Pacu eating all the plecos food

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Marauder225

Marauder225

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2011
385
4
48
New jersey
I have a ten inch pleco that I've been feeding algae wafers. I have a red belly pacu who is now eating the algae wafers as soon as they hit the water. How can I make sure the pleco still gets enough nutrition because I don't have any algae growing in the tank other then the pellets I feed wafers.
 
i dont even feed my plecos they get plenty of algea that grows on the glass and there all fat and happy :)
 
I don't even bother with algae wafers anymore, since my cichlids will eat them before the pleco gets to it, so I was able to get my pleco to eat cichlid pellets during feeding time.
 
You can get some dechlorinated water, add a bunch of food pellets in it, then add a few big rocks and leave it out in the sun. The rocks will grow algae in a few days... you can place one at a time in the aquarium to feed your pleco. That's how people feed algae-eating snails and fish when they've run out of algae in the aquarium.
 
I would start putting veggies in the tank for the pleco
 
The rock ideas probably what I'm gonna try and the tank is a 60 tall and the pacu is only about 6 inches now but I'm in the process of getting a 240 gallon and when he out grows that he will just go to some one else
 
Go Big or Go home said:
i dont even feed my plecos they get plenty of algea that grows on the glass and there all fat and happy :)
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However fat they may be, there's no way they are healthy or happy if they are just living off of algae scrapings. Plecos need proper nutrition just like any other fish you keep, and algae presents almost no nutritional value to any pleco that is larger than 2-3". Having them live off of algae alone is like if you were forced to have unsalted crackers as your only sourrce of nutrition. Sure, you could easily survive if you ate enough of them, and I'm sure you could probably even get fat off of them, but do you really think you would be healthy on that diet (let alone happy)?


Marauder225 said:
The rock ideas probably what I'm gonna try and the tank is a 60 tall and the pacu is only about 6 inches now but I'm in the process of getting a 240 gallon and when he out grows that he will just go to some one else
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I hope you already have a specific person in mind who has agreed to take it when that time comes. Otherwise you are going to have one hell of a time trying to get rid of it...

And btw, the rock idea presents the same issue I discussed when I responded to Go Big's post above.
 
papawoody said:
rookie :banhim:
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I agree. Plecos need food besides just algea. Cut the end of a piece of zuccinni stick it on a fork and drop it in the tank. Romaine lettuce and potatoes work well too. If the plecos aren't that big, you can cut a hole in a tupperware bowl or any plastic bowl. Place it over the top of the wafers put a rock on top in case it floats and they'll find it. My silver dollars and Midas will eat anything I try to feed at night so I need strategy for the plecos to eat
 
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