Pleco Care

[Blue2Fyre]

I just got a 10" pleco from a friend of mine that has kept it in a 35 hex for 5 years. I took it in and rehomed it in my 80 gallon. I was told it was a butterfly pleco but after searching the name it's clearly not the case. After doing a lot of research I have determined I have a rhino pleco.

I want to make sure I'm giving the correct food for this species. The first thing it did was attack my algae and has cleared the glass really well! I dropped in some zucchini last night but the pleco won't touch it. I tried some NLS pellets and I think it ate some of those. Do I need to add some drift wood? How much will a 10" pleco eat? I imagine some stunting has occurred will that be reversed at all in a larger tank with good water? How much risk is there for the pleco to go after my fish?

Anything else I should know? This is the biggest pleco I've ever had. I've had 1 BN beforehand that has done really well. The rhino basically sits in the same spot all day. On the first day I was terrified it was dead but when the magfloat got too close it moved slightly. At night and early morning it's very active.

 

[Linus_Cello]

If it's a rhino, here's the profile for it: www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=80

You may want to try zuchinni again. It may just take it some time to realize that it's food. Another option is to blanche the zuchinni (and stick some pellets in it).​

 

[jbarbaresi]

yes like the other member mentioned, keep putting zucchini in there and try sticking some nls pellets in it. drop it in at night before you go to bed when the pleco is most active. it may take a week or so of doing this but as soon as he figures out it is food he will be attached to the zucchini all day long. and yes, some driftwood would be beneficial to the pleco as well. i'm not sure he will eat it being that large but most will chew on the DW for fiber and it definitely will not hurt.

the pterygoplichthys plecos are typically not very shy, give him some time to settle in and i'm sure he will be out moving around during the day a lot more, especially when he realizes he is the biggest thing in your tank (i'm just guessing). also, post some pictures if you can.

 

[Warborg]

Try shrimp pellets

 

[Blue2Fyre]

I threw in some zucchini again last night and this morning it was gone. Even the skin, totally gone. I had not thought about the pellet idea.

Here are some terrible pictures from last night. I had to guess where he was since the lights were all out. Freaked out my mbuna.

He is by far the largest thing in the tank. All of the mbuna are terrified of him.

 

[knifegill]

They can do hard water?

 

[Blue2Fyre]

He was raised in hard water. Our water out of the tap is liquid rock and the guy I got him from lives up the street from me.

 

[knifegill]

Oh, nice. Yeah, keep trying different veggies like zucchini. Mine likes anything green I rubberband to his rock now. Hot peppers, folded broccoli greens, etc. Takes time, that's all.

 

[jbarbaresi]

most plecos are pretty adaptive, as long as you aren't adding anything to raise your pH it should be fine. DW will actually lower your pH slightly so you may need to think about that with your africans, although as long as you keep it around 7.0 they will all probably be ok. when the pleco is stuck to the glass just make sure his stomach doesn't look inverted and you'll know he's getting some food intake.

also try some sweet potato, and NLS makes "H2O stable wafers" that are good to drop in and they will last overnight without getting soft like most of the other algae wafers on the market.

 

[Dullamite]

Awsome Pleco!!