Best food for pleco?

[Barry Tetra]

My pleco dont like algae wafer nor eating algae, he wait for days to get the pellet and I’ve heard that algae eating fish cannot eat pellet with protein? I have my pleco with blackghost knife fish what should i feed them? @essjay @CryptFan

 

[CryptFan]

Pleco should be fed a diet of algae wafers and protein pellets, try some bottom feeder pellets or wafers.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Pleco should be fed a diet of algae wafers and protein pellets, try some bottom feeder pellets or wafers.

They seems to ignore it.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

My pleco dont like algae wafer nor eating algae, he wait for days to get the pellet and I’ve heard that algae eating fish cannot eat pellet with protein? I have my pleco with blackghost knife fish what should i feed them? @essjay @CryptFan

You could try to blanch some cucumbers or zucchini’s. My pleco occasionally likes a blanched veggie.

 

[Barry Tetra]

You could try to blanch some cucumbers or zucchini’s. My pleco occasionally likes a blanched veggie.

How can i feed two species of fishes at once? One like veggie another (knifefish) like bloodworm.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Will the knife fish eat your other fish’s food? (Usually)

 

[Barry Tetra]

Will the knife fish eat your other fish’s food? (Usually)

They mostly eat live food and high protein food. @Colin_T said high protein food will rot the “plant eating fish” intestine. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rip-my-favorite-fish.456958/ Post #5.

 

[utahfish]

Do you have any wood in the tank. Most plecos will graze on wood. Plus algae.

 

[Waterstrider]

Most plecos are not exclusively plant eaters. What type of plec are we talking about? Mine like occasionally dark leafy greens.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Most plecos are not exclusively plant eaters. What type of plec are we talking about? Mine like occasionally dark leafy greens.

My pleco is L001 and common pleco.

 

[Byron]

My pleco is L001 and common pleco.

According to the data on Planet Catfish, L001 is omnivorous requiring both vegetable and meat. They suggest:
Lettuce, Peas, Frozen Spinach and any prepared food that reaches the bottom. Larger fish enjoy prawns or pieces of freshwater trout. Algae (especially soft brown) will be eaten immediately.

For "prepared food" I strongly suggest Omega One Veggie rounds. This has algae/kelp but also whole fish. It also has no additives so it is more nutritional than many similar foods.

The common pleco, Hypostomus plecostomus...When young it naturally feeds on algae, crustaceans, insects, small worms. As it matures it eats less and less algae. In the aquarium, it accepts most prepared sinking foods; algae/spirulina/kelp foods should be included. Frozen bloodworms, shrimp; live worms, insect larvae, brine shrimp. Vegetable matter such as zucchini, yam, driftwood, cucumber may be offered. Here again the Omega One Veggie Rounds will be ideal as a basic food, with all the rest as treats.

And as someone pointed out, plecos must have real wood in the tank to graze; they "eat" this not as nutrition but for the bacterial benefits to their digestive tract.