H. furunculus caught eating banana plant roots & butternut squash

[lochness]

so much for *meat eater* have had her for over 2 yrs and have never seen her on any veggies nor plants. Last night I spotted her in same spot my albino BN was a few hours earlier munching on my recently added banana plant root tubers

note: I had to lighten the pic and stand a few feet away from the tank or she would have scooted. Her eyesight is incredibly sharp. Finnex 24/7 was in dusk mode

[TwoTankAmin]

Is the fish actually eating the root or is it rasping something off the root such as algae or some form of "slime?" When my bristles would rasp algae off of Amazon swords it would damage the leaf, but it wasn't after the leaf per se.

[stuby]

All plecs no matter if they are a "meat eater" or a "herbivore" enjoy some plant matter in their diet from time to time...… I feed young Hypancistrus zucchini sometimes and they eat it very well for a "meat eater" at least.

Take care,
Chuck

[Fundulopanchax76]

And does someone feed his plecs with banana fruit ? I think is very nutritious but dont know is it safe for them ?

[Bas Pels]

Bananas is rather rich in carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are normally rather scarce in nature, therefore I would chouse almost anything before I´d feed bananas.


Bananas are good for you yourself, the plecos would have to settle for courgette which is also known as zuchinni. If you raise them yourself, eat the small ones yuourself, and feed the big ones, the woody ones, th the fishes.

[Jobro]

Bananas is rather rich in carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are normally rather scarce in nature, therefore I would chouse almost anything before I´d feed bananas.


Bananas are good for you yourself, the plecos would have to settle for courgette which is also known as zuchinni. If you raise them yourself, eat the small ones yuourself, and feed the big ones, the woody ones, th the fishes.

Potatos offer almost the same amount of carbs as bananas do. Lot's of people feed potatos to their plecos.
Dr. Tanner is using Banana in both of his repashy formulas (Fruut Luups, Igapo Explorer).
I don't think it is unsafe to offer Banana once in a while. The bigger problem for me is, that my plecos just don't like it. So I do not bother with it at all.

Courgette/Zucchini is a good offer. But one should not forget, that your plecos might not get lots of nutrition/energy out of it.
A variation with the above mentioned potatos, sweet potatos, bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, melons and other soft fruits like mango and peach seems to be a better route to me than only advertising zucchini.

[lochness]

not sure if the H. furunculus was just after the slime but she is not an algae eater at all and based on how she was on it, it def appeared she was munching the roots. BTW, we've had her over 2yrs. She is never on the glass which has plenty of algae - usually my BN cleans it off (except for the green spot ofc) but when I feed butternut squash, both are ravenous for it. I also have a video of it showing she is not just on it but actively consuming it

[TwoTankAmin]

I pretty much get veggies to my plecos two ways, One is by mixing veggie sticks with meaty type sticks when I feed commercial food. The other is by mixing Repashy Soilent Green at 20-25% when I make either Bottom Scratcher or Spawn and Grow.

[lochness]

I pretty much get veggies to my plecos two ways, One is by mixing veggie sticks with meaty type sticks when I feed commercial food. The other is by mixing Repashy Soilent Green at 20-25% when I make either Bottom Scratcher or Spawn and Grow.

yea I do the repashy mixes as well - this is just the first I've heard or seen of an H. furunculus actively munching on butternut squash ^.^

[bekateen]

@lochness, how do you make the butternut squash sink? I don't see a weight. I bought some today and it floats.

Cheers, Eric

[Jobro]

I've seen my L66 females eat away at the veggies I offer quite a lot lately.

[lochness]

@bekateen - so sorry I just saw this msg now: the cubes sink in my setup - they were frozen first.