Can you have a pleco without wood

[RD.]

On the other hand i had two sun shines that tore it up. And yes they were fed a variety of foods.

Yes, mine tore it up as well .…… but it did not seem to eat it. All she did was make a huge freaking mess, which either ended up in my filters or got sucked up during water changes. From what I could gather at the time S. aureatus does not appear to be a wood-eating loricariid, which doesn't come as a huge surprise as the environment that it comes from (Rio Xingu in Brazil) is in many areas more of a surf zone, full of rocks and sand. Aquatic plants are rare to nonexistent, and there's not a ton of driftwood either.





The L014 is classified as an omnivore, but they clearly lean towards the carnivorous side of the equation. Mine would attack any fish that came near her when she was feeding. The she devil was later farmed out to a friends tank due to her hyper aggression.




Another species that will do just fine without having driftwood in its tank. In fact, with this species, I would never keep driftwood in the tank unless you enjoy cleaning up the mess.

 

[RD.]

Most Pleco do consume wood fiber in the wild. This is what I just found it contains Oak Wood.https://www.miscota.com/fish/tropic...oKQpSCFZxDLUEEkBusvwGBHjTRa_FxABoCcRYQAvD_BwE

Thanks I bought something similar in Amazon

Gimmicky to say the least. The food linked to contains 1% oak meal. WoW. This is the analytical break down;
crude protein 43.0%, crude oils and fats 5.0%, crude fibres 3.5%, moisture 10.0%.

So relatively high in protein for a supposed wood-eating pleco, but only a measly 3.5% fiber content. Huh?
That makes zero sense from a dietary purspective.

 

[Plec123]

It was always my understanding that only plecos in the Panaque / Panaquolus genuses required wood in their diet... And their dental structure does support that information. I own an L200, L240, L114, L037, L239, and some whiptails, and while they all rasp the aufwuchs off the wood, none of them actually eat it.

So OP will be fine without wood unless they're looking to buy a royal, clown, flash, blue eye, etc. pleco.

That being said, wood does seem to support the growth of all that rasty aufwuchs that they love to suck on... more so than glass or rocks.

 

[RD.]

It was always my understanding that only plecos in the Panaque / Panaquolus genuses required wood in their diet...

Wood in not a dietary requirement for plecos kept in captivity. See following sticky on this subject.

Can Plecos Digest Wood?

I have been suggesting to people for years that panaques etc. don't eat wood for it's nutrient value, or for digestibility, they eat it as a secondary action when scraping the biofilm that grows on the wood. According to the most recent research in this area by Donovan German it appears...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[Plec123]

Wood in not a dietary requirement for plecos kept in captivity. See following sticky on this subject.

Can Plecos Digest Wood?

I have been suggesting to people for years that panaques etc. don't eat wood for it's nutrient value, or for digestibility, they eat it as a secondary action when scraping the biofilm that grows on the wood. According to the most recent research in this area by Donovan German it appears...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Huh. How about that. You learn something new every day.

 

[RD.]

And just so there's no confusion, I am not advocating that plecos should not be kept with wood in their tank, only that it does not appear to be a dietary requirement for plecos kept in captivity, as many believed for many years. And for that matter, many apparently still do.

Unfortunately many hobbyists still consider aquarium driftwood as a source of nutrients for their fish, and that plecos are only meant as a clean up crew of sorts. A common misconception for those that are new to the hobby. The end result of that is malnourished fish.

 

[LBDave]

I responded to that thread. Studies indicate they do digest wood.

 

[David R]

Interesting discussion, but regardless of our limited understanding of their digestive systems and how "necessary" the wood fibre is, I'd still recommend avoiding the genera Panaque and Panaqolus if you're wanting to keep a "pleco" without wood. That still leaves easily over a thousand species/variants to choose from. Regardless of whether or not it is necessary for their survival I think that taking ques from their natural diet and habitat is the best practice and that's what we should be aiming for with this hobby, not just "can my fish live without X cos I don't like how it looks".

I noticed with my group of L190's that the amount of rasping and "consumption" of wood decreased considerably around 9-10" in size.

 

[RD.]

I have seen huge Panaques raised in captivity, massive in size, that consumed nothing but commercial food. No wood. They lived long healthy lives, longer than many fish on this forum. Fiber can come in many forms, it doesn't have to be wood, or the various other substances that are found in wood, in nature. Does the Scatophagus family require eating feces in captivity? What about species that in nature consume scales, slime coats, detritus, etc? What about marine fish, such as Parrotfish that in the wild only eat coral? (to glean the algae from them) Do SW fish keepers feed them algae covered coral in captivity? These species are all raised in captivity on commercial foods, and live long healthy lives. There are ways to duplicate all of these feeding niches, in captivity.

While sucking/chewing on wood is a natural feeding behaviour, I do not believe that any species of pleco actually requires wood as part of their diet.

I responded to that thread. Studies indicate they do digest wood.

That doesn't equate to them requiring wood as part of their diet, in captivity.


Again, while sucking/chewing on wood is a natural feeding behaviour, I do not believe that any species of pleco actually requires wood as part of their diet.


If someone can provide evidence that proves otherwise, please share.

Far too many myths & misconceptions in this hobby.

 

[LBDave]

I have seen huge Panaques raised in captivity, massive in size, that consumed nothing but commercial food. No wood. They lived long healthy lives, longer than many fish on this forum. Fiber can come in many forms, it doesn't have to be wood, or the various other substances that are found in wood, in nature. Does the Scatophagus family require eating feces in captivity? What about species that in nature consume scales, slime coats, detritus, etc? What about marine fish, such as Parrotfish that in the wild only eat coral? (to glean the algae from them) Do SW fish keepers feed them algae covered coral in captivity? These species are all raised in captivity on commercial foods, and live long healthy lives. There are ways to duplicate all of these feeding niches, in captivity.

While sucking/chewing on wood is a natural feeding behaviour, I do not believe that any species of pleco actually requires wood as part of their diet.




That doesn't equate to them requiring wood as part of their diet, in captivity.


Again, while sucking/chewing on wood is a natural feeding behaviour, I do not believe that any species of pleco actually requires wood as part of their diet.


If someone can provide evidence that proves otherwise, please share.

Far too many myths & misconceptions in this hobby.

I agree that there is no known study that wood is a dietary necessity but you cited a thread (Can Plecos Digest Wood) that indicates wood is not digested and that plecos consume wood as a "secondary action when scraping the biofilm that grows on the wood".

The studies I cited in my post/ response to the thread indicate that the cellulose is indeed digested due to the presence of symbiotic gut bacteria only present in panaque that eat wood. Studies by others (McDonald, Schreier and Watts) posit that the unique bacteria may provide essential amino acids and vitamins to the host, similar to other biologic gut host-microbe interactions.
I am simply pointing out that I do not agree with the assumptions presented in this thread.

I think I have already stated that plecos can live without eating wood. However I am more inclined to include drfitwood in an aquarium if it is known that a particular member of the Loricariidae family eats wood as part of it's natural diet.