Pleco snack questions

[Ben K]

I have heard you can feed a pleco cucumbers. Is there any other vegetables that can be feed to a pleco?

Also, how would I go about weighing these down? Fishing line and a lead weight? Will the lead harm the fish at all (thinking of lead weight for fishing).

 

[fish 'n' fries]

zucchini is a big favorite, sweet potato, cucumber, spinach, melon (this is assuming you have a pl*co that's a veggie and not one of the carnivorous ones)

I have a food clip (plastic) that hooks to the tank wall with a suction cup. Other people weight it down. If the weight is truly lead...I'd avoid it personally...just seems risky.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I know there are quite a few you can feed them. Another good one is Zucchini. That and cucumber are the only 2 I have tried. I believe others have tried squash and maybe sweet potato.

To weigh them down, you could rubberband them to a small rock (I've done this before) or just put a fork through them and take it out later.

 

[An t-iasg]

When I had a pleco, he used to go nuts for zucchini. Another favorite was a bit of broccoli stalk. I boiled the veggies in a glass cup in the microwave just to soften them up a bit, not to cook them the way we would if we ate them. Pour cold water over the veggies to cool them a bit. I used thin gauge fishing line and small little lead weights from the fishing department of a sporting goods store. I left the ends of the fishing line hanging up and out of the tank so I could pull the veggie out easily later. I left the veggie in the tank for 12 hours or less. I don't think the lead could leach out into the water in that period of time (if it is truly a lead weight). I have read that some of them are zinc.

There are some pictures in my gallery of my pleco eating broccoli and zucchini.

 

[QTOFFER]

Broccoli and zucchini are favorites in my tanks too. Try to get the small, thin zucchinis - they have smaller seeds that don't tend to float off. Partially cooked and shelled fresh lima beans are enjoyed by my baby plecos.

I use a suction cup veggie clip to hold down zucchini slices. Lima beans sink on their owm.

 

[TwoHobbies]

Mine enjoy blanched, skinned peas.....and they sink

 

[papa_bear_21]

Ben, just out of curiosity, what kind of pleco are we talking about? Some are more veggie eaters, while others are more meat eaters. It is very easy to get the veggies to sink, I use a fork, though some say it can harm them. I take the fork, and stick it into the cucumber so that the prongs are pointed down, and at the bottom of the food. As for food for them, try here, it is very informative.

 

[JeffreyL]

In the articles section, there is a very good piece by Menagerie on feeding vegatables. I used it for ideas on what to feed my bristlenose. And once there were fry in the tank ....... a pleco feeding frenzy. lol

Some other fish, and of course the snails also nibble on the veggies.

HTH

 

[Ben K]

Right, now, mainly common pleco, though I am looking at getting a different type of pleco later on. Not sure what yet, may try yoyo if I can find one.