Algae & Driftwood

[lillyorchid]

I just took in a pleco from a friend who was going to flush him. He's about 9" long and about 2 years old. I've been reading up that they like to munch on driftwood and driftwood with algae on it. I'm wondering how I would go about getting algae to grow on the piece of driftwood I put in his tank.

[ride_gnu]

Very simple, buy a peice of iron wood, or any driftwood that you have saturated (so it sinks) than allow the tank to be in a place of sunlight by a windo or anythig will speed up the algae growth process, and just dont clean the algae when u clean ur tank.

Algae is not at all harmful to fish, often people clean it because they dont like the look of the tank. Also, untill you have a good source of algae in your tank, you can buy special pellets just for pleco's

[python.princess]

I would think that would've plugged up the toilet! Like ride gnu said, algae does great in front of windows. Also if you have tank lights that help promote plant growth, that'd help speed it up.

I used to buy algae discs for my pleco in my old tank before the algae started coming in.

[fishmommy]

I recommend feeding algae disks at night regardless of whether you have algae in your tank, just to make sure your pleco is getting correct nutrition. The fish will rasp the driftwood for both algae and wood fiber - an essential part of their digestive process

I ADORE those type of fish. good luck with your rescue...they're so cool!

[jknudson]

If the pleco is the Common Pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus) then plant matter only makes up a small part of their diet. They're the most common plecos sold as "algae eaters" but they're true omnivores, and will eat protein rich foods. They're probably one of the worst "algae eaters" out there. But for food I'd recommend a general tropical sinking pellet.

Just keep in mind this fish can well exceed 18"+ and can be quite messy.

And just a note, for the true algae eaters, the nuisance algae grown from too much sunlight is very poor in nutritional value, and should be supplemented with an algae wafer, leafy greens, or slices of fresh veggies.

If you need an algae eater, I'd personally recommend the Bristlenose pleco.

[ride_gnu]

And just a note, for the true algae eaters, the nuisance algae grown from too much sunlight is very poor in nutritional value, and should be supplemented with an algae wafer, leafy greens, or slices of fresh veggies.

If you need an algae eater, I'd personally recommend the Bristlenose pleco.

That reminds me, Cucumbers sliced in half can be good for them I believe sliced, in half long ways.and cut into smaller peices. Tie it to something so it sinks.

[Evans]

I have two Hypostomus plecostomus and I use algae sinking pellets. If you really want the drift wood covered in algae put good lighting on the tank.
I used to have a pair of Chinese Algae Eaters, they weren't too bad I suppose. A friend of mine has snails, now there good.

[Bo_]

IME as Chinese Algae Eaters get older they stop eating algea and start to bully and sometimes attack fish. A great alge eater that stays small and eats alot of algae is the otocincluis(dont know if i spelled that correctly) catfish it tops out at a whopping 2-3" and will eat the algae off of the glass and plants as well. As for plecos most eat some algae but i would supplement with an "algae" wafer. For my pleco's i use the Hikari brand when i dont have any fresh veggies on hand

[blb]

There are many different types of plecos that get large. Do you know for sure which one you have? Could you post a picture of it?

Some plecos needs protein too and a hidey. I used to breed bristlenoses, L134L333. Have kept L75, vampires, gold nuggets, sailfins, etc.

I used to have over 30 tanks but the work got to be too much. Now I'm just down to 9 tanks and all are community tanks. No more breeding for me.

Please post a pic if you can. Thanks!