Damnable Pleco

[squirt2005]

I've got a 15" albino Hypostomus Gibb.
He refused to eat algae for the last month or two. All he'll eat are wafers that sink. This is the first time this has happened to me in the four years I've
had him. Soooo, I've fasted him for three weeks now and nothing so far.
Last night I placed a larger hypostomus plec. in my 150 to help me with the
algae. Has this happened to anyone else? Will he start working again?

 

[WyldFya]

Your biggest error comes from your feeding. No pleco should be fed exclusively on algae. You should balance out his diet to include far more foods than just algae. Read the stickies to get more information. Also, there is no such thing as a Hypostomus gibbiceps... either you mean Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps, or a Hypostomus species.

 

[davo]

Or even Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps lol. Either way... Wyldfya is right you are not feeding your pleco a good diet at all. They don't eat soley algae... they are non-descript feeders, but need a lot more in their diet than algae. You need to give it some more protein... they require more of it as they age. Look at the sticky thread on diets. I've had this species not eat algae at all (or if it did, it certainly wasn't noticeable).

 

[WyldFya]

Right what davo said... Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps... not sure where Glypto came from.