extreme diet variation between the various suckermouths…

[Magnum Man]

finding the best diet for your suckermouth fish, can be challenging… there large differences between the otto’s, hillstream loach’s, and the pleco families… algae is a good place to begin, but plain common “sterile” aquarium algae alone will sustain very few fish… aufwucks ( the word used for wild algae found in nature ) contains all the micro life found in the wild living in the algae… which consists of various bug larvae, micro crustations, and other little critters too numerous to mention… these get eaten along with the algae, intentionally, or accidentally, when the wild algae is consumed…

one problem, is figuring out what the nutritional needs of each particular suckermouth is… the wild algae is different by location, because the the variety and numbers of critters living in it… some fish, like the common pleco have been known to survive on sterile aquarium algae, and what ever fish food they can scavenge, but most will not thrive on aquarium algae and just common generic fish foods, so we need to supplement something, to get them to survive a normal long life…

the next problem, is a man can not survive on ice cream alone… and likewise we need to find a way for the fish to get what’s missing in it’s diet, that it will actually like to eat, and that the other residents of the tank won’t eat before the suckermouth gets to it… unfortunately , it seems like the fancier the fish is, the harder that species is to keep…

this is easily seen in this example… I keep hillstream’s in a tank set up for them… I’ve litterally tried 30-40 different varieties, which I break into 2 group types… stingray shape, and lizard shape… I apparently have the conditions and diet needed for the stingray type, as most all are thriving, but the lizard types ( and I’ve had 12-15 different varieties ) some live about a year, but none thrive in my tank, the way the stingray types do, so I’m not doing something right… as far as we know, the conditions are similar, so I’m guessing something in the diet is missing… they aggressively go after the food I supplement, and I intentionally grow algae in that tank, so there is plenty of that available…

Otto’s… I’ve tried every variety that’s been available to me, and had a couple zebra otto’s, last a year or a little better, but not what I would call thrive…

plecos of the non common variety… I’ve got a worm line that appears to be thriving, though it’s only been here about a year, and I’m not doing anything significantly different than I did for the others, that did not live that long… I have several super red bushy noses that seem to be thriving ( Ancistrus ) which seem to be one of the easier of the less common plecos to keep…

if anyone has been able to keep any of the less common suckermouths thriving for a while, I’d love to hear the species, conditions and diets…

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Diet is very important. Of all the things we do for fish, I rank our dietary choices near the top of the list in importance. I have kept a few of the BN which were my first plecos alive and spawning for many years. I have rehomed zebra plecos in their 20s although they were only with me for about 14 or 15 years. There is more to this than diet. Having the proper parameters is essential as well.

I am down to my only breeding pleco group, my WC L173. I got them in Oct 2015 at an estimated age of 4 -5 years. It took me over a year before they spawned for the first time. They recently released a new spawn. I am aware of a pleco breeder who had a male spawn ay the age of 23.

I got my first bristles in about 2003- they were long fins. As far as I know they were the coomon strain of tank fish that orriginated in Europe. They were spawning for some time before I knew it as I had them in my community planted 45 gal. The fry were alwways lunch until there was a large amount of plant cover, Then one day I saw a fry. A breeder from whom I got them and who was alos breeding corys convinced me to pull a spawn, which I did. This resulted in BN getting their own tanks and me being overrun with BN fry. I finally sold them all at the 2014 CatCon. It was the only time I have sold my fish to a retail store. I just wanted to be rid of them

Over the past couple of years I began keeping ancistrus again, but only a single sex in any tank. I have albinos and super reds.

We have a private well for our water. This area is very rocky. I believe we are in what remains of maountains which were long ago wron down into hills. When my parnets who built the place decided to put in a pool some 20 years after had to have dynamite used to make the hole into which the pool was constructed. I believe this has made my water chemistry/parameters similar to what is often found in the area of the Brazilian shield. Most of my plecos come from the Rio Xingu and it is definitely a child of the Shield.
Exploring South America’s Xingu River Author: Oliver Lucanus

As for info on AUfwuchs, you might find this review paper able to provide some of the answers for which you are looking. When I tried to gete citing info it came back as being unable to provide at this time soe here is the long version.

Periphyton Used as Live Food in Fresh Water Sustainable Aquaculture: A Review
Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology
ISSN: 2278-2249 (Online), ISSN: 2321-6468 (Print)
Volume 8, Issue 3
www.stmjournals.com

Yasmeen A. Shaikh1, Shivaji P. Chavan

Research Scholar, Aquatic Parasitology and Fisheries Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology,
School of Life Sciences, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra State, India
Professor and Head, Aquatic Parasitology and Fisheries Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra State, India

Abstract
The present study reviewed periphyton used as live food in aquaculture and periphyton classification on the basis of substrates used for growth. Hence, periphytic growth was estimated by different researchers depending upon types of substrates, type of habitat and
animal used. Different aquaculture traditional methods are used in various regions of the world. It has role in nutrient transfer and uptake of nutrient from the lower trophic level to higher trophic level due to that it performs role in biological cleaning of water. The result
observed for the attachment or colonization process of periphyton on substrates has a role in deposition of organic materials, attachment of bacillariophyceae, filamentous algae and invertebrate larvae. Periphyton has been used as live food for carp.

