Clown pleco

[woodfin]

Hey all
I have 2 clown pleco's .they've been in tank for a week now.ive been reading a lot about the types of wood they like which now is up to 5 different kinds I just want to make sure I get it right. I have them in a 35 gallon tank.can anyone set me straight on the best kind of wood for these guys or girls. Currently they are about 1-1/2" long
Thanks for any help

 

[UnknownFishies]

I honestly have no expertise on plecos.
@PlasticGalaxy might be able to help though.

 

[Byron]

Provided the wood is real wood, and not toxic, I doubt it makes much difference. The commonly seen aquarium woods like the dark brown Malaysian Driftwood is one good choice as it does not tend to rot apart too fast but is soft enough to be eaten. Branches from oak, beech, and similar hardwood trees--once they have come off the tree and totally dried out so they are brittle, and assuming the collecting site is safe and free of toxins--would be good.

The rest of the diet is important. In its habitat, this fish feeds on logs and branches, eating the wood itself along with aufwuchs [algae mats containing rotifers, small crustaceans, insect larvae, protozoans]. This fish will eat some species of algae, prepared sinking foods that contain vegetable matter along with shrimp, fish meal, etc. Blanched vegetables such as zucchini, yams [according to Planet Catfish a particular favourite!], squash, cucumber, spinach, romaine, banana. Live or frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, blackworms, but go sparingly on the worms.

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

I honestly have no expertise on plecos.
@PlasticGalaxy might be able to help though.

Oops, sorry, was AFK. Sorry for the late response!

Pretty much all of the wood you see in aquatics supply shops will be safe for plecos, so I'd just go with whatever you think looks nicest.

Boiling the wood before putting it into the tank would be good too, since the tannins in the wood can bleed out and turn the water red if you're not careful.

As @Byron has already said, the wood isn't as important as the rest of the diet is. Blanched veggies or a nice chunk of cucumber in the tank every so often can be a really nice treat for plecos, so definitely try that out to see what they like. They'll probably also eat sinking pellets and algae wafers like a lot of other plecs will. They're omnivores, so they'll gobble up pretty much anything they can reasonably snack on.

Hope this helps out! Would love to see photos of the plecos.

 

[UnknownFishies]

Oops, sorry, was AFK. Sorry for the late response!

Your good?

 

[woodfin]

Thanks everyone for the great advice ?
I knew I would get good responses fromTFF
Keep Fish keeping strong ?
Thanks again