Discussion: Plecos and Fruits?

[Jobro]

We all know it is common amongst hobbyists to feed their plecos some vegetables.

Ever since TTA brought up Dr. Tanners Fruut Luups, the idea of feeding fruits was going round in my head.
So some days ago, while I was eating a mango, I put a piece on a fork and put it into my community tank.
Next day it was gone, didnt find any remains. Haha, no, the fork was still there, no worries xD

But usually with veggies, I find remains. But with the mango - nothing.
Now I am not sure, whether it just dissolved like crazy and went all down the filtration or if the plecos actually frenzied on it whole night long.
I will redo this and might watch some more carefully next time.

But how are your experiences with fruits? Anybody else gave it a try? If yes, what fruits and how well were they eaten?

Cheers Johannes

[amazonaquatics]

Not too familiar with feeding raw fruit to fish, but I feed Repashy Fruut-Luups all the time to my plecos and Corydoras and they all love it. Great formula.

[bekateen]

I've tried bananas and banana peels, both just messed the water. My BNs chewed on them a little, but not with the enthusiasm of other veggies.

Keep in mind that technically cucumber and zucchini (courgette) are both fruits.

Have you tried searching the forums using the search term fruit?

search.php?keywords=fruit&fid%5B0%5D=5

I think this has been discussed before, although perhaps not with mango.

Cheers, Eric

[Kd67]

Just the other day I placed some watermelon rind in for my Clown and Bristlenose Plecos. They loved it nothing left but the skin when I went in to clean it up the next day.

[b.reder]

In the spirit of experimentation, I have just placed Ranier cherrys in my three place tanks.

[Jobro]

I did some testing these past days.

like Kd67 said, watermelon is gladly accepted. I don't know how many valueable nutrients are in watermelon though. Still fine for some variation I think.

Apple was not eaten a lot.But it does not dissolve quickly, so it's ok to offer a little piece once in a while.

Cherries, like b.reder tried as well, were accepted. Only the skin was left.

Strawberry was not really touched at all.

Nectarine/Peach seems to be good as well, just like cherries.

I think the softer fruits are more welcomed than harder ones.

I left my fingers off the bananas, as I can imagine them to dissolve easily, just like Eric said.

[TwoTankAmin]

It would seem to me that the majority of fruits that fish might eat need to end up in the water rather than the fish going after them "on the vine." I think that for the most part these are fairly ripe fruits that fall off on their own. Most of the best fruits probably get eaten by animals before they can end up in the water.Of course, some of those must also get accidentally dropped.

However, since I have no first hand experience here, I could be way off base?

[MarcW]

I have tried mango with my

L128

some time ago but they weren't to keen, maybe I just didn't give them enough time to see it as food.

However they really like the Fruut Luups Repashy formula, that's always gone in the morning.

There must be fruit falling into the rivers they inhabit, so I assume it would form part of their natural diet.

[Jobro]

It would seem to me that the majority of fruits that fish might eat need to end up in the water rather than the fish going after them "on the vine." I think that for the most part these are fairly ripe fruits that fall off on their own. Most of the best fruits probably get eaten by animals before they can end up in the water.Of course, some of those must also get accidentally dropped.

However, since I have no first hand experience here, I could be way off base?

I don't think you are off there. Fruits drop when ripe or when another animal drops it. Maybe if a whole tree would fall into the water. But that's about all the possibilites I could imagine as well.

I have tried mango with my

L128

some time ago but they weren't to keen, maybe I just didn't give them enough time to see it as food.

However they really like the Fruut Luups Repashy formula, that's always gone in the morning.

There must be fruit falling into the rivers they inhabit, so I assume it would form part of their natural diet.

Maybe L128 just prefer other fruits or they just eat the more meaty things? In my "fruit experimental tank" there are ancistrus, peckoltia, hypancistrus, baryancistrus and a panaque. I can Imagine the panaque and ancistrus would eat a lot of those fruits. Too bad that I don't see what's going on in there during night.

[MarcW]

I think I'll give mango another go and try a new piece every day for a few days to see if they go for it. They love Courgette (Zucchini), and sweet potato, and certainly seem to like a bit of meatier food as well, occasional blood worms, tetra prima and some of the meatier repashy mixes.

[Jobro]

Best about feeding mango is: you get the spares

[b.reder]

Can and do Plecos taste spicy.... as in hot peppers vs. bell peppers?

[Mol_PMB]

I don't know if they taste it, but my farlowellas like both hot and bell peppers and eat them down to the skin.

[MarcW]

I have tried red peppers as we call them in the UK, which are a milder pepper, and my

L128

seem to like them. Not as much as courgette or sweet potato though, but they'll eat some. Never tried them with anything spicier!

[Jobro]

I would refrain from offering really hot peppers. Because fish can't cry, you probably won 't notice. Maybe they don't even taste it in their mouth but their intestines might react to it? So they might eat it, not noticing that it's bad for them. And you won't notice either. As I don't see any advantage in feeding the hot peppers instead of normal ones I think the risks might outweigh the benefits here?

On a different note, I offered Mango again tonight. All gone in the Morning

[Mol_PMB]

Is anyone aware of a supplier of Repashy Fruut Luups in the U.K.? I've tried various online Repashy suppliers, and Pier Aquatics who used to stock Repashy in the shop, but no luck. The Repashy UK website lists a very limited range of fish foods compared to the US equivalent.

[Jobro]

I had to get mine from Dr. Tanner as well. No luck with repashy in Europe...

[MarcW]

I don't know of a UK supplier. I order it from Stephan at Swiss Tropicals, and have it shipped to me at hotels when I'm in the US.

He can ship internationally if you contact him before placing an order, but it would get quite expensive if you just order one small tub to try out.

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks to both of you. I'll get in touch with Stephan and see whether a few tubs can be shipped at a reasonable price. My fish and I are very happy with the various Repashy gels I use already, but my local source (Pier) has now ceased stocking them and I'm also keen to try out some new flavours not available in the UK.

[bekateen]

She's not in the UK, but maybe talk to @jac? I think she is associated with Repashy foods in the Netherlands.

Cheers, Eric

[MarcW]

I have bought a few tubs from Pier in the past, its a shame they have stopped stocking it, they had a good selection.

[Jobro]

Mango seems to be the runner here. Sadly not all plecos love it alike. L134 and L260 and L201 seem to ignore it pretty much. But they are pretty carnivorous so that was kinda expected. Other Peckoltia, like L006 and L477 (well I guess they are L477) love it. Same for Ancistrus (L183). Gold Nuggets L177 and Panaqolus L204 seem to eat some as well.

For the mentioned plecos they acutally prefer mango over cucumber. The Mango is always all gone while the cucumber is still half there.

[Jobro]

It is really rare to see my L183 male come out during day... he won't come out for wafers etc...

The L006 and L191 were on the case as well, but they hid when I wanted to film them.

Btw, I watched my biggest Discus female repeatedly eat the soft stuff from the inside of the cucumber

[Addicted]

I feed my Zebra plecos mangos and papaya. They love papaya..
I'm going to try other fruits.

[Jobro]

Nice input there, Addicted. Thanks.

Papaya seems like another tropical fruit. Too bad I don't like to eat papaya myself

Papaya is quite soft, right? I feel that the softer the food, the better they like it.

[b.reder]

So far, my plecos like both watermelon rinds and cantaloupe rinds.

[Jobro]

They would also like the fruit, not just the rinds