Well sense I've joined this site I have realized that I have been neglecting my common pleco. He's a lil over 16" and in a 8'x2' round pond. Sense I got him at 3" he's been eating mainly Hikari algae wafers. Truthfully im not sure if he even eats them sense it seams that quite a few of them are left in the morning. But he keeps growing so obvisoly hes eating something. For the last month Ive tried to get him to eat cucumber, and zucchini. Have tried putting algea wafers in both veggies and he still won't touch them. So does anyone have any good ideas on how to get him to start eating better foods?
Help with pleco!
- Thread starter mqktandy
- Start date
algae wafers alone should be a perfectly fine . . . if anything, I'd suggest you feed him a little less, sounds like you're over-feeding if you have so many leftovers . . .
You can also try peas or romaine lettuce, but if he seems happy you shouldn't need to change his diet.
Sab_Fan;4274074; said:
Thanks for the reply. Really I wish I didn't have to use that much but it's hard making sure he gets some with a Rtc and tsn. No matter how much I feed ether they c something in the water they try and eat it. Lol
If you have leftovers in the morning then you are overfeeding.
To encourage him to try some veges, just don't give him any wafers for a few days and he will start looking for other food.
They will also eat a lot of algae and any leftovers in the tank, but thats usually not enough to sustain them.
If he's grown to 16" he's obviously getting enough to eat.
Ian
To encourage him to try some veges, just don't give him any wafers for a few days and he will start looking for other food.
They will also eat a lot of algae and any leftovers in the tank, but thats usually not enough to sustain them.
If he's grown to 16" he's obviously getting enough to eat.
Ian
Commons are masters of survival, and if he's grown as big as he is, then he's getting food somewhere.
Sounds like he is stuck on one kind of food and does not know that you are offering him other types of foods. At that age and size you can starve him a little and offer prepared vegtables, once a few days has passed he will start looking at other options and discover other types of food and not just the waffers.
Most commons will take on a more carnivorous diet at that size. With two big cats in the pond, there is definitely some meaty foods in the tank. He is probably taking more towards the meaty foods. Try offering some bloodworms or blackworms. They will be too small for the catfish to really bother with, but the pleco should drop on them and eat them.
Ok. Thanks for your reply wyldfya! I was just about to ask if he has taken to eating the talipia fillets pieces that I leave in over night. I will try blood worms. His growth actually seams to be picking up within the last 2 months. He's put on almost another inch. Really hoping he gets to 24"!