Pleco Feeding

[Sesshis_grl]

Hello

I have 2 plecos and I'm kind of concerned about what they are eating. I had algae in the tank a month ago but now I'm not seeing much so I started putting in algae tablets for them. The problem is I have loaches that I feed shrimp pellets and the plecos have decided that this is far more delicious than the algae. They no longer touch the algae pellets so I'm worried that they aren't eating algae at all...is this bad? idk if their health will suffer if all they eat is shrimp pellets

 

[Gaz_S]

Bang some cucumber in if your worried, do you have any driftwood? I wouldnt be too worried about them.

 

[Gilli]

Put a wedge of courgette in which has far more nutritional value than cucumber - my plecs also like sweet potato (blanched) water melon, & green pepper as well as algeae waifers.You can also feed squash and similar vegetables, lettuce and other leafy vegetables. Each plec is an individual and what some love others wont touch! Try them and they will soon let you know their favourites!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Err, should the shrimp pellets be food for... shrimps?

Tetra do both veggie specific sinking wafers and other wafers suitable for omnivores, I bought both the other day for the first time and am using the latter. Along with my Panda Garras and Hypoptopoma inexspectatum, my four Lionhead cichlids are going bonkers for these sinking mini-wafers, they almost look like puppies who had found a juicy bone and then "run" off to munch on it in their home cave!

 

[Rainbow67]

Put a wedge of courgette in which has far more nutritional value than cucumber - my plecs also like sweet potato (blanched) water melon, & green pepper as well as algeae waifers.You can also feed squash and similar vegetables, lettuce and other leafy vegetables. Each plec is an individual and what some love others wont touch! Try them and they will soon let you know their favourites!

Actually that isn't necessarily the case, Cucumber has a higher content of Vitamin K (good for bones) than Courgettes, so I wouldn't abandon the cucumber for the cougette, feed both if you want the benefits of both veg.

My plecs will readily eat broad beans, sweet potatoe, butternut squash, cucumber, brocali stalks, carrots.....the trouble is so do my clown loaches!

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I see
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try some of those..do all the veges need to be cooked? or organic? or do you just wash them really well?

 

[Rainbow67]

I see
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try some of those..do all the veges need to be cooked? or organic? or do you just wash them really well?

It depends on the veg.

I have found frozen broad beans by far the easiest to feed, as they require no washing or cooking or blancing and they sink!

I buy a bag of frozen baby broad beans at Tescos for about a pound & 20p.
They are the easiest to feed becuase they sink. Just leave one or two beans out at room temperature to thaw out for about an hour...then peel the outer shell to reveal the soft inside and just pop into the tank, you can crush up the bean with your fingers if it makes it easier for you plec.

Cucumber can be fed raw although you need to rinse well to make sure you don't introduce any dirt into your tank or harmful things into your tank, I cut the peel off just to be extra safe.

Other veg like carrot, brocali stalks and sweet potatoe should be blanched or lightly cooked and obviously cooled before adding to tank.

This disadvatage with most veg is that they will float and most plecos would prefer to feed on the bottom of the tank rather than the surface, so for these you will need to either weigh the veg down with something like a screwcumber (a metal coil specifically designed to weigh down veg) or a veg clip.

Like I said though frozen broad bean is by far the easiest to feed since they sink on their own and my fish love them too!

 

[Gaz_S]

Use a piece of lead off plants (thats if you buy live) just push that through the veg and bend it over for plecs and other bottom feeders.