i have read that they are a meat likeing pleco and that they are more a veggi pleco...whats the best diet for them? i have had mine for 6mos never see it eat, some times it "cleans" the glass but not often...i always have ghost shrimps, fillets, market shrimp, live black worms and pellets in the tank...i put green peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, zuccini, lettice in and it doesn't tuch them...now it is in a diff. tank and not getting the same mix off foods availible as before so i would like to know...also in the 6 mos it has added 2" in length i got it at 2"...thanx
L18 question?
- Thread starter sbuse
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sbuse;3499380; said:
you can just feed it zucchini, pleco are night feeder so they will be active when light is out. Beside they grow very slow so as long as you see its active then its good. So just drop a slice of zucchini in there and replace a new one when its gone or every 3 days.
i watch it at night alot and don't see much movement...it just hangs out...now my 13"+ common is always up to something so that is why i am curious...they are in diff tanks...i leave every thing in for a few days but it doesn't seem touched...i have a chunk of potato in now, just had a broccoliy stalk in before that...
I was always under the impression their veggie eaters... but they can tolerate other meaty foods...
Similar to common, or chocolate plecos who will eat pretty much anything..
leave the veggie in for a few days... it might sound bad.. but thats what i did when ever i introduce new food... why add food inside for a few days?
An example... I recently bought a L-191 dull eye royal while my tank already has a L-190 Royal pleco.. my own royal will eat anything but i wanted the new royal to get used to his environment and to test food.. For 3 days the new royal didnt touch the potato.. was about to give up.. but 4th day.. it finally started munching on it.. SUCCESS! I think its important for plecos to explorer their tanks enough so that learn to find food... just leaving it for overnight or 2 days.. is sometimes not enough for a pleco to learn its food...
So its good that your trying potato, but try apples too... see what happens.. i've tried potato on L-128, L-200, L-190, L-191 and chocolate pleco... as for apples... thats something i haven't tried. but heard from other MFKers who say it works...
Similar to common, or chocolate plecos who will eat pretty much anything..
leave the veggie in for a few days... it might sound bad.. but thats what i did when ever i introduce new food... why add food inside for a few days?
An example... I recently bought a L-191 dull eye royal while my tank already has a L-190 Royal pleco.. my own royal will eat anything but i wanted the new royal to get used to his environment and to test food.. For 3 days the new royal didnt touch the potato.. was about to give up.. but 4th day.. it finally started munching on it.. SUCCESS! I think its important for plecos to explorer their tanks enough so that learn to find food... just leaving it for overnight or 2 days.. is sometimes not enough for a pleco to learn its food...
So its good that your trying potato, but try apples too... see what happens.. i've tried potato on L-128, L-200, L-190, L-191 and chocolate pleco... as for apples... thats something i haven't tried. but heard from other MFKers who say it works...
i left the potato in till it floated up(like 3-4 days), it seemed to have 1/4" missing from the inside of the skin and the skin not touched...it also had craders in the surface, i didn't see the nugget eatting it, but idk if my other fish would have done it...i have 2 mollies, 2 fancey guppies, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 neon, 1 cardinal, and a peacock eel in the tank aswell...
sbuse;3507689; said:
If you see craters and thats your only pleco... most likely its your gold nugget... Raw potato isn't exactly soft... their pretty darn hard.. and for a fish to make craters out of them.. it can only be plecos..
Congrats! stick to the schedule of 2-3 days then feed potato again.. I give potato to my plecos as a infrequent meal... like ribs or steaks... since potato is high in starch.. but i think its a good food source for them...
In the wild they eat the algae biofilm and whatever comes along, constant grazers and eat it in huge quantities. Hard to replicate in aquarium, but there are loads of veggie material (see pleco dietry thread). It's fine to feed them meaty things, but like everything, in moderation. A good way to feed these is to blend a couple of prawns with peas into a paste (add other foods too if you want) and you can either spread it onto a piece of slate or something and put it in, or make up loads put it in thin sheets in a sandwich bag and freeze... use when needed.
These fish will appreciate high oxygen levels and a fast current. Lots of hiding places.
These fish will appreciate high oxygen levels and a fast current. Lots of hiding places.
i'll have to try that...there is small chunks of market shrimp/ fillets, live blackworms, ghost shrimp and a few other things in there alot for all my fish...it is starting to grow back its yellow fins now, i got it and it was 2" with no yellow tips and then it went into an african tank for a while and the yellow was nipped off from what i could see so i put it in a diff. tank and now it is doing well at 4"