How do I best feed BN pleco?

[Beckett]

Howdy! On Wednesday I just added a juvenile super red BN pleco to my community tank. He is in with 13 cory cats, 6 of which are mature bronze corys. I have not seen the pleco eat at all, so I want to be sure he is getting his share of food. What is the best way to feed a pleco, especially a young one he is only an inch long tops, in an active community tank?

So far I have been breaking off small chunks of Hikari algae wafers right before I turn the light off each night, I put one chunk near what appears to be his favorite driftwood hideout. BuT I have never seen him touch it. My corys just all go for it. Last night I gave the corys dinner on the opposite side of the tank at the same time which helped but I still ended up with 3 corys fixated on the algae wafer.

Also I noticed today two chunks of algae wafer still sitting on the bottom with no fosh bothering with it, so I removed it and tossed it.

Anyway... anything else I should be doing to make sure my pleco is getting his share of food? He seems pretty active and exploring the driftwood I have so far and some of the live plants. I also might buy some fresh cucumber this weekend and try putting a small piece in the tank for him.

 

[CassCats]

I like to take a cucumber or steamed zucchini, or whatever choice of veggie, shove a piece of a wafer in the soft part of it, deep so it won't get knocked out easily, and then wedge it up on driftwood or on a suction cup on the side of the tank. Once in awhile I will also add shrimp pellets too, for the odd bit of protein in the BN plecos diet.

Most of my cories won't bother with it as obsessively

 

[Beckett]

Thanks! I will give that a try

 

[FishGuest5123]

Feed them at night too.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I feed my Albino BNP at night time. I find he feels more comfortable at night. (Aka in the dark)

I feed him blanched cucumbers. Although, he does also like shrimp pellets.

 

[utahfish]

BN plecs need wood to feed on and will graze on wood a lot. Sounds like your pleco is doing that. Peas, sweet potato, zucchini, lettuce they should try, sometimes it takes them a minute to get used to feeding on these as in they wild these arent foods theyll eat and if the fish store didnt feed them the first time you give it to the pleco will be the first time for him. As always blanche the veggies in dechlorinated water, de shell the peas. Good luck.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

BN plecs need wood to feed on and will graze on wood a lot. Sounds like your pleco is doing that. Peas, sweet potato, zucchini, lettuce they should try, sometimes it takes them a minute to get used to feeding on these as in they wild these arent foods theyll eat and if the fish store didnt feed them the first time you give it to the pleco will be the first time for him. As always blanche the veggies in dechlorinated water, de shell the peas. Good luck.

Forgot to mention that. BN Plecos need wood fiber to properly digest food.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

As always blanche the veggies in dechlorinated water

Wait... what? I have always blanched in chlorinated water.

 

[utahfish]

Wait... what? I have always blanched in chlorinated water.

Yup i blanche in dechlorinated just to be safe. Im not sure how much chlorine gets into the veggies and into fish but better safe than sorry i say.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I do too but probably not enough to hurt. Good rule I’d thumb is “no chlorine to enter tank.”

 

[Gypsum]

It took my female bristlenose pleco, acquired as a juvenile, a few weeks to realise cucumbers/courgettes were food. Now she's obsessed with them and waits for you to put it into the tank. It's attached to a magnetic veggie clip. Sometimes you have to nudge her out of the way of the magnet.

The tank surfaces and the microscopic film and algae on the wood might be giving your juvie pleco enough for now, and it's still settling in, which won't make it inclined to argue with corys. Plecos are quite shy until they get used to a tank. Some of the L-numbers stay shy, but my bristlenose is one of the most fearless fish in the tank.

 

[Beckett]

Thanks everyone! I gave my BN a blanched cucumber slice on a magnet clip as described and noticed him munching on it a couple times! And I caught him picking at one of the Hikari wafers I feed the corys too, so it seems like he/she is starting to settle in.

Thanks for the tips, definitely going to keep doing the veggies once a week.