# Question about feeding pleco



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Hey guys,
I have a pleco that's about 3-4 inches long. A couple of times a week i will feed him lettuce, however most nights i just toss in an algae disc and turn out the lights. However, on night i was observing the tank, when i tossed in the algae disc, the mollies were all going after the disc. They were going after it for a wihle too. Since my pleco is a shy one. He usually wont go and fight for the food. By morning time, there usually isn't any of the disc left.
How do i make sure that the pleco is getting enough to eat?

Since i was previously informed to "take out" any remaining lettuce in the morning time. I figured that the pleco probably wouldn't be able to finish the whole peice. I put in a peice of romain lettuce about 2.5 x 2.5 inches and with the thick stem part in the middle as well. I rubber banded it to the drift wood.
I woke up in the morning and the lettuce only had a few chunks missing. I got preoccupied and didn't have a chance to take it out until the afternoon. By the time i got around to trying to get that lettuce out, the onyl lettuce left was the part that was strapped down by the rubber band. Everything else was gone. 

I just want to make sure that my pleco is getting enough to eat. I dont want to starve him or anything. It's hard for me to observe him too since he's very shy and is always in the cave. The only time he comes out is when i'm not around. As soon as i show up he dives back into the cave.


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, does your tank have any algea? Sometimes you must keep it as food for your plec? However, how long have you have your pleco? Plecos are not usually shy...


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

yes, it usually takes them a bit to get used to their surroundings. You could try cucumber, as well as the lettuce for your pleco. if your other fish are eating the wafer, dont worry about it, theyll be fine. Maybe you could try to break the pellet into half if they are the nickel size ones. This way your pleco should have a chance to eat, and you other fishes will get to eat too.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

fishfreaks said:


> yes, it usually takes them a bit to get used to their surroundings. You could try cucumber, as well as the lettuce for your pleco. if your other fish are eating the wafer, dont worry about it, theyll be fine. Maybe you could try to break the pellet into half if they are the nickel size ones. This way your pleco should have a chance to eat, and you other fishes will get to eat too.


I have tried the cucumber and the romaine lettuce. He seems to love the romaine lettuce. However, doesn't he still need nutrition from the wafers and such?
The wafers are more like the smaller than dime sized ones. So if i were to break it up it would just fall into the cracks of the rocks.
Also, the pleco doesn't really come out until it's dark and i'm not standing in front of the tank. It's very nocturnal except for occasionally he'll swim fast up to the surface, make a splash and come back into it's cave.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

maxpayne_lhp said:


> Well, does your tank have any algea? Sometimes you must keep it as food for your plec? However, how long have you have your pleco? Plecos are not usually shy...


Well... my tank has been setup nearing about the 3rd month now. 
I have actually never cleaned the glass of the aquarium and there actually isn't any visible algae on there. I've had my pleco for almost 1.5 months.


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

what kind of a pleco is it? not all plecos eat the same thing. try green beans in a can. Mine absolutely loves them.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

well since you have the smaller wafers, i would try putting in two shortly before you go to bed and its all lights out. Most plecos wont come out until dark. try to drop the wafer in the water beside the pleco, youll have a better chance of him finding one if theres two.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

fishfreaks said:


> well since you have the smaller wafers, i would try putting in two shortly before you go to bed and its all lights out. Most plecos wont come out until dark. try to drop the wafer in the water beside the pleco, youll have a better chance of him finding one if theres two.


Hmm... ok
I am feeding him about 1-2 a day now (the smaller wafers).
However... everytime i wake up in the morning... i still find that a couple of my plants are a mess. :argue: 
Man... those plants are sort of expensive. lol It just looks like they've been chopped down. I know it's the pleco because it only comes out at night where the other fish dont move much when it's dark. 
Any other ideas?


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## KingGary0 (Feb 20, 2007)

Plecos are nocturnal. Dont worry about them getting enough to eat, because they eat whats naturaly in your tank. If you wanna feed him get large algae pellets which are usualy pink in color. most fish dont touch them because they are too large and once you turn off the lights plecos run to eat them


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

best thing is to wait at least an hour after lights out. That way all the fish are in 'sleep mode' and will not go after the wafer, just the nocs like corys and plecs. If the lights have been just turned off the fish are still active and will eat what you put in there.


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