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New Pleco; Any Advice?

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
i went to the store and got a new pleco on sunday, and i would like some advice on how to keep him happy and alive. he's only an inch long, and i'm planning on getting a bigger tank later on. and i have alot of algae on the back of my tank, which is part of the reason i purchased him, do i still need to feed him? thnx!!!!!!
-NoaDon12- ;-)
 
#3 ·
for additional food, it depends on whether you put any other food in the tank (if you have a community tank). mine used to eat the micro pellets that the other fish missed and a few times a week i threw in an algae wafer bc i didn't have enough algae to sustain him.

i got my pleco when he was a little thing too. within a year he was about 5 inches long and pooped so much i couldn't keep the nitrates down in the tank. when they get larger, the poop looks like long ropes of sausage. it would break off and wrap around all my plants. just so you know what to expect.

they are very cool fish
 
#9 ·
i have a 15 gallon tank, i'm going to get a larger tank this summer, like a 40 or 45 gallon. and i'm going to switch to real plants next month. but yeah, sorry i haven't been getting back to you guys, i've been very buzzy! so far, he is doing GREAT!
 
#11 ·
oh, i forgot to include that, didn't i? ok, he's a common pleco. and today i came home from school, and he was laying on his side in the gravel, which gave me a mini heart attack, and so i thought he was dead, so i reached in to grab him and discard him, when all of a sudden he bolted away! and i literally jumped! so which leads to the question; how can i get him to reconize shrimp and flakes as food, rather than just algae?! i think i might be starving him......... yeah, thats happened a few times! lol! so please respond, ASAP!!!! thnx alot!!!
-NoaDon12- ;)
 
#13 · (Edited)
how can i get him to reconize shrimp and flakes as food, rather than just algae?!
-NoaDon12- ;)
I used to have a common pleco. He also was totally uninterested in shrimp, flakes, bloodworms, etc. They don't eat meat-based foods like these, they only eat vegetables ... algae wafers, slices of cucumber, parboiled zucchini. Mine enjoyed leaves of spinach as well. Trying to get him to recognize flakes as food would be like trying to get you to recognize flakes as food. :p

Also, I hate to say it, but he will get WAY too big for your tank. Common plecos grow to be longer than a foot. After 2 years, mine was about 7 inches long. To make matters worse, the larger they get, the less they seem to be interested in algae (my experience). They get to be bullies, too. I took mine back to the pet store, hoping they could find a home for him better suited to his needs.

What makes you think he's dying? Just listlesness? If he's starving, did you try feeding? (Silly question, but I feel like I have to ask!)

Good luck
 
#12 ·
ok, but really, i think he's about to die........... HELP!!!!!!!!! why why why?!?!?!?!? i might have starved him to death........ i feel like a killer!!!! helpppp!!!!!!!! :(
 
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