Common Plec Not Eating?

[Ian H]

well i dont think he is? I've had him for about 8 months now from a baby, he's always hiding and has only grown to about 6 inches

i put in cucumber and tetra pleco wafers but my shrimp/clownloach/bristlenose always eat them

i'm getting quite worried about him since he doesnt seem to have grown much!

 

[Elaine2]

You could try some other veg. aswell, such as courgette or sweet potato - he might just not like cucumber (mine doesn't). If you can drop a few pieces in then he'll have a better chance of getting some food. Has he got some good hiding spaces? Is he getting bullied? Is he coming out when the lights are off? I'm not sure how fast they grow as mine was an adult when I got him. Although nocturnal he is around a bit during the evening.

 

[rmanpf]

how do you feed them cucumber? lol my cucumber always floats.

 

[scooterchick]

how do you feed them cucumber? lol my cucumber always floats.

I usually stick a fork in it and place it 'prongs' (is that the word?) down.

 

[scatz]

from a baby to 6" in 8 months, he's definately eating something, i wouldn't worry unless you see his stomach starting to sink

 

[Elaine2]

Another way to weight cucumber etc. is using the thin, lead strips off bunched plants.

 

[world_wide_wilson]

I'm never sure how much to feed my common plec. He's at least a foot long and eats wafers but how many would be best to feed him in a day? Any ideas? The usual 'however many is eaten in 20 mins' doesn't work cos he eats slowly over a period of time. If I keep a constant supply of them for him the water gets murky.

 

[raptorrex]

well i dont think he is? I've had him for about 8 months now from a baby, he's always hiding and has only grown to about 6 inches

i put in cucumber and tetra pleco wafers but my shrimp/clownloach/bristlenose always eat them

i'm getting quite worried about him since he doesnt seem to have grown much!

i have a two year old common, i consider him to be growing fine, and he is just 9 inches now. unless you have a lot of algae, it may be worth popping in some cooked chicken, it you can get it to him. even the common pleco need a protein source. in nature it comes, in the most part, the bacteria and other such things living on the rotting veg it eats. so in the tank we need to give a hand.

 

[Elaine2]

My common plec is baout 10" long now and munches through a couple of Hikari algae wafers a night plus a piece of veg. I sometimes wonder whether I am over or under feeding him but his is happy, healthy and has an appropriate plec-shaped figure, so I reckon I must be getting it about right.

 

[lysergene]

Lettuce is a good one

ps. I don't think they grow very fast, either way; if he wasn't eating he would be long gone....

pps. lol over feeding usualy results in lots of rubbish in the tank. If there is none then carry on as you are I rekon ...

 

[raptorrex]

Lettuce is a good one

pps. lol over feeding usualy results in lots of rubbish in the tank. If there is none then carry on as you are I rekon ...

lol yeh, it looks like a knitting wool factory has exploded in your tank.

something most of us know, but its worth saying anyway, bog wood of some description, is a must for many plecos. its actually a part of their digestive system.

 

[xingumike]

bog wood of some description, is a must for many plecos. its actually a part of their digestive system.

Are Loricariidae made by Geppetto then?

@ the OP, lettuce is a pretty poor food nutritionally akin to eating cardboard, without as much roughage of course. Romaine is about the only one worth trying but you would be much better with courgette (zuchini), cucumber is pretty piss poor as well.

hth

 

[rossyt99]

bog wood of some description, is a must for many plecos. its actually a part of their digestive system.

Are Loricariidae made by Geppetto then?

@ the OP, lettuce is a pretty poor food nutritionally akin to eating cardboard, without as much roughage of course. Romaine is about the only one worth trying but you would be much better with courgette (zuchini), cucumber is pretty piss poor as well.

hth

Ah -Ha!> I've been trying to find out the English equivalent of 'Zuchini' as I'd seen it mentioned as good for Plecs. I Asked my local Grocers and they hadn't a clue> Cheers, I'll put a bit of Courgette in sometime.

 

[raptorrex]

bog wood of some description, is a must for many plecos. its actually a part of their digestive system.

Are Loricariidae made by Geppetto then?

@ the OP, lettuce is a pretty poor food nutritionally akin to eating cardboard, without as much roughage of course. Romaine is about the only one worth trying but you would be much better with courgette (zuchini), cucumber is pretty piss poor as well.

hth

Loricariide my well be made by Geppetto in cloud cuckoo land, but here they seem to be made by a male and female fish of the genus Loricariide.

incidentally courgette and cucumber, are as near as makes no difference identical in nutritional value, though courgette has a little less water. lol well here anyway, not sure about cuckoo land though. and the Pleco is made to eat things with no or very low nutritional value, a large proportion of its nutritional requirements are, in nature, derived from the bacteria and other things that thrive on rotting vegetation. bog wood is important as the main source of fibre in the diet of these fish, it sure makes them $hit, but it keeps them healthy.

 

[xingumike]

lol, no problem.