Clown Pleco advice?

Hey guys. I just recently got a clown pleco and he/she just passed quarantine so he (just gonna call him a he lol) has earned his name... Lachlan. I’ve done research about clown plecos but was wondering if anyone has any tips/advice/stories (research can only do so much and I value personal experiences).

This is my new guy:

 

Keep driftwood of some kind. They incorporate wood fiber into their diet so something like cholla would give them an easy to rasp source of wood.

 

Keep driftwood of some kind. They incorporate wood fiber into their diet so something like cholla would give them an easy to rasp source of wood.

I have a couple pieces of MopanI driftwood, does that work?

 

I have a couple pieces of MopanI driftwood, does that work?

MopanI is very dense, hard wood. Something more like manzanita, spider, or ghost wood (California driftwood) would be easier on their teeth.

 

MopanI is very dense, hard wood. Something more like manzanita, spider, or ghost wood (California driftwood) would be easier on their teeth.

I do have spider wood but it isn’t in there right now. It keeps floating no matter what (I’ve tried burying the base and weighing it down with rocks). Any suggestions to keep it down?

 

I do have spider wood but it isn’t in there right now. It keeps floating no matter what (I’ve tried burying the base and weighing it down with rocks). Any suggestions to keep it down?

Just put a rock on top, after a few days it should be waterlogged that you can remove the rock.

 

I do have spider wood but it isn’t in there right now. It keeps floating no matter what (I’ve tried burying the base and weighing it down with rocks). Any suggestions to keep it down?

I've heard boiling it helps wood sink. There's also the possibility of drilling into it if it is a solid piece and filling the hole(s) with something heavy enough to keep it down.
If nothing works Manzanita sinks quickly.

 

My clown pleco is super shy and I barely see him.

 

I notice your tank is pretty new / clean.
This fish doesn't have algae / aufwuchs to feed on.

They indeed also feed (and need) softer wood and protein in their diet.

Start providing that otherwise this beautiful wildcaught fish will starve.

 

My clown pleco is super shy and I barely see him.

yeah I have one and they just don't come out!! they r so incredibly shy and I don't think there's much u can do abt it. supposedly they come out and eat when u feed them but he hasnt for me

 

My clown likes to hide. He dug himself a little pit under the Mopani; one day the nannacara was chasing the another nannacara and the one being chased poped into this hid-a-way-hole under the mopani. About 1/2 a second later he poped out with the clown chasing him.
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Sorry bud this hole is occupied.

 

I have a couple pieces of MopanI driftwood, does that work?

I have 7 plecos and 5 large pieces of MopanI wood and everyone loves it. Although Malaysian is better because its softer

 

I have 7 plecos and 5 large pieces of MopanI wood and everyone loves it. Although Malaysian is better because its softer

Clown plecos Dennis ?

 

I notice your tank is pretty new / clean.
This fish doesn't have algae / aufwuchs to feed on.

They indeed also feed (and need) softer wood and protein in their diet.

Start providing that otherwise this beautiful wildcaught fish will starve.

I do feed all my bottom dwellers algae wafers, and a variety of other pellets (like shrimp and carnivore blend). There is a thin algae coating on the gray rock he’s on (which is why he hasn’t left it lol). I’ve noticed that I don’t really have an algae issue even though my tank has been up and running for a year.

 

Clown plecos Dennis ?

There all different plecos.
Golden
Snowball
Blue Phantom
Green Phantom
Royal
Clown
Red Bristlenose

 

There all different plecos.
Golden
Snowball
Blue Phantom
Green Phantom
Royal
Clown
Red Bristlenose

Okay, but only the clown is a real woodeater. They munch on slowly decaying / softer wood.

All my BN's love wood and certainly also mopani, but never eat the wood itself. So for feedingpurposes I'd add some softer wood in this case.

PlanetCatfish.com - Panaqolus maccus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog

 

Ok so I had been soaking the spider wood last night while I slept but it is still floating. SO I took the pink cave (that I don’t like all that much anyway) and stuck it on a branch and it seems to be staying in place. (None of my rocks were large/heavy enough to keep it down).

(Lachlan’s in the background stalking the wood lol)