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I have 2 plecos, L-200 and L-204, in my tank for a couple of days already. They are active when the lights go off. So far, they have only eaten the algae wafers that I put in (I saw this), but haven't really touched the veggies. I have tried zucchini, broccoli and lettuce. The lettuce have been grazed on, but the others haven't been touched. I think the L-204 is eating some of the driftwood that I have, since he is pooping a lot.
These two are in my 80G African cichlid tank. The temp is 79, pH is 7.8, and the water is hard. The cichlids do not bother the plecos, and vice versa. I know it's not the ideal situation, but I thought I'd give it a try. If I'm not successful, I will have to talk to the wife about another tank, I guess.

You can keep your L204 in a rift tank if the water not are extremely hard, the rivers they origin from are not as soft like most of the others. L200 maybe would prefer to be kept in much softer and a bit acid water, both eat vegetables and mostly the skin from the squash (zucchini) but as you can see they prefer algae wafers...give them frozen cyclops and artemia sometimes too.
L204 needs wood in their diet and will not thrive without it.

Janne

Thanks for the reply. I have been peeling the skin from the zucchini. Next time, I will leave it on.

My plecos still are not eating the vegetables i put in the tank. Am I supposed to put it in fresh, or slightly boiled? I've been trying broccoli and zucchini, and they don't appear to be touched at all. I leave it in there for a couple of days, then I take it out because it starts to get mushy/messy. Anything else I can try?

I've had more success with my , which is a close relative of L204, with lightly cooked vegetables than with raw. But they like wood too, so as long as you got some wood and a few algae wafers in there, they should be fine. I tend to place the veggie near the place where the fish sits during the day, and the next morning, any skin on the zucchini is gone...

Don't know how the L200 likes it's veggies. My Common Bristlenose doesn't mind if the vegetables are raw.


Obviously, like any fish (or humans), if there is something really tasty around, the less tasty food will be left alone...

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Mats

I peel the zucchini (I don't like the idea of pesticide residues leaching into the tank and despite what governments try to make you believe residues do stay on the skin even after washing... take Round-Up weedkiller as an example, that will stay active in the soil for up to 2 years so I don't believe that a good wash will shift that cr*p!!! not for my fish thanks! I had a very interesting and enlightening chat with a statician who worked on figures for accumaltive effects from pesticides and herbicides and he said "put it this way if I were a vegetarian I would not buy anything other than organic and I do now" Apparently there are safe amounts for residues, what they don't like telling you is that so much on a tomato and so much on a potato and so much on say cabbage adds up to over the safe amount. I buy organic whenever available)

Sorry got side tracked... I skewer the zucchini raw onto the bogwood at an angle where the fish find it easy to eat at. My L204's eat the centre out of the zucchini, they also like hikari algae wafers, will nibble at tetra prima granules and will even have a go at the occasional blood worm. They like the algae that grows on the bogwood, as well as the bogwood itself, although they don't seem to touch the algae growing on the glass at the back of the tank.

I also drop in mussel, frozen brine shrimp and blood worm for the other fish in the tank and I've seen them having a go at that too although they do prefer and seek out the veggies and don't seem particularly enamoured by meaty foods. The baby of the bunch has grown fairly rapidly on this diet now he's used to it, when I first got him he only ate bogwood for the first couple of days, guess there's only so much bogwood a fish can take before it gets a bit tedious. All of them, now they've settled in and established who's boss, never stop pootling about the tank, even with all the lights on, in their quest for food.

I peel the zucchini (I don't like the idea of pesticide residues leaching into the tank and despite what governments try to make you believe residues do stay on the skin even after washing... take Round-Up weedkiller as an example, that will stay active in the soil for up to 2 years so I don't believe that a good wash will shift that cr*p!!! not for my fish thanks! I had a very interesting and enlightening chat with a statician who worked on figures for accumaltive effects from pesticides and herbicides and he said "put it this way if I were a vegetarian I would not buy anything other than organic and I do now"

Yes you are right about that, if they have used pesticide it doesn't help to peal it...that will also be in the vegetable, so buy only cultivated vegetables marked that they are grown ecological (but can we trust on that?)

Janne

Whats Zucchini?


Obviously I have led a sheltered life, either that or its called something else here.

Barry

We go through this at least once a month!

You call zucchini "courgette". Don't know why. You call a lot of vegetables by French sounding names, like eggplant is "aubergine", and green beans are "haricots vert".

It's a puzzlement! Vive la difference!

Deb

I buy my vegetables from an organic market to reduce the risk of pesticides. As you will see, the zuchinni rind is usually eaten first. The easiest way to prepare vegetables is to slice them into reasonable portions and freeze them. This will break down the cellular walls and make them more palatable. I will section up a bunch of zuchinni and thread each section with a non-toxic plant weight. Dump them in a zip-loc bag and pop it in the freezer. When I feed in the morning, I remove a few chunks to the refrigerator, where they can thaw out by the evening when I drop them into the tank.

Zuchinni is mentioned often because it doesn't smell as bad as broccoli and brussel sprouts. Likewise, spinach and kale are accepted, but collard greens are my leaf of choice. To freeze the leaves, layer them between sheets of waxed paper, making sure they are pretty dry. Feed them using vegi-clips. Collards are a great source of protein readily accepted by most herbivores.