Pleco Poop

[GouramiFanatic]

Not a very glamorous topic I know, but this morning when I checked on my Pleco he had a rather long string of poop still attached as he was swimming. I'm not trying to gross anyone out, but this string had to have been about 5" long and it was green! Is this normal? Should I change his feeding routine (he gets one large algae disc broken up into several pieces so the Gouramis also get some on Mon, Wed, and Fri.... and of course he gets all the 'natural' algae from the aquarium any other time... I haven't tried any real veggies yet).

Thanks,
- Mandy

 

[mr86mister]

nope

this is completely normal, as long as its green and thick looking it means he is healthy, the only reason why it is that long because the poo holds together well*eek gross sounding*

try cucumber, but make sure to clean it off well

HTH

 

[TankGirl]

I'd definitely get him some fresh veggies - mine are partial to zuchinni and will completely consume it overnight. The green poo is normal, though, but the fact that it is holding together might indicate the need for some real roughage.

 

[Steven A]

Do some fish have thicker poop, my discus and angelfish allways have thickish poo's ?

 

[Jchillin]

I'd definitely get him some fresh veggies - mine are partial to zuchinni and will completely consume it overnight. The green poo is normal, though, but the fact that it is holding together might indicate the need for some real roughage.

I concur with TG. Plec's usually poo in small particles. Feed some veggies and this will clear up.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely be getting some veggies for the Pleco to try out. I've wanted to get some for weeks, but I kept forgetting to buy it! This time I've already got it on the shopping list!! I'll let you know how he enjoys it!!

- Mandy

 

[Guest]

my pleco decorates with his poo... seriously, it will be decorated around the plants and wrapped around stuff.. its so gross...we are now calling him "bob the decorator" yes.. there is an underlying joke there... anyway i feed mine fresh veggies like 3 times a week and his poo is always long.

 

[ahboy22]

Yep, that's normal. My pleco is just like Ashley's, decorating all over the place. I notive that my pleco grow pretty fast when I feed him a slice of cucumber like once a week & algae wafer once a day. I got my pleco about 2 months ago where he was about 3" of body length. Now, by just eyeballing it, seems like he is 4" ~ 4.25" of body length. My pleco sometimes also like to dispose his poo at the filter intake sometimes when it's really long(8" ~ 10").

 

[GouramiFanatic]

OK - I remembered to get some cucumbers today!! Now my question is do I just give him a slice and let him go to town? I know he'll enjoy it when the lights are off, so that's not a problem I just don't want to leave it in there to long? How often do they find it on the first try? I know that it took a few tries sometimes to get them to notice it.

I think that's it!!

Thanks once again!
- Mandy

 

[virus]

this is the most creepy topic ever lol

But let us know the standing of the poo.......

 

[William]

My Pl*co had a 4 foot long turd once.. Almost completly encircled the tank 8O 8O

 

[TankGirl]

I like to cut zuchinni or cuke in quarters (slices have the potential to give the pleco a necklace) and I use a clip with a suction cup on it, and place it on the glass right next to the substrate. You can also rubber band it to a plastic fork and shove that into the gravel or under a rock. I put it in at night and check it in the morning. If it still looks decent and there is still some left I leave it in there another night, if it looks like it will not fall apart. Zuchinni holds up better than cuke, and broccoli stalks hold up best.

 

[Guest]

Virus.. all i can think of when i see your avitar is "giggidy!" lol
i love family guy...

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Well, I tried giving my guy a slice of cucumber today, but it was a no go with him! It only took him about an hour to find it and he slowly started to inch his way over. He went over towards it quite a few times, but never 'tried' it. At one point it looked like he was testing it to see if it was going to attack him. He swam over and turned his tail end towards it and kept waving it, then he swam off again.

I'm sure he was just being cautious because it was new so I'll be giving it another shot on Monday. Hopefully, he'll try it then! I'll keep you posted!

- Mandy

 

[Guest]

did you anchor it down??? my pleco doesn't like "moving" food. It has to be stationary for him to eat it. Also, he likes zucchini and yellow squash much beter than cucumber.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Yup, I went to the lfs last night and got a veggie clip shaped like a fish. I put it about 2" above the floor. You could tell he was definitely curious about it, I'm not sure if he was just being cautious or what, but if he doesn't take the cucumber I'll definitely give the zucchini a shot next week.

- Mandy

 

[Guest]

try putting it towards the top of the tank.. not so close to the ground. I know it sounds silly but mine seems to like his better up high.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

My Pleco is almost never at the top! I can probably count on one hand how many times I've see him up there. That's why I tried it at the bottom. We'll see how it goes. I'll try it up towards the top if he doesn't seem to want it at the bottom.

- Mandy

 

[Guest]

my pleco never goes to the top except to get his zucchini, but my veggie clip broke yesterday so i had to rubber band mine to the driftwood and he's munching away.

 

[TankGirl]

Definitely try several more times - once he figures it out (always place it in the same spot) he will come to expect it and devour it in no time.