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Pleco question


blueit7

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I have inherited a large Pleco, just an ordinary brown one. He is about 20cms long.

I don't think he has ever been feed anything other than cleaning the tank. I can't get him to eat anything, I don't think he is used to it. I have tried alge chips and cucumber and he doesn't go anywhere near them and I have to end up removing them because they go yucky. I'm worried he won't be getting enough to eat by sucking on the glass alone. There doesn't appear to be anything on the glass but he is pooping green stuff so he must be getting food from somewhere. He doesn't appear to spend anytime on the bottom. Does anybody have any ideas on how I get food to stick to the glass where he spends all his time? I have tried attaching food to the ornaments but he doesn't touch that either.

Any sugestions or any other foods I can try?

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plecs of large size as they get older they look for more protin foods

i cook the cummber/zucchini slightly blanche in hot water.

you can try any thing like form lettce/zucchini/banana that hes favourite/beef hart findly blended. see what happens.if you think your plecs not getting a nuff food check his tummy it shound be rounded all so make sure he got wood in hes tank that helps him digest hes food.

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You might be suprised how much algae is actually in a normal tank. Sure we can clean the glass, but the rocks, driftwood and stuff wont normally get cleaned and will have a yummy layer of slime all over it. Once the pleco cleans that up it will start looking for some more food.

If it's pooping - then its eating something :D

Cheers

Ian

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He looks really healthy. I just read that once they get big, they need more than what is in the tank so I was worried but I guess if he was that hungry he would find what I have been offering. He's really good at doing big 360's while he's attached to the glass. Looks really cool.

By the way, how do you tell the sex on these guys? He might be a she!

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By the way, how do you tell the sex on these guys?

They are hard to sex, but once they get to adult size (about 30cm) they develop a slight difference to their vents. But you need a HUGE tank (pond) to breed them.

You are correct, they do need more food than they can find in a normal tank, but if there is a build-up already it may take a while to get caught up.

Cheers

Ian

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Thanks Ian, that's what is worrying me. He has gone into a brand new tank so there is nothing at all on the glass. My tank broke so my fish were living in a turtle tank for ages until we got around to fixing it. I stripped it completely and put it back together. Everything that was in the turtle tank as gone into the new one so there was no worries about cycling etc. Water tests are all still fine but I wonder what on earth he is eating as I have never seen him spend time on the bottom. He is really big. Maybe he looks around on the bottom when I'm alseep but he still never eats what I put in.

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