Mollies eating the algea discs before...

[mathman]

Everytime I drop in an algea disc my mollies swarm it and even fight over them. I am worried my pleco isn't going to get enough food as he is still about 2 inches max. I do feed him zuchini so I know he isn't going to starve but I doubt squash is enough for him to be healthy.

Now before anyone tells me I am not feeding enough, I have been over feeding and sometimes have to skip a day to lower my nitrites.

I have tried giving some sun dried brine shrimp at the same time but they still prefer the algea disks! I have even tried giving the pleco the discs at night when all the lights are off but when I turn on just enough light to see what is going on, those silly mollies are all over it already.

Any advice would be great!

 

[LesGerber]

The only thing that works half way for me Mr Bink is to drop one in the tank and let the platys and swords have it and after they get busy then drop one in for my pleco. My pleco really tears up the cucumber I put in the tank for him and it is a vegitable so it has to be good for him


HTH

Les

 

[EddieW]

Mr Bink,

Have to agree with Les - my guppies, barbs, gouramies,etc. all love the sinking foods as well as there own. Fortunately my plecos are large enough to push them out of the way, but I hate to see too much aggro so I do the same as Les. Drop a decoy one for the others and them drop some for the pleco at a different location. They will soon pick up on it and know that when one drops over there, they're one will be arriving soon

Cheers, Eddie

 

[frazzle1211]

Thats the way i do it as well.

However I have a new problem, namely my Blue rams
I watched yesterday As i fed some dried flake, catfish pellets, Cichlid pellets, Algae wafer, and plec tablets, now my tigerbarbs are terrible, they eat everything, they know it's feeding time as soon as the lid is opened and are up at the surface waiting, dropped in the food and sat back and watched, pleco got about 1/2 an algae wafer to himself, then moved onto one of the cichlid pellets (i think he will eat anything), however the blue rams came and actually took the pellet from under the plec, while he was eating it, i thought ok, fine plec must have not wanted it or something, then he moved on to a catfish pellet, and the bleedin' rams did the same again.
I am now kinda worried that the rams are stopping the plec feeding properly, do you think i should be conserned, or am i over reacting???


cheers folks


fras

 

[mathman]

I do that as well but having 15 mollies they attack as many as I drop in usually. I try to drop them in by some fake plants to keep the mollies at bay but often the disc falls where even the plec can't get it. Will a wafer cause the water problems like flake and other foods do or is it just algea and wont hurt? Now that I have guppy fry, a few hours old, I don't want to go moving anything.

 

[LesGerber]

I have heard Mr Bink that dissolved algae discs can lead to algae growth. I dont know if it is true or not because they never last that long in my tank. If you are finding some discs arent getting eaten and you do get algae growth then that is something for the pleco and mollies to eat so unless it gets way out of hand I wouldnt worry too much. What I do to try to keep everyone happy in their aquatic home is toss in 3 or 4 slices of cucumber and let it float. All of my fish go up and get a nibble when ever they think they are hungry. Even my pleco who is 4 to 5 inches long gets up at the top of the tank and munches and pushes the cuke around so I am sure he gets enough food.

Frazz, as far as the tiger barbs, they are nasty little eaters....I have seen them go up behing my swords and try to eat their poo so I dont think there is anything they wont eat. The only bashful eaters I got are my tetras, and they usually eat flakes but they do so away from the rest. All I have to do is act like I am comming over to my tank and my platys, swords and tigers think its time to eat.....lol
Whats bad is they get fed twice a day and the cucumber......lol
As much as they eat you would think they all would be fat but they arent.

HTH


Les

 

[mathman]

I have heard that too Les about algea discs that dissolve causing algea but since my tank is newly cycled I need a bit anyway. Yeah I feed veggies too.

I heard someone say (saw their post) that plecos eat wood also. Anyway, where do I find something proper in the way of wood to feed the little guy? I would imagine not a stick...

 

[CFC]

And the moral of the story is............Dont keep shy/slow moving fish with fast moving aggressive eaters,i learnt this with tinfoil barbs which really are aquatic garbage disposals,imagine 10" tigerbarbs on steroids which haven't eaten for a week!!Nothing else got a look in until i had them re-homed at a zoo,i now choose my fish so that they will either eat different foods or can compete with each other.

A way you could try for the pleco to get some food would be to get a hollow tube big enough for him to use as a cave and actually place the food in there with him/her,the plec will defend its territory from other fish and hopefully keep the food.

 

[mathman]

True true. I wanted an algea eater but not one of those silvery things. I don't even know what they are called but I just don't like them. He is growing fast and is already sticking up for himself a bit. (Not fighting but not running either.) I was just worried that he is getting too much stress. He has a little cave he hides in when he is tired but he comes out frequently even during the day.