Fussy Plecos

[Sandra the fish rookie]

I have a clown pleco and a super red long fin. I have lots of wood, rocks etc. for them but It seems that all they want is green beans. I gave them blanched zucchini and they don't care for it. I have tried various wafers and they won't even touch them. I put all the food in before I go to bed when the lights are off. When I check in the morning, the only things on the wafers is the pest snails. 

Should I try raw veggies instead? What else can I try?

[lefty o]

as long as they are eating something, and have wood to gnaw on, i would not worry too much about it.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@lefty o okay. I have even tried Rapashy Solient green and they won't touch it.. I have the morning wood and bottom scratcher but have not tried them yet

[Sandra the fish rookie]

I also have 2 Otto's in there as well that I want to make sure they eat as well. 

 

[Solidus1833]

19 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

I have a clown pleco and a super red long fin. I have lots of wood, rocks etc. for them but It seems that all they want is green beans. I gave them blanched zucchini and they don't care for it. I have tried various wafers and they won't even touch them. I put all the food in before I go to bed when the lights are off. When I check in the morning, the only things on the wafers is the pest snails. 

Should I try raw veggies instead? What else can I try?

I've a few different species in my tank including an L340 Mega Clown. I've noticed the Clown loves green beans and cucumber, but wont touch yellow squash or zucchini. He will also eat, Extreme brand wafers and Repashy, Morning Wood, but not Soylent or Community. I don't blanch any of the veggies. Have you tried peas? 

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@Solidus1833 I tried the extreme wafers and they won't touch them. Peas?? snap peas? No.. but I will try anything.

How do you keep your raw veggies from floating? do you take the seeds out of the cucumbers?

[Solidus1833]

1 minute ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@Solidus1833 I tried the extreme wafers and they won't touch them. Peas?? snap peas? No.. but I will try anything.

How do you keep your raw veggies from floating? do you take the seeds out of the cucumbers?

I actually use pleco feeders. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/262449779999?epid=1905560440&hash=item3d1b39d51f:g:zfAAAOxy79VRdb8v

There is another brand to use sold from amazon as well, just search Pleco feeder. However I prefer the ones from the first link. 

Many people just weigh the veggies down with a fork so that's also an option. I leave the seeds in. My plecos and funny enough Clown and Dojo loaches love the seeds. 

In all honesty though, if they are eating canned green beans, that's a win/win in my book. Cheap and stored easily. 

[Hobbit]

In my experience it takes fish a long time to figure out that something they’ve never seen before is food. And they won’t usually try anything new if their favorite food is around! I wouldn’t worry—it sounds like your plecos are eating quite well—but if you really want to switch them to a different food, try offering the new food only for a week. Though even after a week, they may still be fine getting by on the wood and algae and reuse to try it. 😄

[satisfiedghost]

My BN took about 4 weeks to figure out that the algae wafer was food. Now during feeding time he'll find it and chase off any other tankmates that get too close while he's eating it.

If you want them to get other foods stop feeding their favorites but I see no reason not to just feed them green beans and let them eat whatever else they please around the tank.

[Aquatic Journal]

With my baby BN Plecos I will tend to just feed one food for a few days in a row. Then switch and feed another food and so on. Eventually they will figure out that it is food and eat it when they get hungry. If you are always feeding the food they want then they won't eat the food that isn't their favorite. But if they get hungry and their favorite food is not around they will find something to eat. Really as long as they are eating and their bellies aren't sunken in then they will be just fine!

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Ive been working with 4 clown plecos recently and their taste in food has been very odd. They chew on driftwood of course but have also eaten hikari algae wafers and soilent green. They've shown tangential interest in green beans, zero interest so far in zucchini, and oddly enough seem to like new life spectrum cichlid pellets.

More experienced pleco keepers, would you go as far as removing driftwood temporarily to encourage them to explore more foods?

[Sandra the fish rookie]

I am trying "raw" zuccini" today. Its still sitting untouched in the tank.. LOL. I am going to get some yellow/orange peppers, an english cucumber and frenched green beans. I had regular green beans, but unless I split them, they won't touch them. #DIVAS 🙂 

[Guppysnail]

So thankful for this post. My 2 lemon blue eye longfins will only eat fresh steamed green beans. I even tried canned and no go. Sometimes they will eat broccoli fresh steamed frozen never. But nice full round bellies so I’m not over worried. I use plant weights and drop them in their food dish and aquas cape tweezers to retrieve the weight. No green bean means I have two sad eyed puppy dogs sitting inside their food dish making me feel heaps of guilt but funny to see. 

[Beccs410]

Oh man, I've had a L129 Columbian Zebra Pleco since February. I'm working on planting the tank up nice and heavily to see him more often, granted he is extremely nocturnal. Feeding has been trial and error with him, and always at night when the lights are off. He's nice and fat so I know he is eating, but that breed is notorious for being omnivores leaning more towards carnivorous. I feed my Corydoras bottom feeder wafers, sometimes I'll throw in carnivore pellets as well. I also feed frozen brine shrimp, frozen tubifex worms, frozen blood worms and frozen daphnia. I'm guessing he is mooching some of those noms. Specifically for my Columbian Zebra (Or "Fake Zebra" or "Scribble Pleco" as I've also seen them called) I was advised by the LFS I bought him from to feed Sera's Pleco wafers for Ancistrus and Hypancistrus. They've got a ton of good stuff like alder cone and spirulina as well as green lipped mussel. He seems to like those a lot. But the one time I've seen him really get excited was when I fed the daphnia. The Corys made the mistake of coming into his territory while he was apparently gorging himself and he made it known they needed to clear out 😄

[FreshwaterFacet]

I am having a very similar issue with my rubberlip pleco. I have tried veggies and he could care less.. I purchased Xtreme Sinking Wafers from the Co-Op but every morning the wafer(s) are still there. Anyone had luck with any other foods?

I do have driftwood in my tank but I never see him on it.. for that matter I hardly see him out at all! Is it typical that they are so shy?! I have had him for 3 years so you would think he would be a bit more comfortable. haha 

 

[HH Morant]

To keep zucchini from floating I stick a lead plant weight through it and bend it until the ends meet. My bristlenose plecos love it. Blanching is not necessary for plecos, but maybe for otos it is.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I have blue eyes albino longfin and calico shorten BNs. I use the morning wood Repashy and in the center I put a little frozen krill. I feed a half a cube at a time. I also add in some garlic, paprika and turmeric. It never lasts longer than a few hours. I think the krill and the other additions really brings out the odors and they swarm it.