pleco problems

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Ichthyotopia

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2009
192
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NJ
i am having trouble feeding my carniverous pleco. he has bearly grown since i got him, which was a while ago. i have recently been feeding him (or atleast i think he is eating it) sinking wafers from hikari. with this fix the problem? if not, wat else should i feed him?
 
Ichthyotopia;3892403; said:
i am having trouble feeding my carniverous pleco. he has bearly grown since i got him, which was a while ago. i have recently been feeding him (or atleast i think he is eating it) sinking wafers from hikari. with this fix the problem? if not, wat else should i feed him?

well first of all.. what species is the pleco? Got a picture? Maybe its not a carnivorous pleco...

If it is.. then try market shrimp...
 
Either way he needs a lot more than just Hikari wafers. My Plecs do real well with lots of fresh foods. Make sure he's actually a carnivore (what kind is he?) and if so try giving him bloodworms, shrimp, mussels, leave an earthworm in there at night, etc. Some are very slow growers.
 
Ichthyotopia;3892790; said:
thanks for the suggestions. its a Leopard cactus pleco

Ah.. ok.. in that case... what i recommend is market shrimp and zucchini.. Its best if you put it next to them.. eventually they will learn..

When introducing new plecos.. Is best by learning from other tankmates.. (other plecos in this case) If one pleco sees another pleco eating.. it too will go after the food.. With that said, a pleco can live alone in a tank by itself.. but i'll be boring for the fish.. i find tankmates to work out best..

I would just give it some time.. your leopard cactus will learn to eat.. If it doesn't.. Try Seachem Garlic guard.. it stimulates all fishe's appetite.. or just get some garlic.. rub it on the food your feeding.. IE: Cucumbers, Zucchini even the shrimp.. it works as well..
 
Lambrakopoulos;3893328; said:
Shrimp is the best thing you can do.

there are other alternatives... you can do pellets.. but those cost way more than market shrimp.. and no amount of fish food nutrients are as good as live raw food... Market shrimp is your best bet.. follow by live blood worms/frozen blood worms..
 
Personally I would not feed any of my pleco market shrimp. I would go with prawn or fillets over market shrimp. I just dont trust market shrimp i have had some problems in the past feeding fish market shrimp so i have stayed away from it since. You could also feed teh krill. it seems to be the favorite with my L-114/600's. Shrimp pellets also get sucked up fast in my tanks. Another food mine like is the tetra color granules.

How big is the fish?
 
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