Pleco Feeding

[Jephex]

I have a new hong kong pleco, not too big maybe 1 or 1.5 inches, I know he cant only survive on the glass algae, but I'm not sure if i should give him algae discs or wafers etc, i have algae discs, if i should give him them, how do I do it, just drop it in, or...

 

[Teelie]

I think what you have is actually a kind of loach, which is a Cyprinid and prefers subtropical water temperature. They eat mainly the same kinds of foods though I believe.

 

[Jephex]

known as hillstream loach and hong kong pleco...not sure which. Also called stingray pleco. Cool fish. Thanks man,

 

[Jephex]

Now subtropical meaning below 73-78 or that area. Will he live in 73-78 degree temperatures?

 

[LoachLover]

They like algae wafers, cucumber, and shrimp pellets generally.

 

[Jephex]

cucumber...you mean like the actually food cucumber...may i just slice up a bit of cucuber and toss it in there or you mean something different?

 

[Gix]

Just cut a slice off of a regular cucumber (I remove the skin because there might be pesticides), and toss it in with a weight to keep it down. You'll be surprised how much fish love it!

 

[Jephex]

Question about him: there appears to be a few white stringy things no more than 1/6 of an inch long and extremely thin hanging off of the perimeter of his body, not the colored part but around the edge of the part stuck to the glass. Anything wrong?

 

[Teelie]

Possibly anchor worms or some other kind of parasite or fungus. Can you get a picture?

 

[Jephex]

not really but im about to metronidazole-ize the tank for internal parasites so it might kill any others that are harming my tank so i think im good. They actually look pretty natural not wormish.

Back to feeding--

A way I find most effective to feed my fish is to crush up algae discs and toss them in. The fish all love the algae, but they cant bite off the discs, so by crushing it they all get a share.

 

[Teelie]

Does it look like this?

 

[Jephex]

yeah butterfly loach, another name

 

[Teelie]

I don't see anything you described on it was my point. They probably aren't natural.

 

[Jephex]

you dont seem to understand, they are symmetrical on either side, little bristles