Feeding a Plecostomus
Josh Braveman
some Tiger barbs. About a month ago the plecostomus I had died.
All of the sudden it was floating aroung the tank barely alive, and
that was that. I have since gotten another pleco which is doing
fine. The theory was that my other pleco died of hunger. It had
cleaned the tank very nicely, but there was no algae left for it
to eat.
Since getting the new pleco the fish store attendant recomended
that I buy some of these fish food pelets. Mini-tab, I think they're
called. She said that once the algae is gone, that I should plop
one of these suckers in the tank at night, every couple days.
Anyhow, I'm at that point. The pleco has cleaned the tank and
I'm attempting to feed it every couple days. Unfortunately,
I don't think that the pleco is getting the food. The barbs immediately
attack the food pellet util it's gone. I have some questions:
1. Is feeding the pleco a good idea to begin with. If so, am I feeding
it the right the food at the right time..etc.?
2. Will the pleco ever eat the food with the agressive barbs?
3. What will the pleco eat if it has eaten off all of the algae?
An email response is greatly appreciuted.
Josh (jb3y...@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu or jb3y...@miamiu.bitnet)
Steve Dorner
>1. Is feeding the pleco a good idea to begin with. If so, am I feeding
>it the right the food at the right time..etc.?
Ours likes TabiMin just fine. Feed him after the lights go out, and
the barbs will be less interested, and the pleco less shy.
>2. Will the pleco ever eat the food with the agressive barbs?
Hell hath no fury like a pleco hungered. He can handle the barbs.
>3. What will the pleco eat if it has eaten off all of the algae?
Anything that's organic and not moving fast. Try adding a piece of
driftwood to your tank; that's supposedly a big part of their diet in
the wild.
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-do...@uiuc.edu UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner
Paul A Prior
>In article <91111.1339...@MIAMIU.BITNET> JB3Y...@MIAMIU.BITNET (Josh Braveman) writes:
>
>>3. What will the pleco eat if it has eaten off all of the algae?
>
>Anything that's organic and not moving fast. Try adding a piece of
>driftwood to your tank; that's supposedly a big part of their diet in
>the wild.
I wondered about this. My pleco keeps a piece of driftwood absolutely
-spotless-. The top of it is overgrown with java moss and he keeps the
bottom polished like a fish with a mission. Do you think he is under-
fed, or is this just a preferred "snack"?
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul A. Prior "I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind,
Med student at Large got my paper, and I was free"
ppr...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu *** Emily Saliers ***
Oleg Kiselev
>driftwood to your tank; that's supposedly a big part of their diet in
>the wild.
If your "driftwood" is home-soaked, rough and cordy stuff, like mine, you will
eventually see some regions of the wood become very smooth, almost polished.
Judging by my various sucker-mouth catfishes' health, wood is an essential
element in their keeping.
--
DISCLAMMER: I speak for myself only, unless explicitly indicated otherwise.
Oleg Kiselev ol...@veritas.com
VERITAS Software ...!{apple|uunet}!veritas!oleg
(408)727-1222x586
Ruth A. Iverson
|> In article <91111.1339...@MIAMIU.BITNET> JB3Y...@MIAMIU.BITNET (Josh Braveman) writes:
|>
|> >2. Will the pleco ever eat the food with the agressive barbs?
|>
|> Hell hath no fury like a pleco hungered. He can handle the barbs.
That's for sure! Before I moved from Colorado to California and had
to give them up, I had a medium-sized pleco who shared a 90 gallon tank
with 2 LARGE oscars. Usually, this was a peaceful coexistence.
However, there was one time when Bonnie, the larger of the oscars,
tried to steal a TabiMin from Popeye (the pleco). Popeye promptly lashed
her nose with his tail. She didn't like that at all and tried again.
This time our feisty pleco had had ENOUGH. He turned around and _sucked_
a line up her side. Bonnie promptly bit him in the head, swam to the
other side of the tank and sulked. Popeye was unaffected by her bite
(they're tough little beasties) and it looked like he was tempted to
follow her. His dorsal and ventral fins were all flared so he looked like a
spiny shark, but instead he decided to return to his meal.
|> >3. What will the pleco eat if it has eaten off all of the algae?
|>
|> Anything that's organic and not moving fast. Try adding a piece of
|> driftwood to your tank; that's supposedly a big part of their diet in
|> the wild.
Yes, I have found this to work well. Also, they LOVE spinach (hence
the name Popeye :-). You may have to anchor the leaf to the
bottom of the tank at first, but a hungry pleco will soon recognize
dinner no matter where it is. Popeye used to swim upside-down, happily
chewing on spinach leaves floating on top of the water.
Plecos are scavengers, so they will also munch on any dead fish in the tank.
This happened quite often with my finicky, messy oscars spitting their
live food back out after killing and often mutilating it. Blecch. :-}
--
R. Iverson (ive...@mobius.nas.nasa.gov)
AKA: "ShadowDancer"