I have a Royal Pleco/Panaque. He eats driftwood regularly as that is a big part of their diet. I read that in the wild RPs (& other wood eating species) eat mostly from the outter layer of branches/trees (ie bark). There is not typically bark on storebought driftwood, so I am wondering if some DW is more nutritional than others. Are there safe nutritious barks/outter layers of branches that I could add to my tank to improve the RPs diet? I know about the dietary thread on Plecos, I am just refering to the DW part of their diets and how it can be optimized. Help appreciated. Thanks.
Nutritional value of various (drift)woods?
- Thread starter lujor
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That is a very good question, to which I don't really have an answer. This is one I have never encountered, nor ever thought of.
I use cypress and other hardwoods in my tanks that I collect myself. Most of the them are already a little softened, and still have some bark on them as well. Oak is by far my plecos fav. to munch on though. Not sure why, but they are always on the oak, mostly leave the cypress and maple alone. Just an observance of mine.
Soft woods are great for plecos, as long as you stay away from the pines and such. Only problem is they decay so fast in your tanks and fall apart.
Coconut hulls that still have the fiber on them would work pretty good too I imagine. Might want to get confirmation on that one though from a more reputable source. Haha
Soft woods are great for plecos, as long as you stay away from the pines and such. Only problem is they decay so fast in your tanks and fall apart.
Coconut hulls that still have the fiber on them would work pretty good too I imagine. Might want to get confirmation on that one though from a more reputable source. Haha
Peanut_Power;4331459; said:I use cypress and other hardwoods in my tanks that I collect myself. Most of the them are already a little softened, and still have some bark on them as well. Oak is by far my plecos fav. to munch on though. Not sure why, but they are always on the oak, mostly leave the cypress and maple alone. Just an observance of mine.
Soft woods are great for plecos, as long as you stay away from the pines and such. Only problem is they decay so fast in your tanks and fall apart.
Coconut hulls that still have the fiber on them would work pretty good too I imagine. Might want to get confirmation on that one though from a more reputable source. Haha
I'm confused. Cypress is a softwood. Still ok to use? Which softwoods for plecos? Pines and there relatives comprise pretty much all softwoods. Also, I have never collected and used my own driftwood- always have storebought. Just make sure it's dead, boil, and put in tank? I guess if I wanted to precisely recreate the RP's diet I would try to find some woods from it's homeland, but that would be overly complicated.
My bad, meant to say Sycamore. I use Sycamore and Oak in my tanks. I HAVE used cypress stumps in my tanks before and my plecos seemed to like it oodles.
As for driftwood its all personal preference really. I just scrub them down with a scrub pad and some HOT water, rinse them, then stick them in my tanks. I figure they are exposed to it in the wild, why should it matter in my tank? As long as there are no extremes or mold/fungus going to town on the logs I wouldn't worry about it.
Make sure you pick from moving or 'active' bodies of water. If the water is stagnant don't even bother collecting from there. Sometimes I'll collect from fallen logs that are starting to decay. I break off the parts that are rotten, which often leaves behind a solid 'outer shell'.
Been doing it for years without any problems.
Do what makes you feel comfortable though. I have done bleach baths, boiled, and sandblasted before.
As for driftwood its all personal preference really. I just scrub them down with a scrub pad and some HOT water, rinse them, then stick them in my tanks. I figure they are exposed to it in the wild, why should it matter in my tank? As long as there are no extremes or mold/fungus going to town on the logs I wouldn't worry about it.
Make sure you pick from moving or 'active' bodies of water. If the water is stagnant don't even bother collecting from there. Sometimes I'll collect from fallen logs that are starting to decay. I break off the parts that are rotten, which often leaves behind a solid 'outer shell'.
Been doing it for years without any problems. Do what makes you feel comfortable though. I have done bleach baths, boiled, and sandblasted before.
I guess I will try to research this from a dif angle. I have a large library of plant and tree books, so maybe I can find something about it in one of those. [Funny, most people claim I am a largemouthed-a__.]