Pleco dietary needs...
- Thread starter ChileRelleno
- Start date
My 12" Sailfin Gibbiceps used to polish off 3-4" of Cucumber in 24 hours!! Gibbiceps moved home, now resident in LFS display tank. My L200 goes though 2" of Cucumber in 2 days with a little help from the otto, delicate whiptail, molly, angels, gouramis and siamensis.
Boiling vs raw veggies
I got a common pleco, (about 4 inches) about a month ago, to clean up the algae in my 55g. The algae was gone in two days. He would come out when I came up to the tank and stare at me. I dropped an algae dish in and it landed on his head! He sat there not moving, with the disc on his head. I almost got a picture, but he moved. I was worried that he was starving and found out about cucumber, so I parboiled it and threw it in. He came out immediately and started eating like a fiend. He layed on top of it and put up his sail. I guess the sail is to prevent predators from attacking from above.
I've found that the clown plecos love the veggies too and so do the clown loaches. With everyone chewing away at the soft food, I found a lot of seeds and pulp floating around the aquarium. I tried raw veggies rubberbanded to a small bag of marbles. There's a lot less mess, especially if I remove the seeds first. I still haven't tried fruit, but cantelope and even bananas are supposed to be good.
What do you do about the tons of poop from plecos? I've just been vacuuming it up at least once a week, some times twice. Will this settle down? Or are plecs just poopmonsters?
Snoozy
I got a common pleco, (about 4 inches) about a month ago, to clean up the algae in my 55g. The algae was gone in two days. He would come out when I came up to the tank and stare at me. I dropped an algae dish in and it landed on his head! He sat there not moving, with the disc on his head. I almost got a picture, but he moved. I was worried that he was starving and found out about cucumber, so I parboiled it and threw it in. He came out immediately and started eating like a fiend. He layed on top of it and put up his sail. I guess the sail is to prevent predators from attacking from above.
I've found that the clown plecos love the veggies too and so do the clown loaches. With everyone chewing away at the soft food, I found a lot of seeds and pulp floating around the aquarium. I tried raw veggies rubberbanded to a small bag of marbles. There's a lot less mess, especially if I remove the seeds first. I still haven't tried fruit, but cantelope and even bananas are supposed to be good.
What do you do about the tons of poop from plecos? I've just been vacuuming it up at least once a week, some times twice. Will this settle down? Or are plecs just poopmonsters?
Snoozy
Major fece factories! Vacuum, vacuum and vacuum some moreSnoozy said:
No need to blanch cucumber or zucchini, I prefer zucchini to cucumber, less mess.
I blanched some spinach and dropped in the tank last night. my pleco has so far not been interested in it. i will try something else tonight, but how long should i leave the spinach in there? i am just worried about polluting the water.
the next question you would probably ask me is what kind of pleco he is and i am really not sure. I just got him two days ago and based on the pics I have seen online, i can't base a decision on the species type although i remember hom being labled as an 'algae eater' at the lfs. i am going to run by the lfs after work tonight and verify that info just to make sure greens are good for him in the first place.
thanks.
the next question you would probably ask me is what kind of pleco he is and i am really not sure. I just got him two days ago and based on the pics I have seen online, i can't base a decision on the species type although i remember hom being labled as an 'algae eater' at the lfs. i am going to run by the lfs after work tonight and verify that info just to make sure greens are good for him in the first place.
thanks.
I've seen Hillstream Loaches labelled as "algae eaters". An altogether completely different fish. Take a picture. I'm sure someone here will recognize it. Otherwise try www.planetcatfish.comNim Dibbley said:
I agree with Galaxie in that you need to get a positive ID in order to decide on proper care. If you can get a clear quality pic, that would be best.Nim Dibbley said:
Post that pic here in the Catfish Forum and in the proper forum at the two sites below.
Besides www.planetcatfish.com you can try www.plecofanatics.com , either are top-notch Cat/Plec & Plec specific sites.
I would have little trust in the recommendations of a LFS/LPS that labels any fish simply 'algae-eater', their $0.02 IMHO is worthless.
Get a valid ID, look the fish up on planetcatfishes cate-log and it will give you a profile with habitat, care & dietary needs.
I have driftwood in my tank, and feed my plecs zuccini, shrimp pellets and flake food. I love watching them go after everything.
The only kind of driftwood we have at work is grape driftwood. Is that safe for the aquarium? I know that we sell it in our reptile department seeing as it provides a lot of basking/hiding areas, but is that stuff ok to go underwater? Also, is there any particular "type" of driftwood that plecos will eat/preffer over other kinds? I don't have one currently, but I told one of my regular customers that I'd adopt her 6" pleco, and I'm trying to get everything set before I get him. (probably within the next 3-5 days)
