Can anyone tell me what zebra plecos eat?I heard they're more carnivores then herbivores.I've read that a lot of people feed them tubifex worms(not sure if that's how you spell it) but I'm not really sure on their diet still.I plan on keeping 4 with some 6 discus that I plan to keep in a 75 gallon aquarium.I guess the ph is going to be 6.8.
zebra pleco diet
- Thread starter fonzie
- Start date
This is one species that will not live very long eating vegetable based food, they need a varied meaty diet, bloodworm is a good staple food, chopped shellfish occasionally, garden worms chopped up are also taken with relish.
They are found in very fast flowing well oxygentaed water living amongst rocks so try and give them a good flow, turn off at feeding time if needed.
They are found in very fast flowing well oxygentaed water living amongst rocks so try and give them a good flow, turn off at feeding time if needed.
These can work well in a discus tank. Keep oxygen levels up with a spray bar or such, though you don't necessarily need to keep currents super strong as it will annoy the discus.
Feeding might be a problem. I don't have much experience with zebras though I do have some with gold nuggets and such omnivores in a similar setup and I find the discus tend to eat the food before the plecs can get near it. As a result you effectively have to overfeed the tank to get food to the plecs, which , as both fish are fussy about water quality means you will be doing some water changes. On the plus side I've found my discus don't like big pieces of shrimp, so that's a good feed for the plecs, though messy.
Feeding might be a problem. I don't have much experience with zebras though I do have some with gold nuggets and such omnivores in a similar setup and I find the discus tend to eat the food before the plecs can get near it. As a result you effectively have to overfeed the tank to get food to the plecs, which , as both fish are fussy about water quality means you will be doing some water changes. On the plus side I've found my discus don't like big pieces of shrimp, so that's a good feed for the plecs, though messy.
Well the problem is that these fish are usually the quickest feeders so you put the tablets, bits of shrimp or whatever in and the other fish get too it before the plecs even considered going for it. I have had plecs that were aggressive feeders, and will push other food out of the way, but that can take months to happen. Thus you end up having to overfeed the tank.
Plecs skimming the surface is a classic sign of an underfed plec - these can be fish with big appetites
Plecs skimming the surface is a classic sign of an underfed plec - these can be fish with big appetites
I am feeding 8 algae wafers once a week for all 6 plecos.I used to feed them 1 each a day but the water started getting so dirty from their colosal poop that fish started diying and/or getting diseases.I still make sure to overfeed my fish flakes so they can't eat them all and the plecos can scavege for some of that.