L397

DJ-don

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Dec 14, 2009
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I usually just feed my L397 with cucumbers, potatoes, broccoli stalk, and zucchini.
but i generally feed the cukes because they seem to prefer it more

with wafer food, hikari, sera catfish wafers and Prestige vege pellets do the job very well
 

WhatThePlec

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Jul 14, 2009
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Melbourne, AU
I feed mine a lot of different stuff. These are adult fish however. I would NOT recommend feeding most of this stuff to juveniles, other than the algae wafers and fresh veg.

OSI Algae Wafers
Hikari Algae Wafers
Sera Viformo (occasionally, its too expensive)
OSI Shrimp Pellets
Tetra Colour Bits
Hikari Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp
Hikari Frozen Bloodworm
Fresh zucchini
Broccoli stalks
Boiled Sweet Potato (80% boiled)
Other vegies too, depends what scraps/offcuts have from making dinner ;)

I pretty much never feed cucumber, even though it is popular. I find it fouls the water very rapidly, and I think there is not enough nutritional value to make it worthwhile.
 

Brengun

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Apr 22, 2009
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Its a Panaque, it eats wood.
Apart from wood, Hikari algae wafers, Sera Flora veg flake, and cucumber. Go easy on the rich stuff like Sera Vilforma etc, good for conditioning females to breed but not so great for littlies in any excess.

Did I mention they eat wood? Champion buzzsaws they are so one Hikari for the whole 5 if little or between 2 if adults. Cuke every second or third day, just a halved lengthways bit about 5cm long for adults. That way they eat it all pretty quick and saves you taking out the uneaten bits.

If your L397 are only pretty new, I imagine it will take a week or two before they will eat anything you give them. That wood is pretty good to their eyes. Quirky fish lol.

Btw, they will need a new bit of wood every 6mths to a year. By the time mine are finished you can almost break it in your hand. Keep them bits, great for fry savers.
 

Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
Does it matter what type of wood you feed them? I have a few pieces of driftwood that I had purchased a long time ago for display purposes, will that be ok?

Thanks :)
 

Mooo

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Aug 11, 2010
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Jervis Bay, NSW, Au
I would place it in and see, The softer woods are better, no hardwood, that African Mopani is too hard for plecs to rasp, and don't use wood with oozing sap..the driftwood sold at lfs is ok...I've used wood from lfs, & wood I have found in the scrub..it's usually old fallen Melaluca in Oz..
 

bigbird

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Sep 9, 2010
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Sydney, AUSTRALIA
i am honestly surprised that you did not check up on this before you bought these species. makes me wonder. They are wood munchers and listen to brenguns advice because she is the expert on these. I am still shaking my head that you ask what these eat....look at our profile... http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2073 and do some homework on the internet....cheers jk :thumbup:
 

Brengun

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Can read all you like but it doesn't hurt to confirm it with breeders.
I killed a L075 once with bloat. It had about 3 different profiles online and one was carnivores. Bad idea feeding it carnivore food. :(
 

Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
I would place it in and see, The softer woods are better, no hardwood, that African Mopani is too hard for plecs to rasp, and don't use wood with oozing sap..the driftwood sold at lfs is ok...I've used wood from lfs, & wood I have found in the scrub..it's usually old fallen Melaluca in Oz..
I don't know much about wood so I guess I will ask someone from a lfs which wood they would like the best. I'm not sure what types of wood I have at home at the moment either so I might show someone and ask what type it is. Is there any chance that lfs' sell hardwood and that I might already have some?

I also have another question and to save starting a whole new thread I thought I'd ask it here. Are open top tanks ok for plecs or is it 100% essential to have a lid? I want to have an open top tank with driftwood coming out of the water if possible.
 
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Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Plecos seldom jump out of an open lidded tank but for safty I would drop the water level say 6cm or so just to be certain.
Ok thanks for the info Brengun :) I think I might get a glass lid that covers most of the top of the tank but can also have my 'hang on' filter on the side too.
 
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Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
Hey guys. I have been feeding my new L397 'sera catfish chips' (along with wood) and he doesn't really seem into them. There are other tetras in the tank and I think they end up eating them once they have softened enough, do you think I should just try another brand?

Thanks in advance. :)
 

Mooo

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Aug 11, 2010
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Jervis Bay, NSW, Au
@ Jamez
So long as they have wood, the Sera Chips, algae wafers n some Cucumber, beans n peas,, they should be fine, alternate these foods one variety per day, so they have a variety during the week, n they will be happy as Larry, :yes:
If they still don't seem interested, they may need to be wormed..Even if they don't have worms it seems to perk em up somewhat..bit like a tonic...
 
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D-MAC

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Jul 24, 2009
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www.danditropicals.co.uk
Hey guys. I have been feeding my new L397 'sera catfish chips' (along with wood) and he doesn't really seem into them. There are other tetras in the tank and I think they end up eating them once they have softened enough, do you think I should just try another brand?

Thanks in advance. :)
The Sera catfish chips are excellent and have wood in them so that's a good start...Don't worry if they don't dive in straight away, it can take fish up to a couple of weeks to adjust to a new food source.
 

Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
The Sera catfish chips are excellent and have wood in them so that's a good start...Don't worry if they don't dive in straight away, it can take fish up to a couple of weeks to adjust to a new food source.
Ok well thanks for the reassurance. I think I may have read somewhere that plecos can take a while to get used to new prepared food so I guess that might be the case here.

@ Jamez
So long as they have wood, the Sera Chips, algae wafers n some Cucumber, beans n peas,, they should be fine, alternate these foods one variety per day, so they have a variety during the week, n they will be happy as Larry, :yes:
If they still don't seem interested, they may need to be wormed..Even if they don't have worms it seems to perk em up somewhat..bit like a tonic...
And thanks to you for your advice too, I will keep all that in mind.
 

Jamez

Member
Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
Hey guys. My little L397 seems to be settling in a bit better than he was a week or so ago and he seems to have taken a fancy on zuccini which I'm happy about too. One thing that I was curious about though is that his colours are no where near as pronounced and bright as they were when I bought him and have gone a bit dark. The nitrate levels in the tank are very good and there are dither fish in the tank with him. Should I be concerned?

Cheers.
 

Jamez

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Feb 9, 2011
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Brisbane, Australia.
That's a good point Brengun. He's in a bare bottom tank which has a black bottom so that might explain why he's gone a bit darker. Do you think a lighter coloured sand or something similar might bring out his lighter colours?