Top Feeding Pleco...

[PaulEbs]

Hey,

I've currently got one sailfin plec, i used to have another one but he grew to 35cm! The problem is, they eat everything from the surface of the water! Does anyone else have catfish that do this? Is it a problem?

When the larger catfish ate from the surface, he swam upside down with his mouth eating all the flakes and his huge tail smashing everything about. the second catfish is similar, but much smaller.

Cheers, paul.

 

[nmonks]

Sounds hysterical. Any chance of a QuickTime movie or suchlike?

In captivity, fish learn all kinds of tricks. I have halfbeaks that flip onto their sides to take food from the sand and a bumblebee goby that perches at the top of the tank, waiting for me to drop bloodworms intos its mouth.

Anyway, can't see any problems at all that your fish does this. Even if it swallowed some air, they do that anyway, so it shouldn't cause any complications.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[dylema]

One of my bristle noses did eat from the surface for a while. He would suck onto the bottom of a lilly and then wiggle out upside down and grab the flakes. It was crazy I don't know how he managed.

I no longer have large lillies so he can't do his trick any more.

 

[morgan]

My 12" Common Pleco leans back and sucks flakes from the surface. He has his own food as well.

 

[PlecMama]

Our plecs do this too and the older ones have taught the younger ones to do it.
Malc can do whole circuits of the tank on his back, while Nessie has developed a fondness for flake for no apparent reason and lies on her back waiting for you to drop flakes into her mouth. Weird but cool.

The little freeze dried tubifex cubes are their favourites, we drop those in and all the plecs are up on their backs trying to score one.

Recently, nessie has learned to detatch the cucumber from the knife and swim away with it sucked on her mush so she can stay on the surface with it where Malc won't bother her.

God I love plecs!

 

[Fury2G]

My pleco does the exact same thing. At feeding time I turn off my undergravel filter and my power filter and he swims too the top, even before I start feeding. He's ready to eat!! He eats so many flakes its crazy! He doesn't eat algae anymore, just flakes. He's been doing it for years!

 

[catfish_mad]

My pleco the one in my avartar swims upside down on the surface but not at feeding time(at the moment)