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Author Topic: How do know If my Pleco eating?  (Read 4297 times)

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Offline OscarLuv

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How do know If my Pleco eating?
« on: July 12, 2003, 08:24:47 PM »
I just got some algae waffles for my pleco and since their nocturnal. How do you know if they are eating it? And one more thing, My Pleco always stay glue to the glass on top and since the agae waffle drops to the bottom. How would he be able to get it?
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Offline g

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2003, 12:15:40 AM »
Feeding plecos is best done after the tank lights are off to assure they get their part of the food. I'd put the food in near where the pleco usually hangs out. To see him eating you might stay up a bit longer and watch him ;) Chopped zucchini or a piece of cucumber also makes a good pleco food.
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Offline Adam

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2003, 07:05:13 AM »
Plecos will search the whole tank at night for food.  During the day you will see them hanging about on the glass and probably not moving much.  But they are very differant at night and extremely active.  If your pleco has a flat or slightly rounded belly that means he is eating enough, if it is a little concave or very shrunken that is a bad sign he is not eating or not getting enough to eat.
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Offline OscarLuv

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2003, 01:44:34 PM »
 Last night i dropped in 3 algae waffles and this afternoon; I check the tank and the foods looks uneaten...Becuase there are alot of pieces of melted (dissolve) on the gravel floor. Is he eating?? Because i want him to grow up to be like 20 inches  :). Also, when my brother started, he never fed his pleco for like a year and his pleco grey like 2 inches... Sure dont want that to happen to my pleco.

Thanks,
   Jason
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Offline Adam

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2003, 06:14:08 PM »
There may be enough residual food in your tank via slime algae on the sides of your tank that you cant quite see.  You might want to wait a month or two before you try and feed him.  I would recommend droping one disk every other night until you are sure he is definately eating it.  If you find left ovets of the disk in the morning then go ahead and syphon it out when you wake up. You dont want it to sit and decay.
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Offline Pred8tor

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2003, 03:54:10 AM »
I agree with Adam.  In my experience with plecos they don't always go after the pellets or waffers right away. It's like they don't know they are food.  Once they try them, then from then on they go crazy over the food.

I also make it a habit to drop my pleco food in the same spot, and my pleco heads there to check for food drops.

Generally, when they get hungry, they get more aggressive in their search for food.
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Jeff

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Offline OscarLuv

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2003, 10:10:27 AM »
Thanks for the suggestions guys, Man is it good that I found this site.
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Offline loofa

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2003, 09:48:27 AM »
I was worried about the same thing with my pleco. There wasnt any algea anywhere in my tank, but I found that he was eating some of the food off of the ground. I knew this because there werent any catfish in the tank, and because I only had a couple of rainbows in there with him.
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theresa77

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2003, 01:44:41 PM »
I just gave my plecos zuchinni for the first time the other day. I just cut off a thick slice and blanched it (put it in boiling water for about two minutes) to soften it up a little. After the Oscars were done having their fun with the slices they sank to the bottom. It took most of the day for the plecos to find them, but once they did, they loved it.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2003, 01:45:16 PM by theresa77 »
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Offline Pred8tor

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2003, 04:44:19 PM »
It probably won't take so long for them to find it next time!
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Jeff

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Offline mll

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2003, 06:00:42 PM »
I never feed my pleco ;D, cause my tank is near a window so algae can grow. I had my pleco for a month now.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2003, 06:01:49 PM by mll »
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Michael

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2003, 07:41:16 AM »
Quote from: mll on July 17, 2003, 06:00:42 PM
I never feed my pleco ;D, cause my tank is near a window so algae can grow. I had my pleco for a month now.

Yeah, but how old is your pleco?  When the are small, you can go without feeding them directly if there is enough algae or fish food in the tank.

But when they get larger, they need more food, and may not be content with just algae... even if you have enough of that to feed a large pleco.

I know plecos like to eat driftwood.  I've had pieces of driftwood in my tank shrink noticeably from being eaten by my plecos.

Just keep an eye on them.
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Jeff

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Offline Cichlid1

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2003, 03:04:39 PM »
Wow I've never heard of plecos eating drift wood. Are you sure it did'nt just erode/dissolve?
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The_Gooch

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #13 on: July 19, 2003, 05:27:11 PM »
Jeesh, my pleco is NOT nocturnal and constantly battles my Jags for bloodworms and beefheart.  I wish i had yalls problems....that damn thing has already outgrown my male Jag :o.
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Offline g

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Re:How do know If my Pleco eating?
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2003, 11:12:54 PM »
Quote from: Cichlid1 on July 19, 2003, 03:04:39 PM
Wow I've never heard of plecos eating drift wood. Are you sure it did'nt just erode/dissolve?

They do :)  Not sure if it's the same for all pleco species, but there are some species (e.g. panaque, panaqolus species) that even need driftwood for their digestion.
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