Pleco diet

[Guest]

What does everyone feed their plecos, how much and how often?

I have a couple of plecos in with some cichlids, who have voracious appetites. In another tank, I have two plecos in with various freshwater fish, including two clown loaches.

 

[fish_doc]

I toss a couple algae wafers in the tank 2 or 3 times a week. Otherwise they get lazy and dont keep the tank itself clean.

 

[William]

2 Hikari algae waffers a night, 1 hour after lights out.

 

[lmw80]

1 algae wafer a night for my 2 incher, and 3 a night for my 14 incher (seperate tanks)...also approximately 1 hour after the lights are out. You can also use cucumber or zuchinnni....cut it in half, take the seeds out, and put it up on a vegi clip. They will also eat sinking cichlid pellets, and some flake foods.

They shouldn't stop eating the algae off the tank. If they do, cut it down to every other night for feedings. Plecos needs more nutrients than we think since they don't have a stomach...what goes in....comes right out, minus the nutrients the pleco has absorbed.

 

[Allivymar]

Feeding also depends on the type of plec and size. Common plecs need mostly vegitation when they are small (under 4 inches or so). As they get larger, they need more protein. Some of the others require more protein from the start. My 8 inch plec gets 2-3 algae wafers a day (he has to share them with 6 loaches and 6 angelfish who also find the wafers yummy), plus whatever leftover food I feed the others which provides him the protein he needs. He especially loves Spectrum cichlid pellets. I also give him some zucchini once every week or 2.

 

[William]

Sorry, I neglected to mention I feed Cuke and Zuccini once a week [ on different days ]

 

[Guest]

Thanks, all. BTW, mine are common plecos...ranging from 3 to 4 inches or so.

 

[Bearfan]

Drift wood is also important for roughage.

 

[TankGirl]

Their guts are configured in such a way that they need to eat almost constantly, and apparently never get "full" (as if any aquarium fish gets full!) so I think many plecos are starved to death because we assume that they will scavenge leftovers and eat algae, and be fine. As Bearfan points out, driftwood is an often omitted ingredient in their diet, probably because the common pleco can survive a long time without the optimum diet and conditions.