Are all Plecos wood-eaters?

[Whiplash4ever]

Or just some of them? I know that there at least some wood-eating plecos out there. If I want to stay away from them, which ones do I want to stay clear of? I don't need a complete list necessarily. I just need the common ones found in pet stores or online stores that are routinely found for sale.

Or... is there a way to break them down here on this site, without looking at every species in the cat-eLog?

[andywoolloo]

How come you wanna stay away from the wood ones?

When I look thru the cate log I think it's 50 50 wood or not.

[Whiplash4ever]

It's not that I necessarily want to stay away from them. I guess I misspoke. I just want to be sure I know the needs of the fish prior to buying it so that I know I am housing it properly.

[andywoolloo]

oh i see.

[MatsP]

There are several that NEED wood in their diet (Panaque, and Hypostomus in the Cochliodon group are primary ones in this list). Others seem to enjoy having wood in the tank (Ancistrus, Sturisoma, Baryancsitrus) and will chew on the wood.

The first group will not be at all happy in a tank with no wood - their diet RELIES on eating wood. The others will chew on wood, but don't NEED it as an important part of their diet, if that makes sense.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

Matt already mentions the plecos that actually eat wood but for all the others, they find wood is always a rich hunting ground for their sucker mouth equipment. Wood in water always develops a rich ecology of algae and small invertebrates or their larvae that make up a layer rich in food. The Loricaridae find this wood both a rich feeding ground and good camouflage or cover for protection from predators. Some like Sturisoma and Farlowella have evolved to imitate the appearance of sticks for further protection and specialization for feeding on the thin branches.