leopard plecs?

Question

I have two tetras and 2 goldfish in my tank and have had my leopard flec for 2 week i bought the food thats specially for him and only feed him before lights out as i know there nockternal.But as yet i havent seen him eat any he doesent come and get any?
Has anyone else got this problem or can advise me why he isnt coming to eat it

Answer 1

If it's a true Leopard Pleco, L114, while they do eat vegetable matter they seem to prefer some meats in their diet.

Of course, others are correct about the nocturnal nature of many plecs. Some are almost never seen eating. I have 11 now and aside from watching my butterfly bristlenose or Brown Dot munching on the zucchini (I almost never see them go after it, just find them on it), I rarely see any of them eating. Of course, you may have a sufficient supply of algae in the tank that your Leopard is eating off of right now. In that case they won't bother with the supplement very much until they have whittled down the natural supply.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Have you got any wood in the tank? I've had plecs, and they _all_ seem to love munching on the driftwood you get from aquarium shops. I'd be careful of other wood, lots of it has resins in. The other thing they really like is cucumber or courgette - weigh it down with some lead strip from plants, and take it out the next morning.
Plecs are great, just get the right kind - not the ones that grow to be 5 foot long! :^)

Answer 3

You generally will not *see* your pleco eating. They are very shy creatures hence the reason why they are nocturnal.
Feed your pleco after it gets dark outside, turn off the tank lights and all lights in the room, then come back in an hour with a flash light and you will see your pleco out and about and most likely eating. I assume you are feeding algae wafers. Try feeding him zucchini too. Blanch it in the microwave for a few seconds, rubberband it to a rock and drop it in. Your fish and your pleco will benifit from this.

Answer 4

Put a piece of driftwood(the kind that sinks without weights) in the tank with your Pleco,and he'll never go hungry. I have a Panaque Suttoni (Blue-eyed Pleco) that has consumed a two foot long piece of driftwood over the last 20 years. I've never seen him(?) near that piece of wood. If you are determined to watch you fish feed get one of the red night lights that are popular with catfish enthusiasts and pull an overnighter.---------Good luck----PeeTee

Answer 5

He mainly eats at night. Put in the sinking algae wafer right before you go to bed (hopefully you do that before midnight) and when you wake up, it'll be gone.