Greens are good for u-and for plecs?

[shrimpkeeper222]

Hi guys, Im a new-to-cat guy about to start an Loricaria community Tank. The stock will include Farlowella.sp, Sturisoma.sp, Clown Plecs, otos, Rineloricaria and L-144 for the loricarias, and spotted rasboras, pygmy cories, lampeyes and various shrimps(Parayta, Neocardina, Caridina).
And i need suggetsions on food they are gonna eat-especially veg-SO, if u know what veg plecs like and how to feed it to them, pls reply and tell me!Any help would be amazing.

[bekateen]

Hi Shrimpkeeper222,

You've picked some nice fish there. Regarding foods for these fish, especially vegetables, there is a lot of advice already present on this website on the matter, if you know where to look.

For general questions like these, I've learned to start by seeing if there are any Shane's World articles on the matter. Next, for each fish I've selected, I will read their individual CLOG (=Cat-eLog) pages here. Those will have relevant feeding info for each species. Finally, I use the Forum Search tool and type in some key words that I expect will be relevant but not too broad.

The following links will help get you started:

• Feeding Plecos -Part 1: Types of Food
• Feeding Plecos -Part 2: Who Eats What?
• Frozen vegetables for clown plecos?

You have chosen a variety of different Loricariids, so their food needs will differ. Try searching the forums for each species using their scientific name and words like feeding, food, or diet.

Good luck with your tank.

Cheers, Eric

[shrimpkeeper222]

Thanks. I'll check those links out.

[pleconut]

It's also sometimes a case of trying a few seeing what they like and weighing up nutritional value a quite a few plecs love cucumber and courgette and will eat it non stop but these are mainly water based and i've learnt here they shouldn't be the only veg offered. Another thing to consider ive also learnt here it can take time for them to recognise what they are being offered as food so persist with something until it's clear to you they don't want it. Softer veg will breakdown quickly in a tank if it's a higher temperature potentially causing pollution issues so i remove after 4-6 hours the harder veggies can stay longer. Also add some wood I use bogwood to the tank as it's part of the diet for many plecos the Shanes world feeding article is helpful and if you have a question a forum search of your question may bring up some helpful ideas from really experienced people as already mentioned above.

[shrimpkeeper222]

The good thing is everyone is a vegan or a nearly vegan! Yay! And as Pleconut siad, Ill provide lots of driftwood-would four 20-30cm horizontal driftwood, two 3cm high stumps and 2 15cm cactus driftwood be fine? And some good advice on veg feeding care, thanks.
According to the articles, sweet potato, zuchini, cucumber and peas are good. So, could the feeding be:
For d plecs
Algae Wafers
Cucumbers(Raw and un peeled slice)
Courgette(Lightly blanched)
Peas(Shelled and softened)
Sweet Potato Skin(Raw)
Melon Rind
Home Grown Algae
Err Spinach?
And Raw Cabbage?
For d Nano Feesh(Lampeyes, Pygmy Cories, Spotted Rasboras)
Fish flakes(For d top feeding lampeyes and rasboras)
Sinking bottom feeder tabs
Some boiled oatmeal(Rarely)
Spirulna(Rarely)
Frozen Bloodworms(Delicious)
Live Daphnia(Fro time to time)
For d Shrimpies!
Shrimp Pellets
Veg like d Plecs
Home grown algae
Would this be a nice Plec Party? Let me know!

[bekateen]

Sweet Potato Skin(Raw)

Maybe it was lost in the translation, but none of my fish like to eat the skin of the potato. I remove the skin before adding the raw sweet potato (usually as 3-4mm thick slices) to my tank.

Cheers, Eric

[shrimpkeeper222]

Thanks for making the thickness and other stats clear. I might have been confused with other vegs. And im also gonna try out new stuff. Like apple slices, paprika, carrot tops(for orange plecs? ), beet tops(For magenta plecs? ) , etc .

[pleconut]

In terms of blanching courgettes i dont i put it in raw just weigh it down as it will float the tropical temp will degrade it quicker another tip remove any seeds from veg as normally fish won't eat them and they will clog filters.

[shrimpkeeper222]

I see, so no blanch and remove seeds? And for the other vegs?

[pleconut]

The harder veg wouldn't degrade as quickly so it could be lightly blanched softer veg or with any with leaves might break up and clog filters or pollute tank it would basically have same effect as what dying/dead plants could do.

[bekateen]

I've used raw sweet potato, raw celery, raw bell pepper (but remove the seeds first, they are probably TOO SPICY), raw beets, raw carrots, raw broccoli stems (cut into 1-2 cm long segments; I've seen others use the broccoli tops, but I haven't tried those), raw cucumber, raw zucchini (courgette), and boiled (for 10 min) Brussels sprouts. Soon I will try blanched and skinned peas, but I haven't tried them yet.

My plecos did not seem to like the beets, celery, or carrots very much, although they TRY to eat the carrots and celery. As mentioned above, I may have rushed to judgment and stopped these foods prematurely, before the fish realized they are supposed to eat them. And maybe I should have blanched the carrots and beets; I don't know about them.

The broccoli stems were popular with my bristlenoses, but my fish didn't like the skin on the outside of the stems; the plecos ate those from the inside outward, and left the outer skin behind like a ring, uneaten.

My plecos also like cucumber and courgette, but as mentioned above, the seeds aren't eaten, so they float around the tank and foul the water. Moreover, these veggies rot / fungus faster than other veggies, so they have to be removed about a day after being added to the tank; so I do not like to use these as foods. By contrast, my sweet potatoes may sit in the tank for 3-4 days before I remove their left-overs (if there is any); so in my opinion, this makes a great food in terms of not harming water quality fast.

