Tame Plec

[Briarmoor]

The pleco I took in from my mom's too-small-tank is thriving. It has also gotten so tame. It doesn't swim away and hide anymore when we come in the room. In fact, when I open the lid to feed, it is right there sailing around trying to position itself to suck in food.

My husband can get it to sucker climb up the side as he holds a blood worm under his finger against the glass and it will take the food. It won't do it for me, but while I was out of town for 10 days, he messed with it a lot and got it to trust him. Very cute. So far, it has come up below my finger when I tried, but won't come in contact.

It is way bigger than my mom's remaining pleco for some reason. Not sure if it is the bigger tank, cleaner water, or fresh food instead of dried?

Anyone else have a tame pleco they can tell stories about? They are quite endearing fish. Originally I wanted a bristlenose, but don't regret taking this one.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My plecs are quite tame, despite many people assuming algae eating plecs are only vegetarian, all algae eating plecs need some form of high protein foods in their diets as they grow, i give my common and sailfin plecs prawns once a week which they thoroughly enjoy, the other fish also love prawns. What type of plec is it do you know? If the plec stayed a long period of time in a tank that was too small its likely it experienced stunted growth, which is often irreversable and effects each individual plec to different extents.

 

[Durbkat]

My pleco used to run and hide when anyone even me came to the tank but now when ever I come to the front of the tank he just sits there and watches me because it usually means food for him and once his algae wafer hits the bottom of the tank he goes directly to it and munches away

 

[EliteFishy]

How do you tame your plecs. I had my plec for about four months already and every time i drop in alge walffers my plec never touches it.

 

[Durbkat]

Well it has taken my pleco at least a year to get used to me and rember what I look like so it may take awhile depending on what you want it to do. Now like if you want it to eat right out of your hand then I would guess that would take years and lots of patience.

 

[Tolak]

I have a couple of common plecs that come to the surface to be fed brine shrimp. They see the eyedropper, & come to the surface & float belly up. I squirt it right into their mouths. They've been that way for years, they do flakes also. They started it years ago when my dad owned them. They practically do a backflip if you sprinkle flakes in front of their mouths on their noses.

Tolak

 

[Briarmoor]

This is a common plec near as I can tell. I am saving for a 125g so he/she can move into that with the various rainbow fish I keep dreaming about. Everytime I think I am saving, the house needs a repair or the dogs need to go to the vet. I think the plec is okay in the 55g for now. He/she is about 5-6 inches long.

I don't think this plec would ever figure out doing belly up to get food. But 2 nights ago, I did hold some brine shrimp up against the glass and he/she did come up and take it! Very cool! That is the neatest fish and doesn't mess with anyone else. Glad I took him/her.

Tonight I let the fish have flakes since I got home from work late and didn't thaw brine shrimp. I held a big flake against the glass and he/she wiggled up the glass suckering and got it. Not from my finger but from where the flake stuck on the glass. The sucker mouth looks like an inverted Hoover vaccum, stuff just disappears down it. The plec is big enough now to pick up the algae wafer and carry it off if it wants. Sometimes it has to as the Pearls get right under its mouth picking pieces off its algae wafer. No such thing as eating in peace with voracious gouramies around.

 

[Durbkat]

My pleco can do that to ( pick the algae wafer up and carry it to where he wants to) he can also eat it while he is swimming away from the black tetras that try and get his food.

 

[Briarmoor]

Last night the fish got freeze dried tubifex soaked in water first. Mr Pleco as my husband calls him (her?) swam up and sucked onto the glass. I held a glob of tubifex to the glass and he came up and tried to eat it. His mouth is too close to the glass to do a good job really, but he did manage to get a few worms in his mouth and pull the glob down into the water. The gouramis were trying to "help" dissemble to glob. I thought it interesting that the pleco couldn't eat a whole glob of tubifex at once but a gourami can. Maybe the shape of the mouth? It was neat being able to touch his head with my finger tip.