Keeping Oscar from pleco food?

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T

taytay

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2009
5
0
0
Modesto, CA
How can I keep my Oscar from stealing all the pleco's algae wafers? I tied feeding during the night but the Oscar knows when it's coming and he always finds it first. I tried putting it in a cup that the Oscar can't fit into but he just guards it all night. I'm open to feeding it other things if that would be better
help please?
 
feed the oscar all his food and then when he starts to swim away drop it in, or use a pvc pipe to drop the food through so you can aim it to be near the pleco and the O will only see the pipe and not the food dropping through the water, Os are pigs so its really hard to keep them from eating everything in tank lol but GOOD LUCK

oh and also Os drop alot of food through their gills and your pleco should be able to find all these left overs as well so unless hes looking skinny i wouldnt worry about him too much
 
Try dropping some cucumber in cut length ways, my O's don't bother with it and Plecs love it, you might want to weigh it down by sticking a spoon through it. Just make sure you remove any uneaten cucumber before it starts going off.
 
try zuchinni.
I feed more than a whole zuchinni a week.
My O is not interrested in the zuchinni.
My hypostomus spends all night and a big part of the day rasping on the veggies.
Keeps them busy as well as healthy.
On the other hand, the other pleco in the tank comes to beg for wafers at night.
He knows when he swims into the corner, I'll drop in some food.
but my silver dollars will steal them as well.
I just feed some more.
The wafers are good for the other fish as well.
Even my Gar sometimes steals them...
 
I used to hide mine under some rocks the Oscars could not move....and the Plec. would get there sooner or later. The Oscars would give it hell before giving up.
 
In my experience, plecos will eat most fish food offered. It doesn't have to be a big solid piece either. Because Oscars are super messy with half their food falling out of their gills you can probably bet that your pleco is eating that up. I wouldn't worry too much about it not eating.

My pleco will actually stealth in and go to the top of the tank to snatch pellets and other goodies.
 
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Cichlids leave a lot of uneaten food on the tank floor for plecos to eat. I have four tanks with cichlds and plecos, have never used algae wafers or anything else specific to the plecos, and the plecos have still managed to grow and survive. My marble sailfin has actually doubled in size since I bought him about 18 months ago.
 
My oscar eats so many algae wafers I accused it of being vegan last week.

I like the PVC hint. That is a great idea.
 
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