Feeding snails to plecos

[pleco171182]

Hi All,

After doing allot of research on the dietary needs for my L128s and L240, I have decided to introduce small tropical Ranshorn snails to the tank. I've read that in particular the L240 love snails and is a staple diet of theirs in the wild and that they use their two fang like teeth to scoop the snails out of the shells.

My question is, will my L128s also partake in this as I've read they are aufwichs feeders which does include small crustaceans?

My thinking behind this is that there is no substitute for fresh food. Their current diet consists of spirulina pellets, earth worm pellets, Algae wafers and once a week a shelled mussel. I have been putting courgette (Zucchini) in there but they never touch it. I change 25% of the water every 2 days and keep it at 77f, which i know is the lower end of the scale but i want to keep the dissolved oxygen levels as high as possible.

Kind regards

David

[tagamasid1023]

I'm not sure about the L128s but in my many years of keeping Leporacanthicus species, I've never seen them eat snails. I've kept different species of snails with these and they didn't bother them at all. Perhaps because I keep them well fed.
I'm also unsure that snails are staple food source of these species. They are not predators but they will certainly scavenge the river beds for anything to eat such as cadavers and vegetation. In the wild, anything that satisfies their hunger is good enough.
Good luck with the L. Galaxias.