Advanced Feeding Question

[Thaiboxer]

Hi all, I'll give you a little background before I ask my question. You can see the population of my tank in the signature below - One of the oscars is very big, he's the oldest resident of my tank. All of the other cichlids are growing very quickly and trying to catch up, so I have no worries there.

I'm wondering about my red-tailed shark and pleco. The pleco is about 5" long, and I've had him about a year. The shark is maybe 3" long, also a year old. Are they growing slower than they should, or are these just slow growing species?

Everything was in a 55 gallon until last weekend when I moved them to the 125. (most of the cichlids are newer, so it wasn't really overstocked)

My current feeding regimen is:
- cichlid pellets in the morning, a mixture of small and big for the different fish.
- cichlid pellets some evenings as well.
- other evenings I like to feed shrimp, brine shrimp, salmon, and sometimes krill.
- flake food 2-3 times a week, just a pinch.
- every two or three days I drop an algae tablet for the pleco.

The shark goes nuts for the shrimp and brine shrimp especially, so he's definitely eating.

For the salmon and shrimp, I ground them up super fine in a food processor, then spooned them into ice cube trays for freezing. I thaw them in a glass of water before dropping in the tank. This is the tank favorite meal!

Thanks for your help - I'm mildly concerned about size, especially for the shark.

 

[Allivymar]

Pop an algae wafer in every day; at 5 inches the plec needs more then one every few days; also throw in some zucchini slices once in a while - he'll thank for you it *grin* Other then that your feeding regimen and food variety looks great.

My liposarcus (one of the fish sold as common plecs; not much diff other then minor cosmetic ones) is 8 inches and just shy of 2 yrs old. Your plec seems right on target. Not sure about the shark tho; never had one.

 

[krap102]

my pleco is growing pretty quick i think i have a common and i drop like 2-3 tabs every day
like 1-2 in morning and 1-2 at night
my gourami loves the wafers so thats why im putting about 3 a day
i would put one if i only had a pleco
i tried zuccini but they didnt eat much and i thought leaving it in there would get em to eat it so now my waters cloudy
i did like 3 30% water changes today (i siphoned out the most of the tap i filled it with and put in drinking water) im pretty sure doing that much water change in a day was a mistake but i wanted to get the water clearer
i think my plecos grown about either 1/4 or 1/2 an inch in a month so i think hes doing good hes growing very fast for me
maybe you should try feeding him some more like ally said

 

[grimlock3000]

the problem with feeding plecos a lot is that extra ammount of waste in the tank. just one algae wafer has much more waste than a few days worth of flake food.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Yeah - I'm with you grimlock. algae wafers dissolve fast and typically, even a pleco with an excellent appetite will leave plenty of dissolved wafer. Even when they are eating the wafers, you can see the wafers dissolving. As they dissolve they really crank up the bioload on the tank. I've experienced this before. I had a tank that I could figure out why the water quality was getting progressively bad - finally traced it down to the algae wafers. Well, at that time I think I was using Hakarii or maybe tetra, can't remember. But just a warning to the wise.

In my past experience Plecos can sometimes be really paradoxical. The problem with many of them is that they cycle through phases of herbiverous to carnivorous. Usually when they are young they will eat plenty of greens and then as they get older they only want protien.

Tom

 

[krap101]

okay i guess ill tone it down a bit to a wafer every 18 hours (hopefully)

 

[Endgame319]

That is WAY too many wafers krap. I throw in 2 wafers every second day and they get eaten fairly quickly (everybody in my tank loves them except the rainbow shark).

 

[BrianNY]

I've never tried this but a pleco breeder at my local fish club told me that he feeds only zuchini to his youbg plecos. He said to stimulate the appetite he over cooks it in a microwave and the fish love it that way.

HTH

 

[Thaiboxer]

I'll up his food just a bit, and not worry so much I guess. It sounds like he's coming along fine, and with the bigger tank that he's in now there'll be more algae to munch on too.

Thanks for your input everybody!

 

[Menagerie]

Just a thought--zucchini pieces will not only benefit your pleco, but your cichlids may enjoy it too. Just use a clip with a suction cup (found at LFS) and stick in the veggies! My pleco has climbed the glass to eat the zucchini--when the cichlids are all over it.

 

[Thaiboxer]

Wow! I'll have to try that with the zucchini soon - I take it the clip is just to weight it down and/or hold it in place?

Sounds cool! I'll hit the grocery store on the way home today.

 

[grimlock3000]

the clips hold the veggies on the side of the tank. makes it easier than reaching down into the tank to get the veggies in or out.