Common Plec Not Eating?

[Darkstar]

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.

Loricariidae, and Loricariidae is the family not the genus.

And I think the 'Geppetto' point relates to your earlier explanation (below) since Geppetto was the woodcutter who carved Pinocchio from a piece of wood.

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

which reads as though you're saying a plecs digestive system is made partly from wood as opposed to it's diet consisting of wood.

 

[raptorrex]

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.

Loricariidae, and Loricariidae is the family not the genus.

And I think the 'Geppetto' point relates to your earlier explanation (below) since Geppetto was the woodcutter who carved Pinocchio from a piece of wood.

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

which reads as though you're saying a plecs digestive system is made partly from wood as opposed to it's diet consisting of wood.

lol yep i see your point i did get the Geppeto reference.
but the comment was right, though perhaps needed more explanation. the wood is used as part of the digestive system, its actually not part of their diet. bit like seals and things swallowing stones to help their digestion. it has absolutely no food or dietary value.

 

[Darkstar]

the wood is used as part of the digestive system, its actually not part of their diet. bit like seals and things swallowing stones to help their digestion. it has absolutely no food or dietary value.

While that may hold true for many Loricariid members, the genus Panaque (and I think at least one Lasiancistrus sp) would agree to differ.

Seven species of Panaque have been found to consume wood in their native habitats and two species will consume, extract energy from, and grow on a wood-only diet in the laboratory

as quoted from here: http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...epdf/nelson.pdf

or this one as:

Red maple wood contained more energy per gram than either the carrot or broccoli diets. Panaque maccus extracted roughly the same amount of energy from each of the diets.

as quoted from here: http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...orepdf/toba.pdf

 

[raptorrex]

the wood is used as part of the digestive system, its actually not part of their diet. bit like seals and things swallowing stones to help their digestion. it has absolutely no food or dietary value.

While that may hold true for many Loricariid members, the genus Panaque (and I think at least one Lasiancistrus sp) would agree to differ.

Seven species of Panaque have been found to consume wood in their native habitats and two species will consume, extract energy from, and grow on a wood-only diet in the laboratory

as quoted from here: [URL="http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...epdf/nelson.pdf"]http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...epdf/nelson.pdf[/URL]

or this one as:

Red maple wood contained more energy per gram than either the carrot or broccoli diets. Panaque maccus extracted roughly the same amount of energy from each of the diets.

as quoted from here: [URL="http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...orepdf/toba.pdf"]http/www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/congress/...orepdf/toba.pdf[/URL]

lol more clarification, i was talking about plecos in a tank. initially in the wild, many, plecos eat huge amounts of food, though it is often virtually devoid of real nutritional value. but as the habitats changed so did the value of the food they eat. whilst they were getting enough nutrition they are drastically short of fibre. scraping on dead wood gives both the fibre needed for their digestion, plus any nutritional value there may be in the wood and the bacteria living in and on it. in a tank the pleco, usually gets food of a much higher nutritional value, than would be normal in the wild, but the fibre is often much less than it would be in nature, as such the addition of bog wood in the tank, gives them the much needed fibre. but you will understand that wood boiled scrubbed soaked and heated, is likely to have lost much of the nutritional value it had. indeed bog wood is so important to the group of plecos we call common, that in a planted tank, and with no additional feeding, it can look like all they eat is the wood. though in truth they are deriving their nutrition from the algae and plant matter within the tank. if you check the tank you will find the scrapings that the pleco deposits in its crap, have been totally unaffected by digestion.

 

[liserini]

Mine have been eating the koi food I put in the tank for my oscars...as well as their usual cucumber, they've certainly grown a bit from eating the koi food! Both are about 2 years old and are about 8 and 6 inches each.