K. Sear

Okay, so I just got my first fish, an albino bristlenose pleco, yesterday. She seems to be doing fine if a bit skittish. My question is whether or not there is enough algae in the tank to feed her. The tank has fully cycled with nitrate at about 10 ppm (the process took about 6 weeks). I don't really see any algae in the tank so I bought some sinking shrimp pellets just in case and threw one in. She hasn't touched it as far as I can see and spends most of her time hiding under the driftwood or stuck to the back wall by the filter (sometimes I catch her in other areas but when she sees me moving she'll run and hide again).

My other concern is that I have to go out of town for 4 full days and was wondering if she will be able to subsist on algae for that period. I picked up a feeder block but since she is the only fish in the tank right now, I didn't want to risk overfeeding and having problems develop while I am away. Should I get a friend to come and feed her a pellet every so often, use the feeder block or go with algae?

susitna-flower

You can drop in a slice of zucchini, over night, but be sure to take it out next morning. I use algae wafers for plecos, a BN would be more likely to go after that than a shrimp pellet. If you don't see any algae in your tank, there probably isn't enough to feed your pleco. You will need to supplement. As for going away, if you feed it right before you go, you should be ok.

Barbrella

Agree you should be feeding zucchini and algae wafers. These plecos (I assume it's Sp.3) cannot have too much protein as it's detrimental to these vegetarians.

Use either a veggie clip or a fork to hold the zucchini slice down, after you've nuked it in the microwave for about 12 seconds to soften it a bit.

The hiding is normal and the more hiding places it has, the more it will come out in the open.

K. Sear

Thanks guys. By feeding right before I leave, do you mean throwing in an algae wafer as I leave? Also, would cucumber be okay for her? I can't get zucchini at my grocery store.

Barbrella

They love cucumbers and it's fine for a treat, but cukes have about zero nutrition in them since they're mainly water.

What I sometimes do is break up an algae wafer and stick the pieces in the cuke slice. You can also do that with thawed frozen peas. That way, they'll be sure to eat the more nutritious food along with the cuke.

Try other veggies too, like squash, broccoli, potato, romaine lettuce, etc.

Butterfly

Bristlenose need a ratio of 90/10 vegetable matter(fresh veggies, algae, algae wafers etc)/protein (shrimp pellets, blood worms etc). If you are breeding them the ratio changes to 80/20. their digestion can't handle much protein for a prolonged period, they tend to get constipated.
Carol