I recently "inherited" a pleco from a friend of mine. He is at least a year old, and is about 5 inches long and was living in a 10 gallon! The water was brown. Anyway I explained to my friend how big he will get, and she was shocked, since of course no one told her that when she bought him. So she gave him to me. I now have him in my 75 gallon (and he'll go to my 120 once we get it set up). My question is, how much do I feed him? I'm used to just feeding my fish what they'll eat in a couple minutes. I'm not sure how to judge how much he needs since I have yet to see him eat anything. Presumably he eats at night, b/c whatever I leave him, is gone the next morning. So far he's had wafers and zucchini. I'd appreciate any help you can give me! Also any food suggestions to help him grow would be appreciated. I'd love to see him grow big, though I'm not sure if he's stunted for life. Thanks!
How much to feed a pleco?
- Thread starter fish_chick
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It depends on it's tankmates, and what your target is. btw, we also need to know what type of pleco it is.
If he's alone, then just feed him enough to see him eventually cruise around the tank, but not attack anyone. Pleco get aggressive for two reason, territory, and for food.
If he's with other plecos, feed enough so that you don't see too much aggression among them.
That's to "keep" plecos. If you want fast growing FAT FAT plecos like me, overfeed! Overfeed after lights out, overfeed til you see leftovers in the morning, and slowly cut back til there is no more leftovers.
Of course, whenever you do overfeed, you need a super filter system, and at least twice a week water changes.
If he's alone, then just feed him enough to see him eventually cruise around the tank, but not attack anyone. Pleco get aggressive for two reason, territory, and for food.
If he's with other plecos, feed enough so that you don't see too much aggression among them.
That's to "keep" plecos. If you want fast growing FAT FAT plecos like me, overfeed! Overfeed after lights out, overfeed til you see leftovers in the morning, and slowly cut back til there is no more leftovers.
Of course, whenever you do overfeed, you need a super filter system, and at least twice a week water changes.
He's a common I believe..though I know there are two different types of commons and I have no idea which he is, nor can I get pictures since he hides all day inside the fake rock in the tank. He lives with some african cichlids and 2 synos. He's the biggest thing in the tank. So, you can't hurt him with overfeeding? I always try not to overfeed with my other fish. Thanks!
Many people believe that you can kill a fish by over feeding it. Most fish that died from "overfeeding" actually died from bad water quality and/or bad food. Many will be bloated before they die and thus ppl think they are too full.
Overfeeding causes bad water quality, bad water quality causes stress on the fish, stress on the fish causes it's immune system to be weakened. Once a fish is weakened, they can get infections or unable to fight off parasites.
They have survived tens of thousands of years... I am sure they won't stuff themselves to death.... would you?
Just keep your eyes on the water parameters, buy and use a test kit.
Overfeeding causes bad water quality, bad water quality causes stress on the fish, stress on the fish causes it's immune system to be weakened. Once a fish is weakened, they can get infections or unable to fight off parasites.
They have survived tens of thousands of years... I am sure they won't stuff themselves to death.... would you?
Just keep your eyes on the water parameters, buy and use a test kit.
Actually there are 3 types of commons but two of them are nearly the same and hard to tell apart.
Lol actually plenty of people stuff themselves to death! But I get what your saying. So far there's been no leftovers. Guess I need to feed him more! Thanks for the advice.
Pleco are great scavangers and have slow metabolisms so they can get by on little food. Just be sure his belly never appears sunken in and you should be fine. Ofcourse they are usually pigs and will eat a lot if u feed them but as mentioned before they are messy.
Random question... where in sc are you from and are there any good fish stores? Im in hhi and cant find anything other than petco and petsmart
Random question... where in sc are you from and are there any good fish stores? Im in hhi and cant find anything other than petco and petsmart
Hey I'm from the Greenville area...far away from you! We just have pet smart and Petco here, though the Petco has some pretty knowledgeable employees. The one local store is mostly salt water which I don't have.
My common was often fed like this: 8-12 large leaves of spinach or kale strapped to a flat piece of slate. He simply grazed on that over 3-5 days until it was down to nearly nothing. Rinse and repeat. They graze in nature and that's a good way I think to keep them. They won't go after other food if there is a constant supply of what they want.
If you don't give them grazing food, and try to feed them "like" other fish, you're definitely going to have to manage the food supply and intake carefully to be sure they are getting enough, but not too much. If you leave a lot of high calorie foods around, he'll potentially eat too much from grazing behavior, since vegetable matter is much lower in calories. Also, there's an issue of his digestive system which might need the large amount of roughage that plants provide but pellets don't.
I kept him for about 4 years in a 75, then 125, and he was around 12" when I had to move out of state. They will definitely get much larger if you keep one for 8-10 years, and a larger tank (more than a 125) or frequent large WC will become more and more important.
If you don't give them grazing food, and try to feed them "like" other fish, you're definitely going to have to manage the food supply and intake carefully to be sure they are getting enough, but not too much. If you leave a lot of high calorie foods around, he'll potentially eat too much from grazing behavior, since vegetable matter is much lower in calories. Also, there's an issue of his digestive system which might need the large amount of roughage that plants provide but pellets don't.
I kept him for about 4 years in a 75, then 125, and he was around 12" when I had to move out of state. They will definitely get much larger if you keep one for 8-10 years, and a larger tank (more than a 125) or frequent large WC will become more and more important.
Rule of thumb: if your not sure how much to feed, under fed is better than overfed. As brich999 says; fish can survive on little food as long as they are eating everyday. Overfeeding will dirty the water and can cause problems as mrtoofay pointed out with water quality.