pleacos and plants

chishnfips · Sep 23, 2005

Hi there folks,

I was just wondering if there are any types of plants that a pleco wont eat, He has absolutely shredded my amazon sword plants to bits. Even though he gets about 3 - 4 pleco wafers a day. The Greedy begger.

Answers on a post card.

cheers

Gourami Girl · Sep 23, 2005

well a good one that doesn't normally get eaten is Java Fern as it's quite tough.

it's best planted on something, eg bogwood, which is essential for the plec's diet anyway.

i feed mine cucumber and lettuce weighted down, every 3-4 days, they don't seem to touch my plants, so it's worth a go!

Saz · Sep 23, 2005

Java fern definitely. I have a pleco and she doesn't touch the stuff. Good luck! :hyper:

Tokis-Phoenix · Sep 23, 2005

chishnfips said:
Hi there folks,

I was just wondering if there are any types of plants that a pleco wont eat, He has absolutely shredded my amazon sword plants to bits. Even though he gets about 3 - 4 pleco wafers a day. The Greedy begger.

Answers on a post card.

cheers

[snapback]915937[/snapback]

What type of plec do you have and do you feed it anything like algae wafers and how often?

chishnfips · Sep 26, 2005

I have a golden spotted pleco, tokis.

I feed the pleco about 3-4 algae wafers a day, he is about 5-6 inches long now I reckon. And eh gets the odd bit of cucumber now and then.

Tokis-Phoenix · Sep 26, 2005

You mean like a gold nugget plec? There are loads of plecs with gold/yellow spots thats all.

gold nugget plec;

http

/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...yanci/153_f.php

Most plecs won't eat healthy plants and will only eat them if they are rotting/dying or have algae growing on them although there are some types of plecs that do strip live healthy plants.
If yours is a gold nugget plec you should try feeding it de shelled prawns as they need protein in their diets alot more as they grow.
smaller version of the gold nugget plec;

http

/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...yanci/154_f.php

chishnfips · Sep 26, 2005

hi tokis,

I looks similar but the colours aren't as bright as that. It's more browny gold than yellow and the strip on the back and dorsal fin isn't as thick as that one, it's thinner and less bright.

Also the spots on it aren't round they are more of a camouflage shape (if you know what I mean).

It was sold to me by the fish shop as a "golden nugget pleco" but now I am thinking thats not what it is. It totally strips the fresh plants so it might be one of the other ones you mentioned.

Do you have the names of them by any chance, i have been searching google but can't really find one similar to the one I have. :dunno:

cheers

Tokis-Phoenix · Sep 26, 2005

A little more like this one;

http

/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...istru/221_f.php

or this(another version of the golden nugget plec);

http

/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...yanci/155_f.php

Leopard spot cactus plec;

http

/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...udaca/208_f.php

Neh??

chishnfips · Sep 26, 2005

Nah none of those :lol:

man this is difficult.

I managed to find a picture on my pc of my pleco I posted it in the non fish photos bit as I couldn't post it here. Have a look and see if you can identify it.

cheers

black angel · Sep 26, 2005

Mine eats all the plants too but it cant eat the vallis or the java fern. Theres a couple other plants in the tank he hasnt munched on but i dont know what they are, but one might be bacopa.
You should cut back on the wafers. Mine is about 6 or 7 inches long and only gets half a wafer a night and has other stuff such as weighted cucumber and lightly boiled lettuce.
Try some lightly cooked aubergine as well.