feeding in a community tank

[Tener ds]

hi all,is there a food that only plecos eat?
cos i have my 2 plecs in a community tank i,m finding it hard to find food that
only they will eat.
any ideas??

 

[D-MAC]

I haven't come across any foods that the others won't have a go at...What pleco is it you are trying to feed?

 

[Tener ds]

Ned my L081.trying to keep him from eatin my plants.but
the other fish like veg as much as he does.

 

[macvsog23]

It will be more a case of when & how they eat not what they eat.
let me explain plecos in general will feed at the bottom of the tank at night or at dusk so it is a case of targeting theses areas.
Courgette or a prawn with a fork stabbed in it will sink and not be very interesting to tetras or barbs
You must always bear in mind the natural diet of this group of fish it is wide ranging from those that eat only meat to ones that have specialist teeth to eat wood and a digestive system that will extract from the wood protein there are some that will eat small inverts that live in the bio film some will have developed teeth to extract mollusks from their shells its an endless list.
Try to target the food to the fish IE feeding genus Ancistrus with meaty foods is a sure way to kill them off. as is feeding only veg based foods to the genus Pseudohemiodon

 

[D-MAC]

I dont think there is much you can do apart from making sure he has a constant supply of courgette skins and other veggies to graze on for that part of his diet...Hopfully if he has plenty he may leave the plants alone.

 

[Tener ds]

He also gets bloodworms brine shrimp and shrimp pellets,
I'll try for night time feeding if pos. Lights go Of at 6pm, then I'm of to work.
I'll feed before I leave.

 

[Tener ds]

Will we just looked in our blood worm bucket in the garden and found loads in there. So both tanks had some live food to eat.

 

[bigbird]

I would tend to make sure you feed them pellets and live food at lights off and during the day cougetts or cucumber. At lights off, providing it is dark, the tertras or other fish will be asleep, so they will have free range . cheers jk :thumbup:
ps good to see that your buckets are working

 

[Tener ds]

The main problem is that I work nights,the lights go off at 6 pm, just after I leave for work.I don't trust anyone else to feed my fish so i was thinking about getting
a auto feeder to feed a small amount when it's proper dark,around 2am ish.

 

[bigbird]

an auto feeder sounds good and some take pellets as well, remember some pellets are round which are better for the auto feeder. I would normally set at 1hour after natural dark sets in. IE now with your summer, if sunset is at 7pm, set the timer for 8pm. I would find 2am a little late, but that is just my feeling. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Tener ds]

cool,ill get looking for a feeder when i get up later.the reson i said 2am ish is cos the tank is in the dining room,the lights are on in this room till the misses goes to bed,around 11ish.so the room doesnt get dark till late,and gives the other fish time to nood off.thurght it would be best to feed the plecs when its very dark.

 

[bigbird]

good move cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Tener ds]

haha :woohoo::woohoo:
http://www.ferplast.com/scheda_prodotto_eng.php/id_menu=06040701/prodotto=FISH - Technical components - Automatic feeder - Chef pro
its even made for my tank lol :yes:
there are 3 built in holes for it to fit in my hood,biddin on 1 at the mo...got to love ebay.

 

[Tener ds]

the feeder is working great,3 shrimp pellets go in tank at around 1am every day.tested the water today to just incase the extra feedin stuffed up my water but all is ok.

 

[bigbird]

that is good news. now make sure you keep up the pellets in the feeder and have spare batteries available. just learning from experience cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Tener ds]

that is good news. now make sure you keep up the pellets in the feeder and have spare batteries available. just learning from experience cheers jk :thumbup:

no probs there bb,i load it up with 2 or 3 just before i leave for work and remove the batteries and the feeder when i get in,around 6am.