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...sh-Water-Sustainable-Aquaculture-A-Review.pdf

I had not been aware of the exisitence of Aufwuchs until I got Ingo Seidel's book. I already had acquired my breeding group of zebras by then.

I have been amazingly lucky. Most of the fish I have kept have spawned in my tanks. Not all were succesful in producting more than eggs but many did give me fry. My water is netraul in terms of pH and on the soft side. Despite that I was able to get a lot of fry from spwardtails- common orange and also Montexumae. But most of my fish have been well suited to my water parameters. I have always fed a varied diet to my fish.

I also have come to believe that when it comes to feeod, most fish are pigs. they will try to eat anything whether or not it is a part of their
diet in the wild. Vegetarians will eat meat and vice versa. Of course there are some species which will not do this. I have just not seemed to keep any of these. When I wanted to get BN to spawn I used two foods- blood worms and canned green beans (no salt added one).

I have also watched a diverse group of fish in a community tank all try to eat and then spi t out a bit of a dead plant floating in the water. Fish one moths it and spits it out and fish two nearbu seeing this tries it next and spits it out as well. I have seen multiple fish species do this one after the other.

Most fish need a somewhat varied diet. Vegetarians eat some meaty thongs and carnocores will eat some veggies type foods as well. One thing I do it when making up Repashy foods I will usually mix about 20% of soilent green intoi the Bottom Scrathcer and Spawn & Grow. One of the things my clown loached absolutely love is the Igapo Explorer. Leavong out the meneral and similar ingredients, heere is what is in the Igapo mix:
INGREDIENTS: Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal, Krill Meal, Banana Powder, Squid Meal, Mango Powder, Pea Flour, Mulberry Fruit Powder, Dandelion Powder, Seaweed Flour, Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, Ground Flax Seed, Alfalfa Meal, Locust Bean Gum, Citric Acid, Lecithin, Stinging Nettle, Garlic, Ginger, Cinnamon, Phaffia Yeast, Dried Watermelon, Rosehips, Hibiscus Flower, Marigold Flower, Calendula Flower, Paprika, Turmeric, Dried Kelp.

I would never have though fish woulf eat a lot of what was on the list above. My big clown usually nabs a chunk or two before it even makes it to the substrate. It also loves the Bottom Scratcher. I also eagerly eats both the Ebo Aquaristik Shrimp Sticks and Mussel Stickes as well as the Veggie Sticks. I sucks up Sera Vopa Chips and my custon blens of kensfish sinking sticks. And when I feed real cooked shrimp it is out of control. It truly is a pig with scales and fins.

Unfortunately, a lot of what constitutes the meaty inhabitants of the Algae or Biofilm which hosts the meatier stuff in Aufwuchs we do not have in our tanks. Fortunately, theare are "commercial" foods likr the Ebo or Repashy that do have them. One of the thngs zebras in the wild eat are frsh water sponges, These also host intersting ctitters. Ebo makes. I never used this as I found it too late to be usefull. I have not had any zebras now for about 4 years.

EBO Sponge Softgran Premium Fish Food​

Fish food with freshwater sponges
Granules
Some of our fish feed on freshwater sponges, especially the genus Pseudacanthicus and the L46 Hypancistrus zebra. In particular, the L46 is regularly found feeding on freshwater sponges in its natural habitat and incorporates them into its diet. This diet inspires the fish food EBO Sponge Softgran Premium.

 

[CassCats]

Ive got a L240 vampire pleco, and he is a carnivorous pleco. Even has the hooked fangs on the top lip and short sharp teeth on the bottom lip. These are designed to grasp meaty foods in fast flowing water. They eat a lot of crustaceans and such naturally too, probably wouldn't hesitate to scavenge carcasses.

This mouth folds shut and can give a rather uncomfortable pinch

He gets a more meaty diet with algae wafers as a treat. Instead he gets Northfin Carnivore Pellets meant for large fish, but treat one pellet like an algae wafer instead. He also gets chopped raw shrimp from the grocery store.

I've got wood eaters too (panaqolus) and your typical bristlenose, their diets are pretty standard. The panaqolus I offer different types of wood for them to graze on and replace it as necessary. Sticks, soft bark, etc. Plus veggies, algae wafers, and the usual community foods. Frozen foods as a treat.