Any advice for a new pleco owner?

Posting this on behalf of my boyfriend! I'll relay any advice to him, but will be a little slow answering any questions as I might have to check in with him.
Here's his message:

I just got a new orange bristle nose Pleco today! When I first started in the hobby a while back, I got a bristle nose who died very quickly. I was not educated and I should never have gotten him. But now it's been a few years, and I love the little guys, so I thought I'd give it another shot. I've done lots of reading, but am looking for some expert advice from the good people of fishlore! Any tips and tricks for making his life as good as possible would be greatly appreciated. One specific question: my tank doesn't have a lot of algae, will wafers work okay to make sure he gets enough to eat? Thanks so much in advance!

 

Congratulations on the new addition! My long fin super red BN is the queen of my tank! She is my most loved fish. She loves, loves, loves zucchini I give her a slice or 2 a week. She also loves Rephasy bottom scratcher and soilent green formulas. She's never been a big fan of algae wafers, but I think some of them will eat them.

 

It depends on their attitude i suppose you could say. Algame wafers work. Vegetables work better as stated above.

 

Posting this on behalf of my boyfriend! I'll relay any advice to him, but will be a little slow answering any questions as I might have to check in with him.
Here's his message:

I just got a new orange bristle nose Pleco today! When I first started in the hobby a while back, I got a bristle nose who died very quickly. I was not educated and I should never have gotten him. But now it's been a few years, and I love the little guys, so I thought I'd give it another shot. I've done lots of reading, but am looking for some expert advice from the good people of fishlore! Any tips and tricks for making his life as good as possible would be greatly appreciated. One specific question: my tank doesn't have a lot of algae, will wafers work okay to make sure he gets enough to eat? Thanks so much in advance!

What size tank is this? Stocking?

 

You’ll also want to make sure to have some driftwood in the tank

 

Congratulations on the new addition! My long fin super red BN is the queen of my tank! She is my most loved fish. She loves, loves, loves zucchini I give her a slice or 2 a week. She also loves Rephasy bottom scratcher and soilent green formulas. She's never been a big fan of algae wafers, but I think some of them will eat them.

Agreed, zucchini is his favorite, and there is always a slice in the tank.. I blanch it, spike it with shrimp pellets intended for cories and put it into the tank. I have to admit that I leave it in the tank for 48hours. The reason is that he seems to like it better the 2nd day. He loves to lie underneath, belly up, just munching.

 

You’ll also want to make sure to have some driftwood in the tank

He has one piece of fairly large driftwood. Is that enough?

Congratulations on the new addition! My long fin super red BN is the queen of my tank! She is my most loved fish. She loves, loves, loves zucchini I give her a slice or 2 a week. She also loves Rephasy bottom scratcher and soilent green formulas. She's never been a big fan of algae wafers, but I think some of them will eat them.

Yeah, I think they're so cute! I wish my tank had room for one...
Do you have a veggie clip? Or is there another way to weigh the zucchini down?

 

He has one piece of fairly large driftwood. Is that enough?

I’d say that’s enough! Everything I had to say was covered above, plecos are generally pretty easy. Just one thing to watch out for: plecos are poop machines!

 

Don't forget a bit of protein as well (shrimppellets, bloodworms, brineshrimp, etc...)

 

What size tank is this? Stocking?

I can ask him what the stocking is, but the tank is a 29 gallon pretty light stocking (some platys, corys, mystery snails and a few tetras, not sure of the exact numbers but definitely enough room for the pleco)

 

Yeah, I think they're so cute! I wish my tank had room for one...
Do you have a veggie clip? Or is there another way to weigh the zucchini down?

I just use a fork.

 

I would feed repashy soilent green, shrimp pellets, and blanched veggies. Repashy is great for bn plecos. here is a video on how to blanch veggies and how to make repashy. Here are some links on amazon for the stuff.

Repashy: Amazon.com : Repashy Soilent Green 6 Oz JAR : Pet Supplies

Shrimp pellets: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043T92B2/ref=twister_B07W7LGTBN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

I have 14 plecos and they all love there fresh veggies.

Here's a quick list -- spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, peas, cucumbers, carrots, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini.
Once or twice a month I will drop in a few pieces of red delicious apples.

They also love, brine shrimp and blood worms

I see you said you have driftwood.

When you get a chance can you post a picture.