Conditioning and feeding BN

[fish_4_all]

I finally got 2 BN pleco, one is about 5 inches, one is about 3 inches. I know what they eat but how much do they need to be healthy? The smaller one was in the tank for 2 weeks and did little to control the algae. I put the larger one in there 3 days ago and the algae is gone. I gave them a piece of zucchini today to see how hungry they were and they are chomping at it regularly. Am I feeding enough and do they have a problem with low amounts of food an health? There is a large piece of driftwood in the tank so that is taken care of.

Is there a specific food that is used to condition them for breeding and for growth? I have never tried to spawn them, I know the ages are off but if I can get a similar size female soon, I will need to order the food if there is anything special to condition them.

 

[BrianNY]

Great questions. I feed mine Hikari Algae Wafers along with high protein flake food. I would imagine anything choc full of protein would be accepted. This includes frozen blood worms and live black worms. The protein is critical during the growing stage. Good Luck.

 

[fish_4_all]

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/store.cfm?CFID=4411226&CFTOKEN=92863687&d=3249&c=5274&m=0&do=list

Would this work as a high protein flake diet? I plan on getting the medly for a large variety of different needed proteins and foods unless you recommend one specific type. I also plan to get some decapsulated brine shrimp eggs as all of my fish I am breeding are bottom feeders, have you ever used them?

 

[BrianNY]

For me it's easier to feed the frozen bbs for newly hatched fry. I never feed adult bs because it's mostly shell and very little protein. There are many choices in quality flake foods. Take your pick. I seem to be getting good pleco growth with Wardleys Total Spectramax.