. I only know what I have found that he seems to like.
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I just bought the tank last month on craigslist. It came with the pleco. Im not in the positon where I can get a bigger tank at this time. It is 20 gallons. What is the max size of a pleco in a 20 gallon tank? All of my fish can be considered rescues as well. I got the tank and it was fifthy. She told me that only monthy water changes were needed and she showed me how she did hers. By scooping out the water wtih a bowl! This is my first tank and even I had the common sense to know better. They had all kinds of fungus diseases going on and fin rot. The one molly had a bad case of the shimmys. She would even shimmy when eating. One wondershell cured it!. They are looking very healthy. One molly has a small spot on his face from where the columaris was. I think its a scar. :( When I first got Mr Pleco he wouldn't move at all. Now as long as im not near the tank he will swim back and forth in it late at night. I love watching him do flips. I have been planning on getting a bigger tank but wont be able to do so until March. Do you think he will be ok until then? How many gallons would a 4 foot tank be?
 
My humble opinion is that he'll be fine until March. I have a 40 gallon breeder which is 36 inches by 18 inches. I think a 55 gal would be about 4 foot long. I think you are doing a fantastic job and obviously care, that in itself is a great start for these poor guys you saved.
 
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