ple*o feeding help

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 01:14

hello,
i have what i am told may be a butterfly pleco" it was a gift" and i have never seen him eat. He just seems to stick to the glass and occassionally i see him on the rocks or drift wood in his tank. I had him in a tank of his own for almost 3 weeks and every time i left algea discs in the tank they were still there the next day. He is in my 20 now with some corys and tetras. He just started coming off the glass more in this tank. hes been in it for 2 weeks now. But like before the corys eat all the veggies and algea and he seems to just suck the glass and decore. He even hovers over then passes up lettice, peas ect. Im worried about starving him as hes my fav fish. But thne again hes been alive for a month now and doesnt seem thin. should i worry?

buzz763 · Post by **buzz763** » 01 Mar 2006, 03:33

Try zucchini and yellow squash my plecos eat it regularly.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 01 Mar 2006, 10:09

First step is of course to figure out what pleco it is (butterfly pleco, by the way, may well be a Hillstream loach - which is not a "Pleco" or even a catfish - just behaves and looks similar to Pleco's, but come from southeast asia rather than south america).

Knowing what it is, you can find out what it's diet needs are, and then follow the advice given in my food type article.

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Mats

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 11:43

thanx for the idea buzz. I will get some zucchini at the store tonight. right now hes on a rock in front of my tank. There is the possibility he was stressed i suppose cause he seems very active now. he started coming out in the daytime yesterday. Something since ive had him he hasnt done. Right now hes the biggest fish in my tank at 2 inches or so.

As for identification MatsP, he deffinetly isnt a hillstream loach after i looked at the pics. I almost think hes just a common pleco frankly. I dont have a digital camera or id take a pic. The only reason i said he was a butterfly is because soem one saw him and said that. I know this doesnt help much but hes dark brown, with a tan outlining to his pattern. Looks liek a leopard almost the way the pattern is shaped. The tan kinda makes rings in the dark brown coloring like blotches. I know that is a sketchy description. He was sold to my wife simply as a pleco. So as i said i assume he may be some variety of the common pleco. Thanks for the link thou, if nothing else it eliminated the possibility of the butterfly pleco theory.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 01 Mar 2006, 11:55

Unfortunately, without a picture, it's hard to even give a GUESS on what it is.

What size is it? That will possibly rule out some species, but again, if it's small then it's not going to help much.

There are at least three species listed in the Cat-eLog under the common name of "Common pleco" [or at least there SHOULD be three, there appears to be only two]:

You may want to have a look at those and see if it's a match.

If not, we'll definitely need a look at your fish to determine what it is - post this in the "What's this?" section at the top of the forum list.

Unfortunately, without knowing what it is, you can't really look after it right. There are some plecos that definitely need wood in their diet, others need meat, yet others do not tolerate much meat at all.

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Mats

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 12:24

i checked on some pics and found one exactly like him Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps . So im like 80 percent certain wout being an expert myself of course thats what plecy is. He was sitting on a rocka nd i got a good comparison to the pic. He seems to liek the wood in his tank So i assume that he likes to eat wood. Since ive seen him chewin on it. I appreciate help with this matter, as ive said im just getting started and i have no reputable fish suppliers w/in a hundred miles of me. Ive relied mostly on a few freinds who keep fish. But they arent pleco experts. To my knowledge they only have 1.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 01 Mar 2006, 12:44

Well, sail-fin pleco's (Gibby's) aren't particularly rare in the trade. Split between them and the L. pardalis, you've probably got most of the currently sold ones. Unfortunately, both grow very large quite quickly, but are otherwise easy to keep.

Gnawing on wood is a common behaviour, although these fish do not REQUIRE wood in their diet, they certainly don't mind having a piece of wood in the tank...

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Mats

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 12:57

Yeah, i just put the wood in a few days ago. I have tried my best to mirror a river enviroment. with a huge gnarled tree root, many river washed pebbles and flat stones as well as some caves made of rock and flower pots with the ends cut off. as well as a large amount of plants. Thou they are plastic i havent had much luck with live plants yet. Im hoping my wife will let me get a larger tank soon at least a 55. Im going to a fish swap meet im april. So plecy should have room to grow in the near future. as that he is only bout 2 inches now im sure i have time to get a larger setup for his full size down the road. he seems to be acting alot more active of late so i guess im not soo worried about feeding anymore. hes my fav fisha nd im new to this so i get stressed. FUnny i got the fish to relieve my stress but instead i just worry about them lol. im very high strung. hopefully i can borrow a digital camera soon then ill post a pic of my 20 to show you all on your wonderful site. Thanks for all the help! I found this site a few weeks ago and have spent hours reading posts here i love it!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 01 Mar 2006, 13:03

Unfortunately, in the long term, a 55g will be not much better than your 20g (of course it will be BETTER, but not MUCH so). These fish grow well over a foot long, and the 55g is only just over a foot wide, so the fish will not have much space to move around width-wise. You'll need something like 150-200g to keep it until it dies of natural causes [which should be some 15 years or more from now - but it will probably need a tank bigger than a 55g in a three years or so].

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Mats

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 13:15

ok. good excuse to go larger then

. Just have to convince the wife, and hope my floor can support it. i live in a trailer and it seems im always replacing the floor. I fell throu the kitchen floor one night.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 01 Mar 2006, 17:33

Could be hundreds of miles from where you live [as you haven't given very precise location], but it's definitely not "downstate":
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?t=14878

Edit: Hmm - looking at the map again, it does look like there's about as much south as north of it, so maybe it should be called "midstate". And it's of course quite far west, so if you're on the eastern side, you'll be traveling most of the day to get there and back again...

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Mats

pleco_pirate · Post by **pleco_pirate** » 01 Mar 2006, 19:28

thanx for the info but thats like a 3 hour drive for me. unfortunetly! syracuse is the closest major city to me but that is still over an hour drive. Im way upstate! I could be in canada before i made it to syracuse.But i appreciate your help.