BN Pleco feeding: how many wafers per week?

[YellowGuppy]

I maintain the aquarium at my workplace; it's not 100% ideal yet, but I'm making progress gradually to make it the best it can be.

One question I have is how much to feed a single bristlenosed pleco. Because it's my workplace I don't have reliable access to fresh veggie scraps, nor the time to drop in a meal and then go collect the leftovers a few hours later, so this little guy gets mostly just prepared wafers. Again, I know—not perfect.

The pleco is fully grown but not gigantic, maybe 4" or so. We feed Tetra wafers, which I think are relatively standard sized (not micro wafers or whatever). I feel like the usual "as much as the fish can eat in a couple minutes" rule doesn't really apply for bottom feeders, nor do I have the time to sit around and watch him eat - I've got stuff to do while I'm at work!

How many would you toss in, and how often?

 

[blackmollylover4life]

i put in an algae wafer a day and a spinach leaf every month as a treat. Granted mine is a butterfly pleco so there's a slight difference.

 

[wateriswet]

I would start with 1 or 2 near the end of the day. Then check first thing in the morning if there are leftovers and if there are, reduce the amount or switch to every other day.

 

[YellowGuppy]

So one per day for that size of a fish is okay? I was wondering if it was overkill, but it sounds like standard practice.

 

[wateriswet]

It's probably about right. I usually have other fish who eat part of the wafer too. If you're seeing leftovers by morning, try breaking the wafer in half or switching to every other day.

 

[Elkwatcher]

Do you have a fridge at work with a freezer in it? You could slice and peel a zucchini and wrap individually in plastic wrap to freeze. Then pull one out as you need it as most Pleco's love their veggies. It could stay in the tank for up to 2 days and replaced a couple times a week. I weigh mine down in small soya sauce dishes with elastic bands. You could also stick the zucchini with a stainless steel fork and drop it to the bottom.

 

[YellowGuppy]

Do you have a fridge at work with a freezer in it? You could slice and peel a zucchini and wrap individually in plastic wrap to freeze. Then pull one out as you need it as most Pleco's love their veggies. It could stay in the tank for up to 2 days and replaced a couple times a week. I weigh mine down in small soya sauce dishes with elastic bands. You could also stick the zucchini with a stainless steel fork and drop it to the bottom.

I work at a school for kids with special needs, so any visible "oh, this thing is allowed to go in a fish tank?" (e.g. forks) is asking for trouble and a series of replications. I'm pretty sure I sucked up some chunks of feathers during today's water change... I think the fewer foreign objects in there, the better it will be for everyone, including the pleco!

 

[DirtyWater]

I think mr pleco will be just fine with any name brand wafers.
I agree with wateriswet.

I would start with 1 or 2 near the end of the day. Then check first thing in the morning if there are leftovers and if there are, reduce the amount or switch to every other day.

 

[YellowGuppy]

I've generally done 2 pieces on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I've never seen any leftovers. There are about half a dozen huge ramshorns as well that presumably help themselves if they can find anything.

I'll maybe do 1/day and double up of on Fridays. Thanks, all!

 

[StarGirl]

I've generally done 2 pieces on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I've never seen any leftovers. There are about half a dozen huge ramshorns as well that presumably help themselves if they can find anything.

I'll maybe do 1/day and double up of on Fridays. Thanks, all!

I use plant weights to weigh down my veggies. You could "hide" them under the veggies so the kids cant see it!

 

[Flyfisha]

My opinion.
The BN pleco got to be an adult fish surviving on no fresh vegetables and likely less attention than you are trying to give?
While in an ideal world when trying for maximum growth in the shortest time. When breeding from the biggest of each batch of fish you might feed fresh vegetables once each week and a single algae wafer twice a week on top of whatever else you are feeding every fishin the tank. In this case the BN may need nothing extra on top of the general tank food. It may never had been feed fresh vegetables in its live?

Like any fish it must have fresh water. However when tanks fall into neglect it’s often the plecos that survive to be the last fish standing.


I fed a half wafer to each of my 7 adult BN plecos last night and think it’s been over a week since they got anything special. I generally feed one small chunk of zucchini each week but that is not compulsory especially in this situation.

Just saying in the first few weeks of life I feed young BN up to 4 times per day . I culture live foods for them and buy fresh vegetables weekly.
You have an adult fish with completely different needs.

I would suggest one algae pellet per week. Or even half a pellet.
Fresh water not fresh vegetables.

Is the fish food under lock and key out of sight from the kids?

 

[YellowGuppy]

My opinion.
The BN pleco got to be an adult fish surviving on no fresh vegetables and likely less attention than you are trying to give?
While in an ideal world when trying for maximum growth in the shortest time. When breeding from the biggest of each batch of fish you might feed fresh vegetables once each week and a single algae wafer twice a week on top of whatever else you are feeding every fishin the tank. In this case the BN may need nothing extra on top of the general tank food. It may never had been feed fresh vegetables in its live?

Like any fish it must have fresh water. However when tanks fall into neglect it’s often the plecos that survive to be the last fish standing.


I fed a half wafer to each of my 7 adult BN plecos last night and think it’s been over a week since they got anything special. I generally feed one small chunk of zucchini each week but that is not compulsory especially in this situation.

Just saying in the first few weeks of life I feed young BN up to 4 times per day . I culture live foods for them and buy fresh vegetables weekly.
You have an adult fish with completely different needs.

I would suggest one algae pellet per week. Or even half a pellet.
Fresh water not fresh vegetables.

Is the fish food under lock and key out of sight from the kids?

Thanks for your insight! Yes, all supplies are locked up and the key is hanging on the wall 6'+ off the floor.

It's hard to sometimes balance implied undertones of "I feed my fish X and if you do any less you're incompetent and undeserving to care for loving things" with the more realistic "yeah, I know everyone says a minimum of five gallons for a betta, but I'm going to keep one in my 2 gallon tank and just never admit to it" mentality. I really appreciate honesty, especially with this sort of question.