What type of "Snowball" Pleco do I have? Also - Tips on feeding?

[sankalpakc]

I everyone! I'm a new member of the community who recently purchased a juvenile 'snowball pleco' from a local aquarium shop. I started doing research and realized that there a ton of varieties sold under that name so I thought I'd reach out and see if you all could help me identify him (or her!). Let me know if you need better photos or a different angle.

Also, I'd love to hear the community's 'best practices' for making sure they get enough food. My Snowball is living in a community tank with tetras and cory catfish that tend to eat up any ground pellets I put down. The Pleco spends most of its time hidden on the underside of my Malaysian Driftwood log. I'm guessing it gets a little sustenance from that but I've never seen it eat to a pellet/algae wafer. I've also tried putting in some veges (cucumber/sweet potato) but haven't seen it eating them.

Thanks for any help or advice!

[bekateen]

Hi sankalpakc,

Welcome to PlanetCatfish. Your "snowball" appears to be Hypancistrus sp.

L201

(commonly called the Orinoco Angel Pleco to distinguish it from all the "snowballs"). Mostly a meat eater, and won't go much for veggies, but will take some occasionally. I have the same and their main diet is live blackworms and boiled (human grade) shrimp. I throw in the occasional algae wafer and also an occasional raw veggie, but those are mostly untouched by the adults.

Looking at your photos, I can see that the fish is malnourished (its belly is very sunken). Try a little bit of live black worms in a glass, plastic or ceramic bowl (so the worms don't disappear into the gravel), or try some Fluval Bug Bites pleco pellets.

Cheers, Eric

P.S., I see you're from California? Where abouts? I'm in Stockton, and there are a number of PlanetCatfish members in So. Cal. and in the SF Bay Area and greater Sacramento Area.

Cheers, Eric

[sankalpakc]

Hi Eric,

THANK YOU! This is just the information I was looking for. I've been pretty worried about him so it is good to have an expert opinion on the matter. I'll see about getting some bigbites and shrimp etc. Will my tetras and corys go after a cooked shrimp? If they do I might have to put the snowball in an isolation tank for a bit to make sure he gets some food. I put worms in sometimes and they usually go crazy for those.

I live down in Orange County (Fullerton). Glad to hear there's a thriving community here!

Sincerely,

Sanka

[bekateen]

Will my tetras and corys go after a cooked shrimp? If they do I might have to put the snowball in an isolation tank for a bit to make sure he gets some food. I put worms in sometimes and they usually go crazy for those.

Yes the corys will for sure, and I would imagine that the tetras will try if you chop the shrimp finely. I think the isolation tank might be a good idea, just to let your pleco get stronger.

And FYI, L201 is a relatively shy fish. I rarely see mine eat in the daytime. So you might wait until lights out to drop in the food, just so it isn't sitting in a bright tank all day, decaying or polluting water while the pleco waits to come out and eat.

I live down in Orange County (Fullerton). Glad to hear there's a thriving community here!

Fullerton is nice. I used to live in Riverside.

Cheers, Eric