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Well it's been a few days since the zuchini has been in there and today there is a mushroom-shaped hole right in the middle of it. Is this the product of the clown plecos' work or could snails have done this? I have pest snails which are very small(not huge apple snails or anything like that) and I've always been seeing one or two of them on the zuchini. They don't seem like they could possibly have made the hole since they're so small and only a few are ever on it, so am I right to assume that the clown plecos have eaten? It seems strange that there's a mushroom shaped hole in the middle and only the middle.

According to posts from another forum the clowns were probably the most likely to have eaten it, so on another note I have a vegetable clip and was wondering if I clipped it to the glass or to a rock would the clowns still find the vegetable? I wouldn't normally ask such a presumably dumb question but they look as if they don't move around very much and wouldn't be able to find it.lol So would they?

They would find it, if you continue useing the same spot for the clip they will get used to that location

Clowns love zuccini - at least mine do.
I notice that they (most plecos) prefer to eat zuccinin when it is close to the bottom. I usually impail a piece on a heater/airline holder with a suction cup and stick it to the glass near the bottom. They usually get to it within minutes.
Feeding after dark can help to get stubborn fish out to eat also.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! Today I can confirm that the clowns have found and eaten the zuchini. I caught one in the act while the lights were still off(they're on a timer) today around 8:00 this morning.

Heh - reminds me of an incident last week - I put zucchini in for my albino bristlenoses and clown loaches - I think they have no problem finding it because it's a big white blob that stands out, plus they're on it the second it goes in there, no mysteries here

As for the floating - I grabbed a piece off the surface after it broke loose, and surprised the albino (and myself!) who was feeding on the underside of it no harm done . . .

Lol Metal. I have another question. How often do you guys feed your plecs zuchini/vegetables? Also do clowns need algae wafers iin their diet or will the vegetables replace them. On the same notedo they need any meat in their diet? If so what and how should I feed them? Also what do you all use for caves? I don't know much about technical stuff and I went to home depot to buy PVC piping only to find out that the piping was 10 ft tall!!!! What do you do, Cut them into pieces or something? Is there any other slender pipe-like material I can use as an artificial cave for my clowns? Not that they don't already have their own two favorite driftwood pieces to hide under but I just want to give them some more potential real estate.

Oh almost forgot It's amazing how gregarious my clowns are getting every day. They eat zuchini in the light now and even stick themselves to the wall scraping algae in plain daylight, though not often...

You can cut the PVC into pieces with a saw. You can also use clay pots. My LFS also sells clay tubes that look much nicer than the PVC. I feed squash twice a week. Some pleco's need more meat in their diet, I use live Black Worms and frozen Blood Worms. I use a variety of sinking pellets as well.

Mark

Do you have any clowns? They seem to be shyer than other plecs and don't like eating in public until late in the night so I would never be able to feed them bloodworms since my other fish would get to them first. Sinking wafers are necessary? My cories get to them faster than my clown plecs can....

I pretty much agree with corybreed, stick with the the flower pots, they're easy to deal with and easeir to break if necessary to get the right shape. I use a strawberry planter thing about 6 inches high, it as a bunch of holes in it, and it's covered all over with flat rocks about the size of your palm. Michael's the craft store has them 'dirt' cheap Slate works well too if you can get it (hopefully free), but you have to be careful about stacking it so no one gets hurt

As for food they need driftwood, it's a necessity for long term health. The mopani wood commonly available is quite hard but I understand it's OK, I have it for my 2 albino bristlenose.

I'm sure they like little tidbits of frozen food etc, definitely algae wafers (and definitely Hikari), and zucchini or whatnot every few days. I have no clown pl*cos, only the little albinos (they're about 3.5" still no bristles, still hoping I have a pair).

Metallhd,

if your albino ancistrus have no bristles at 3.5" they are probably both female, too bad you are not closer since I have a few extra males.

Most ancistrus, panaque, lepracanthicus, baryancistrus (and several others I'm sure) like zuccini (mine are on it like Oprah on a cheese danish) . Panaques in particular (which clowns are) actually eat wood, many other plecos chew it as it helps them with their digestion. Dry food, algae wafers and spirulina are taken by most plecos (not all though) and since they are generally fortified with vitamins it is good to throw some in once in a while to make sure their diet gets balanced.

Blood worms I have been told are a little easier on fishes stomachs as even some tropheus breeders feed them. It is important to know if your pleco is a meat eater or mostly veggie as too much protein in the diet can kill them. That said I know many breeders reccomend feeding some meaty protein foods to condition even vegetarian plecos to spawn, evidently the extra protein increases the eggproduction.

Make sure your fish eats what you feed and clean up uneaten food promptly to avoid fouling the water.

As for caves, the successful breeders all reccomend caves that are a relativley tight fit. The fish has to fit in but if it is too lose they might not like it either.

But do clowns need meat in their diet? And how am I supposed to feed them algae wafers when I have 12 cories with an extremely good sense of smell........?

If you put the algae wafer in after dark the clown will find it no problem and Hikari alge wafers dont break up like some pellets so the other fish wont eat it it before the plec does

You can also push the algae wafers down with a probe/stick so it ends up exactly in front of the clowns hangout.
As PETE says, feeding after dark when the plecos are more active - though I don't know how active cories are after dark
Or if you can find a place where the plecos can wedge themselves in but the cories can't acces you can put it there.

As far as needing meat and protein goes, I think people who are concerned with breeding find it more important. If they have a varied diet of veggies and occasional scraps of dryfood and algaewafers they should be just fine.

A lot of my plecos like to gnaw on a piece of shrimp too. If you do feed that , leave it in one of a few big pieces as it makes it easier to remove and you will definitly want to remove it after a day as it will foul the water pretty badly.

G'day

I would not leave zucchini in tank water for more than 12 hours.. That stuff goes soggy as all hell. and when you try lift it out and it goes everywhere. Cant be good for the water parameters.

Crom!

I have two more questions for you guys. Do clowns need to have a tight fitting cave or will they be just as happy laying under driftwood? Also for preparing sweet potatoes is it necessary to peel the skin off or do they like eating that too?

INXS wrote:if your albino ancistrus have no bristles at 3.5" they are probably both female, too bad you are not closer since I have a few extra males.

bummer . . . I was thinking about taking her back for a trade-in, the place I went is pretty good

they're not much bigger than they were when I got them, but they're filling out a bit and looking a little more armoured - it's gonna be fun getting one out I'm sure. Maybe tomorrow . . .

thanks!

why don't we stop the world and let off all the fools and let 'em go to hell with their guns in the sky . . .

Any other vegetables apart from zuchini/cucumber and sweet potatoes I can give them? Also I still haven't gotten any responses to the questions mentioned in my last post.

Also if I decided to feed them shrimp(from supermarkets) how should I go about preparing it so as it doesn't rot and deteriorate the water quality?

Read the " Pleco BreedingTechniques " article in the reproduction section of Shane's World above, it should answer your questions.

Birger

Yes thank you but the caves the article describes are only for breeding purposes I'm wondering If I really do need a tight cave for their well being or will they be just as happy under driftwood(still allows light to penetrate slightly), I'm not interested in breeding as of yet. Also the article doesn't explain how to prepare shrimp for feeding to plecs and for what duration I can keep it in the tank.

They should be fine as long as there is some kind of shelter they can be secure in just making sure there are enough places for as many or more pleco's than what you have,for example they may not want to crowd together under the same piece of wood.
As for the shrimp go back to what INXS wrote earlier in this thread I can just add that if you pick up frozen shrimp make sure it is not already cooked.

good luck with your clowns
Birger