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The only thing my pl*cos will eat is meaty foods, such as shrimp pellets, carnivore sticks, bloodworms etc. I have tried zuchinni and algae wafers, but they go completely untouched. My fish are as follows:
L-155
L-66
L-177
L-273
L-25
L-253
L-204
L-264
LDA-33

I know that most of these species are carnivorous, but I'm concerned that they're getting too much protein in the prepared foods. Am I needlessly worrying? Thanks

Steve

Maybe their on the Atkins diet?

Anyways...
How long have you had them?

Have you tried other veggies, like spinach, lettuce, etc.?

In my experience cucumber is the best thing to start them on. It helps if you let them get a bit hungry first

I've only had them for about a month. From what I've read on the boards I thought zuchinni was supposed to be the thing that no pl*co could resist. All of them eat the meaty stuff like pigs. Even the gold nugget started eating on the second day, which surprised me. How will it adversely effect them if they never start taking vegetable matter?

I would find out from the person you bought it from what veggies, if any, they fed the plecos.

I know that most of these species are carnivorous, but I'm concerned that they're getting too much protein in the prepared foods. Am I needlessly worrying?

As you say, most of the plecs you have are carnivorous, but I do think a 100% meaty diet is bad for them.

I'm sure in the wild they ingest a lot of plant based detritus. This I think will also contribute to at least part of their nutrition, and keep their guts running smoothly.

I agree with you that in the aquarium I think even carnivores should be fed some veg.

The Baryancistrus could do without the rich diet as they have very long guts for feeding on algal biofilm.

Although everyone's experience is different, I find cucumber and zucchini pretty low on the list of favoured foods.

The most accepted veg I have found is broad (fava) beans from a can. These can be frozen for convenience.

Another good one is sweet potato. The Baryancistrus especially love this.

These foods have a greater nutritional value than the zucchini.

Always keep trying the food though. It may take up to 10 feeds before they go for it.

I'm surprised they don't go for the algae wafers. They are very high in protein. Try the Hikari brand. These never fail.



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[quote="racollThe most accepted veg I have found is broad (fava) beans from a can. These can be frozen for convenience.

Another good one is sweet potato. The Baryancistrus especially love this.


[/quote]
How do you prepare the sweet potato?
I didn't feed the tanks for 3 days thinking they would get good and hungry, but they only ate half of one algae wafer. The zuchinni was still untouched. I think I'll try the sweet potato and fava beans next. Thanks for the suggestions.

How do you prepare the sweet potato?

Just boil in in water for a few minutes.

I can't remember how long, but the ideal way to tell if its done is by eating some yourself. Slice it into 1cm slices and cook it until it is nice to eat.

Not too hard, and not too soft.

As soon as the first piece starts to go manky replace it. I reckon after a week of this they will be eating it.