Cheers, Eric

[SuperSic]

My plecos go nuts for chunks of green pepper.

They go through it in half the time compared to courgette, though this didn't like potato or carrot much. I think it's generally personal preference, though it might be a colour thing, as ours will try anything green, but hesitates around other colours (like yellow and red peppers, sweet potato etc)

[NCE12940]

There's no accounting for taste - my BNs love red bell peppers and don't care for the green at all, though they love zucchini, including the skin.

[shrimpkeeper222]

I see. So every indivisual doenst eat the same? Thanks-first time hearing that BN loves Bell Peppers. And eat no greens for some and only greens for another? So maybe I should try out different foods? So, does anyone know what Plecs CANNOT eat?

[bekateen]

So maybe I should try out different foods?

Yes, try out a variety of fresh veggies. But if you want to be purposeful about it, I would treat the fish like human parents treat newborn babies: Introduce only one vegetable at a time and see if they get used to it. As mentioned above, I would keep feeding them the same vegetable for at least several days because they may not "like it" the first time they see it or taste it. My plecos have sometimes needed a week or more of exposure to a vegetable to decide that they like it, and once they like it, they really LIKE it!

So, does anyone know what Plecs CANNOT eat?

Well, I don't know what they CANNOT eat, but I can tell you what they SHOULD NOT eat, and that is TOO MUCH of high-protein meaty foods. It's not that meats (e.g., shrimp or "carnivore" pellets) are bad automatically; in fact many plecos need some meaty foods when they are conditioning to be ready to breed (the extra protein helps mothers during egg production). But if the plecos are always fed a diet of high-protein foods like these, some plecos will overeat these foods and become swollen or bloated, and may actually die from this diet which is too rich compared to their normal vegetarian diet.

So depending on the type of pleco you have (some omnivorous plecos eat more meaty foods than others), you may want to offer them meaty foods occasionally, but you don't want to make it their daily diet.

To know what is right for your particular plecos, go back and read the two pleco food articles in Shane's World, and read the CLOGs for your specific plecos.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Here are two recent forum threads about feeding meaty foods to plecos:

Feeding carnivorous/omnivorous plecos
Will clown plecos eat shrimp? Is raw or cooked better?

And here are the results of a search for "bloat" and "meaty" in the pleco forum:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/sear ... d%5B0%5D=5

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Here are my bristlenose juveniles feeding on raw sweet potato and a boiled Brussels sprout. The veggies are all impaled on a bamboo shish-kabob skewer, which is mounted in a plastic clip to the wall of the tank to prevent the veggies from floating. In this photo the Brussels sprout appears to be more popular than the sweet potato, but to be clear, the fish like both.

[shrimpkeeper222]

I see. Thnaks a lot bekateen. So not too much meat? But meat needed for the omnivores? I see. And a question. What veg would a farlowella eat? They said it was a limnivore liing primarily of algae. Would it be picky or would it be same?

[pleconut]

I have kept fish that primarily eat algae what ive done is place pebbles in a small glass container in a very bright spot with water from tank as the algae grows on the pebbles i put some in the tank and alternate them to keep a continuous supply of algae going this would help keep farlowella fed.

[shrimpkeeper222]

so algae farming for the farlowellas? May I use driftwood and plants as well? And whatif the algae spreads into my tank? Thanks ford help so far!

[SuperSic]

I've used raw sweet potato, raw celery, raw bell pepper (but remove the seeds first, they are probably TOO SPICY),

I've been thinking on this, and came to the conclusion that fish probably can't taste spice. Bare with me on this one.

Peppers and Chilli's are relatively recent additions to the flora of this planet (within the last 10,000 years we believe), because of this, animals such as parrots who have existed for longer than the plant never developed the taste buds that pick up the spicyness, which is why you find tasty chilli's in parrot food.

Well Plec's have been around for an estimated 300,000 years or longer, meaning that there is very little probability that they can even taste anything spicy.

(not that this means they'll like/eat the seeds of course, just pondering)

[bekateen]

Good question. I have no idea. But I'll still remove the seeds, just to play it safe. Furthermore, since none of my plecos eat the seeds of milder veggies (e.g., cucumber or zucchini), why would I think they'll eat the seeds of peppers anyway? If they don't (regardless of reason), then the seeds just pollute the tank.

[shrimpkeeper222]

I've used raw sweet potato, raw celery, raw bell pepper (but remove the seeds first, they are probably TOO SPICY),

I've been thinking on this, and came to the conclusion that fish probably can't taste spice. Bare with me on this one.

Peppers and Chilli's are relatively recent additions to the flora of this planet (within the last 10,000 years we believe), because of this, animals such as parrots who have existed for longer than the plant never developed the taste buds that pick up the spicyness, which is why you find tasty chilli's in parrot food.

Well Plec's have been around for an estimated 300,000 years or longer, meaning that there is very little probability that they can even taste anything spicy.

(not that this means they'll like/eat the seeds of course, just pondering)

So, no fish with fiery flavors? interesting-will pursue that further. But, as bekateen said-better safe than spicy-or non-spicy!

[pleconut]

Re the farlowella i don't know about farming algae on plants or wood as you mentioned you don't want to enourage excess algae growth in the tank having said this it's depends what surfaces the farlowella is more likely to rasp algae from if it's wood farm it on wood if plants it will grow over time naturally in the tank you could use a couple of broad leaved robust potted plants to cultivate algae on replacing them when needed try not to introduce too much to tank at once or it could get a hold.

[shrimpkeeper222]

And i should introduce algae to the tank? Hmm-I dont really want algae in my main tank though. Would java fern be good enough for the broad leaved plant?