Pleco feeding schedule

[David R]

Background info;
240x120x70cm 2000L tank
4 L190, 3 L14, 2 L128, 1 L81, 6 Geophagus altifrons, black aro
Moderate lighting, ambient lighting from one window until noon, then LEDs on until 9pm.

Up until now I've been feeding the geos and aro 1-2 times daily, and feeding the plecs after lights out with either NLS mega, wafers or veges. Occasionally some of the L190 come out and graze on the NLS crumble I feed the geos in the morning, but other than that I've found the plecs to be very shy since adding them to the tank. Last week we had to move out of our house for a week while the wooden floors upstairs were being re-varnished, so the fish were only being fed about once a day in the morning before work. Over the week I've noticed a lot more activity from the other plecs, particularly the L14s which were the most reclusive of the lot, until last week I had only see one of them out ONCE in the four months the tank has been running.

So now that the tank is established and the fish [should be] comfortable, I'm wondering if I should stop the night-time feedings and start offering the plecos food first thing in the morning when the tank is dimly illuminated by the ambient light? The last thing I want is anyone going hungry and missing out on food, but the increase in daytime activity I've noticed over the last week has got me wondering if it is my night-time feeding routine that is encouraging them to be so shy.

Thoughts?

 

[mrtoofay]

I guess if they are hungry enough, you'll see activity during the day. Here's my feeding schedule for the main tank.

Every night when I get home, I feed nls or other types of pellets first and turn off the lights. After about 10min, I feed mealworm for the aro and top swimmers. After feeding the mealworms, I feed cut shrimp and call it the night. Every other morning, I would feed some nls or other pellets before turning on the lights.

Almost everyday when my son comes back from school, he like to see them eat, so I'd drop in some nls. They still come out for the nls when the lights are on, even when they were fed twice already. They are no where near being starved, in fact, they are bordering overweight. The L14 just sits out in the open and chews on shrimps whenever I drop them in the tank, lights on or off, kids banging on the glass or not.

My thoughts on plecos being shy is that you can go two directions. First, if you are a purest and like to provide a natural environment and diet for them, you would provide plenty of hiding places and stock the tank pretty low (like what you have). In this case, they would do what they do in nature, hide! They would only come out to eat when they are comfortable which usually means lights out. Or if you like to enjoy your fish and see them during the day, you would go pretty much the opposite direction. Get them used to being in the open, get them to compete for food. Arrange your tank in a way that they don't really have that many places to hide. If they are used to seeing others and being in the open, they will stay in the open comfortably enough to feed in the open. Also if they see others eat, it'll trigger their urge to seek out food as well.

My current tank used to have over 20pcs of medium sized driftwood and about 8 caves. I never see my plecos eat, I never see them period! I know they must be eating because of all the poo and the fact that non died. One day, I took out all the caves and driftwood and put in a 5ft centerpiece driftwood with only 3 major branches. When I first introduced the large driftwood, all the plecos were trying to hid in the nuke n' crannies of the driftwood, but after couple days, they got comfortable enough with others that they just all decided to either rest on the bottom of the tank, or on top of the branches. Only the very shy L18 and few other smaller plecos still hides in a small piece of driftwood that I left in the tank. I didn't take that one out because I couldn't get the clown loaches out of it, no matter how hard I shake it.

With all the said. I believe it's more about the environment and tank mates than the feeding schedule.

 

[David R]

Interesting observations, cheers for the feedback. The tank is fairly lightly stocked for now as A; I blew the budget on the build, B; we're saving for a trip to the US next year and C; nice fish are often hard to come by here! I would like to add a few more plecs as I agree that having a bit of competition for food is a good thing, and hopefully that may encourage them out some more.

I forgot to mention that the tank is scaped to provide plenty of cover. In the past I've found fish that feel more comfortable with hiding places to retreat to are usually more active out in the open, but your experience specifically with plecs seems to be that they will soon adapt to having less cover and being out more. Interesting that you mentioned L18 being shy, as that is one of the species on my shopping list that is available here, sporadically.

 

[JayC74]

I'm on board with mrtoofay with limiting hiding spaces could really help your plecs to be more outgoing especially during feedings. I just got a big piece of lava rock in my big tank for my large L14, L91, L114, and 4 L240's. Depends on the species though, whether limiting décor will work out. Your plecs that seem to stick to cover at all times during daylight hours might have a difficult time competing with plecs that immediately dash off décor and scavenge about when food is dropped.. I'm thinkin your plecs are a bit shy now cause they're not used to the active geos sifting through the sand close by them. They may come out of they're shell sooner or later with your setup but if not..maybe trying out less hiding spots may work for your setup as a whole and your personal viewing of the tank. Just keep a close eye on each specimens well being (if you try it) during the process. gd luck

 

[slippery slimecoat]

Interesting thread. I too have noticed in the past that I can condition my plec to come out more depending on when I feed. But for whatever reason, I always go back to feeding him right before lights go out, and in turn he tends to hide more again. I have recently been wondering if I could get away without having a cave for my plec to hide in. Wondering if it would have negative affects on the long term health of the fish due to stress. Keep in mind that this is the only plec in the tank, quite large, and has been established in the tank for several years. Part of me believes it would be fine, but my natural pleco keeping instincts tell me to give hiding spots and feed when lights go out simply because that's what I've always done.

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[David R]

I've stopped the night time feeds and now feed first thing in the morning with just the ambient light in the room, and it seems to be working. The L14 are more active in the morning and with the lights on and readily come out when ever food is added, and the L128s are gradually coming out more often too. All looking healthy, not skinny or under-fed.

 

[Charney]

I've stopped the night time feeds and now feed first thing in the morning with just the ambient light in the room, and it seems to be working. The L14 are more active in the morning and with the lights on and readily come out when ever food is added, and the L128s are gradually coming out more often too. All looking healthy, not skinny or under-fed.

that is great. I feed my guys after lights out and I never seem them come out. I can't even catch most of them with a flashlight.