# Snowball Pleco Question



## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

So I've had a Snowball Pleco in my 33g long for about 3-4 months or so and he hasn't grown at all. He's been the same size, which is about 1 1/2 - 2 inches and hides all day in my driftwood. I wouldn't mind seeing him from time to time because it truly is a beautiful fish to look at, I'm just concerned that maybe he's too scared of his surroundings, or maybe it's because of the Sailfin Pleco I also have in there. Anyone have any decent information on these guys?


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

Anyone out there?


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## cossie333 (Apr 10, 2010)

lol ill give u some lol or they will try this 

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/pleco/snowball.php


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

I can't really help you specifically, but I think a lot of plecos are slow growers in general. We've had ours for several months with no noticable size change either, and although he is fairly big for a rubberlip bought at a pet store, he still has some growing to do.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Plecos are not only slow growers, they are very shy. Mine hides either behind the filter intakes or under a piece of wood in the tank until food is put in the tank. After he is done eating, he goes back to hiding.


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

bmlbytes said:


> Plecos are not only slow growers, they are very shy. Mine hides either behind the filter intakes or under a piece of wood in the tank until food is put in the tank. After he is done eating, he goes back to hiding.


Yeah mine just hides in nook from my driftwood. Even when i tried to take the piece out he stayed in there, so I decided to leave it in the tank while cleaning it so it didn't disturb him. 

I'd like to see him every once in a while, or try to train him to take wafers from my hands but I don't really see that happening anytime soon. I had an old sailfin who grew to about 6-7 inches long that took wafers from my hands and ate flakes from the top of the tank which I found pretty cool.

I'm thinking about maybe getting a clear steel pipe fixture of some sort to trick him into hiding there, where in reality, I can still see him. Anyone have any luck with that? I know ghost knife keepers do that to get a good look at them.

Thanks for the input so far though =P.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I'd put in a cave for each pleco (like a squashed clay pipe) on opposite sides of the tank. At lights out, drop a sinking food in front of each cave. My pleco will come grab an algae wafer and pull it in the cave to eat it. If the issue is the bigger pleco beating the little one to all the food, it should help.


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

emc7 said:


> I'd put in a cave for each pleco (like a squashed clay pipe) on opposite sides of the tank. At lights out, drop a sinking food in front of each cave. My pleco will come grab an algae wafer and pull it in the cave to eat it. If the issue is the bigger pleco beating the little one to all the food, it should help.


If that's the issue, I wish I would know, even though I've read that Snowballs tend to munch on wood primarily over algae, which is pretty much a handful of Plecos to begin with. I don't really think it's being harassed by my larger Pleco either since I've never really seen a whole lot of aggression, but I will be on the lookout for pipes of some sort. I'll also try and post up some pictures once my filter kicks in and clears out my tank since I just cleaned it .

Thanks emc7 =P.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Wood is not their main source of nutrition. They only eat wood to help with digestion.


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## I<3Fish (May 10, 2010)

Well, Plecos DO sleep during the day (I forget what its called. :lol: ) So, nothing is wrongg. My pleco grew pretty fast, actually. And... Do you feed them correctly? Because not only do you have to feed them Algae Wafers at night, You should also put some Seaweed Salad or Cucumber inside your tank. If you have a clip for the side of your tank for the Fruit/Veggies then you could put it out in the daytime and see if the Pleco will eat it, If you want to see them, try buying a moonlight, maybe.  Hope I helped a lil bit.


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

I<3Fish said:


> Well, Plecos DO sleep during the day (I forget what its called. :lol: ) So, nothing is wrongg. My pleco grew pretty fast, actually. And... Do you feed them correctly? Because not only do you have to feed them Algae Wafers at night, You should also put some Seaweed Salad or Cucumber inside your tank. If you have a clip for the side of your tank for the Fruit/Veggies then you could put it out in the daytime and see if the Pleco will eat it, If you want to see them, try buying a moonlight, maybe.  Hope I helped a lil bit.


I was going to start feeding them cucumbers this week actually haha, mom's going shopping tomorrow. I don't have a clip, but I could probably get one from my LFS since my friend works there for free even. I've been dropping two Hikari wafers every other night or so and they're usually gone by morning, but I'll give the cucumber trick a try, it worked with my previous pleco anyhow. Thank you.


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

I have a pleco in each of my two tanks. One is small and rarely comes out. Mostly at night. Once the light comes on he hides. The other one is bigger and grew at a faster rate too. It used to come out only at night but now it comes out anytime it doesn't see a human around. It's coming out more and more and starting to stay out when humans pass by. Only if you go to the tank and open the lid does it go and hide. They are like all fish and just have different personalities. 

My little one loved cucumber when I tried it last week. It ate most of it. I used a twisty tie and just tied it to a rock. Then I removed what's left the next day. The bigger pleco didn't even touch it. I'm going to get a couple small clay pots and put them in with the opening facing the front so if they want to hide they can but we can still see them. Both of mine seem to love eating sinking fish food pellets I use for the goldfish they are with. Whatever the goldfish don't get they do. I have algae wafers too and they love those.

Good luck with yours. Just give them time to grow and get use to things.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you say "snoball" pleco...what is it's L number ??.... i would assume L-201..Inspector.
this is a Hypancistris species..they are primarily carnivorous ..or actually omnivorous.. they need lots of meaty or high protein foods..algae wafers once a week.driftwood and lots of hiding places..like emc said..caves..they don't get very big..4 inches or so without tail.rather slow growing.will reach maximun length in 2-3 years or so...
they breed in the typical Hypancistris fashion


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

lohachata said:


> you say "snoball" pleco...what is it's L number ??.... i would assume L-201..Inspector.
> this is a Hypancistris species..they are primarily carnivorous ..or actually omnivorous.. they need lots of meaty or high protein foods..algae wafers once a week.driftwood and lots of hiding places..like emc said..caves..they don't get very big..4 inches or so without tail.rather slow growing.will reach maximun length in 2-3 years or so...
> they breed in the typical Hypancistris fashion


Yeah sorry I didn't have the L number, but yes it is an L-201. I'm trying to get rid of my cloudiness issue in that tank since I've tried everything from water changes to accu-clear, so I'm blacking the tank out for a few days. I'll update you guys on him in a few days.


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