How Often Should I Feed My Plecs?

[palacepleco]

Hi All,

We've only been new plec parents for the past few months and love them very much, however, we just read something that's scared us. Someone said that feeding them cucumber can cause them harm. Our plecs love cucumbers and eat us out of house and home.

As we are new to caring for these creatures, can someone please educate us on how often we should feed them, what to feed them and how much? Any and all information will be greatfully received.

We have a common plec approximately 10 inches long, 2 common plecs approximately 4 inches long, one common plec approximately 1.5 inches long and two new L243s.......approximately 3 inches.

Many thanks

 

[GrubbyGirl]

Feeding cucumber will not do any harm at all, only problem with cucumber is that it's not overly nutritious, that's why we humans use eat it when we diet! Try Courgette instead, they will love that too. There is a great thread called veggie list and a whole forum on feeding your pleco here http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Personally I feed veggies every other day and algae wafers or spirulina sticks every other day with a day off feeding on sundays. Experiment with vegetables, they love them. Peas (de-shelled) are especially good to prevent constipation, Good luck

 

[Tener ds]

Feeding cucumber will not do any harm at all, only problem with cucumber is that it's not overly nutritious, that's why we humans use eat it when we diet! Try Courgette instead, they will love that too. There is a great thread called veggie list and a whole forum on feeding your pleco here http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Personally I feed veggies every other day and algae wafers or spirulina sticks every other day with a day off feeding on sundays. Experiment with vegetables, they love them. Peas (de-shelled) are especially good to prevent constipation, Good luck

+1, mine love Courgette

 

[palacepleco]

Thank you very much for the info guys. What is Courgette? Is it Zucchini by any chance? I will try them on some peas also and see how they go. Thanks again.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

yes courgette is Zucchini. Funny, only America calls it something different (I think!)

 

[palacepleco]

Thank you for the link on lists of foods for plecs. I just found that the Courgette is Zucchini. Just one other question: When my kids were babies I used to steam a whole heap of veggies together and then mush them up and freeze them in ice cube trays so that if I was out of time, I could just zap a couple and their dinner was done. Can I do this for the plecs? I will just steam them all together and then freeze small portions.....that way when feeding time comes I can just throw a couple of those in. Will this be ok or do they need to have them solid so they can suck on it? Thanks again.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

Personally I wouldn't. Cooked food, especially mushed up would foul the water pretty quickly. Also ice cubes tend to float so by the time the food sinks it's likely to be all over the tank. I have never tried freezing raw courgette so don't know what it would be like so it's worth a try, but I certainly wouldn't cook and freeze.

 

[bigbird]

Hi,

I would never freeze the vegies as when they defrost become gooey and floul the water. My tip for you.
1. get a weekly feeding plan with a variety of vegies and once a week meat. IE Mon Zucchini TUE peas WED Brocholli THU Potatoe FRI Prawns SAT Cucumber SUN Nil
2. Go to the local hardward and get stainless steel screws.
3. With most veggies squeeze screw through and drop in tank. Remove the VEG the next day.
4. In order not to get your hands wet, tie some fishin wire to the screw and voila
5. With peas make sure you peel them or blanch them for 2min, remove from water and peel and just drop in
hope this helps cheers jk

 

[Big-B]

I agree with everyone else in not freezing your veggies. Dont want to foul your water. I cant believe someone told you not to feed cucumber, it wont harm them as long as its washed good. Zucchini seems to be preferred by my fish, maybe because its a little firmer, I dont know why. They eat a variety of vegetables but thats the favorite. They also get veggies 5-6 days a week but I have to do more water-changes because of the added mess (poo). Go check out the veggie list. You'll be amazed at what they will eat. :thumbup:

 

[GrubbyGirl]

Doodles even peels grapes for hers :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:

 

[zeebo]

hi there, my late common , about 9'' ate many raw veggies. I always introduced a new veggie by sticking a alage tab into the veggie , the common would go to eat the tab and find a yummy veggie. My common loved zucchini ,romaine lettuce, red bell pepper (not the hot ones) brocalli( but stunk up the tank water) so experiment with the veggies on the list as others have advised , try same veggie a few times. Good luck
Georgie

 

[Mooo]

Very nice of you Doodles lol, I've peeled the odd grape for my L's too, Doodles your not alone there..lol

I feed cucumber, peas, algae wafers, green beans seaweed strips(looks like sushi Nori sheets)
I never cook cuc, I do cook the peas then deshell them, ....I have to agree with everyone, you would be sorry if you cooked then froze the veg..

 

[titan]

3 times a day my 8 placos get fed, breakfast time they get treated to a sprinkling of king british catfish pellets, lunchtime they get algae wafers and for supper they get cucumber

 

[Zebra Pleco]

Oooooooooooooooooooops are you meant to feed them, I thought they lived of the scraps on the bottom of the tank.

lol

 

[Tony_s]

You can keep Zukes in the freezer,just cut and blanch them first.

 

[Roo]

Personally I wouldn't. Cooked food, especially mushed up would foul the water pretty quickly. Also ice cubes tend to float so by the time the food sinks it's likely to be all over the tank. I have never tried freezing raw courgette so don't know what it would be like so it's worth a try, but I certainly wouldn't cook and freeze.

I also experimented with blanching veg like sweet potato & courgette & freezing them. He showed a bit of interest, but not as much as uncooked. I only feed fresh veg & fruit now. However, he does definitely prefer cooked prawn to raw for some reason.

They are very quirky in their eating preferences which makes them all the more interesting to keep as pets.

 

[Mooo]

I forgot to say before, I feed daily But on Sundays they go without...Does em good..

 

[Warborg]

As we are new to caring for these creatures, can someone please educate us on how often we should feed them, what to feed them and how much? Any and all information will be greatfully received.

It seems no one addressed how often to feed them, so I'll make an attempt.

The answer is there is no set amount. You can feed them as often as you wish(with some 'rules' (more on it later)) or once a week... yes, they can for a week without food(but I wouldn't advise it if you have being feeding them more often).

Say you want to feed them 4 times a day... it's fine but you must keep the tank clean from uneaten food and keep the water clean(which means more water changes). For plecos it's harder to follow this rule "only feed them what they eat in the first few minutes". If you have an active pleco usually once they lose interest in the food that's still in the tank.

Most of the time, the more often you feed them the lazier they may become( from still being full from the last time).

The other warning is from feeding commons often is they will grow very fast