Pleco Feeding

[m00ms]

hi all,

how do you know if your feeding plecos enough?

i have a L141 pleco thats about 1&1/2 years old that seams fit well and is filling well espicaly when you look at its girth.as far as plecos go i would say its a very active pleco as it is always out and about rather than hiding away.

recently i seam to notice that as soon as i drop food in its straight on to it even as im replacing tank top on.

im trying to work out if its just getting brave,confident or if its hungry?

 

[Hermithall]

It certainly doesn't sound like your pleco is starving, but I know what you mean about gauging whether they're getting enough to eat or not - just trust your intuition and keep an eye on it's health and behaviour. I think actively going for the food as soon as you put it in the tank can only be a good sign. Fish should be hungry, as oppose to overfed. I tend to go off what's coming out the other end when monitoring my common pleco's food intake - some good quality poop kicking about in the morning generally means all is well! Pleco's are grazers who naturally appreciate bulk vegetation in their diet, so chuck in cucumber, boiled brocolli stems and the likes now and again through the day, and save the pellets for lights out at nightime so the pleco can eat them without competition from the other fish. They need a bit of wood to rasp on in the tank too, which assists digestion. I suppose sheer quantity of food depends on the size of your pleco. My pleco is 13 inches long, and doing well on 3 sinking pellets each evening at lights out, and gets a piece of veg approx 2 times per week (taken out after 8 hours or so once it's eaten all the pulpy bits). I always keep a tub of defrosted frozen garden peas in the fridge too and occasioally skin a few of those to chuck in.

Just google imaged the L141 pleco - gorgeous fish!

 

[m00ms]

i shall have to keep an eye on the poop front!! never thought of that,thanks.

first few times i tried cucumber he/she didnt go near it but now its found it likes it he/she goes for that straight away also,tank gets cucumber section cut in half most weekends,half one day and the other half the next dya with jbl pellets during the week most days,i have also just started using jbl noyo tabs which also he/she enjoys lots.

your not wrong about being a good looking fish as i am well happy and just want to keep he/she fit and well.

hopefuly il attach my pleco picture!!


http/i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l624/m00ms/Picture030.jpg

 

[Hermithall]

Lovely photo - stunning pleco, and looks in excellent condition - i think you have the feeding regime in perfect order! I find the same with my common pleco when it comes to offering new food - mine also had to 'learn' cucumber was food, and same with broccoli stems - rejected it the 1st time but goes out of it's mind for it now! Brocolli has to be boiled or steamed first, too tough otherwise.
Here's my common pleco, looks a bit like Shrek and a face only a mother could love lol:

 

[m00ms]

i do like your common as i think they are great and i just love the size of them!

a few years ago a work friends parents had a tank with "a black fish in it" that they were waitng for it to die so they could close the tank down.when i found out it was a common pleco and told them it will live for 12-15 years they asked if i wanted it and gave me the tank,filter etc.sadly it had out grown the tank it was in and i didnt have the space to keep it long time so i gave it to a friend.

the time i did have it i did enjoy watching it.i did find that it was a clumsy fish that just crashed into rocks and logs and everything else that got in its way!! is yours like that?

 

[Hermithall]

A little bit clumsy too, yes! It rests in it's cave throughout most of the day, then becomes active teatime onwards. I bought mine as a novice when it was just a tiddler, the guy at the shop telling me it would be ideal for my 180. Of course it's outgrown 2 tanks already and is currently living in a 75 gallon, but again it's almost about time it was moved into a bigger tank!

 

[Joanne_]

I feed my pleco slices of cucumber every now and then. He seems to like it a lot