Feeding a Bristlenose Pleco

So about a week ago, I went out and grabbed a BN Pleco at my LFS. He was quite shy at the beginning, but has gotten to be quite active lately.At about 3 inches long, he is still not an adult yet. I don't know what a "skinny" pleco looks like, but I figure just the algae in the tank will not suffice for his diet. I have tried zucchini, peas, algae wafers, veggie rounds, and he will not touch any of it. I will be trying fruit and sweet potatoes soon, but I am curious if this is normal for a new BN just entering a community tank? Its a moderately planted tank (18 gallon) with bog wood and rocks, I don't have a lot of algae growth going on except for a light coat on the glass. What gives?

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Permalink Reply by Collin on August 26, 2012 at 2:59pm

thats normal for a fish to not be eating soon after introducing them into your tank. Ive had plecos and i noticed that they can go a while without eating much. So dont worry eventually he will get used to his enviroment and start eating but for now he will have to scavenge on algae and such until he starts accepting the waffers or whatever you feed him. Keep in mind that plecos are pretty shy fish and like to hide a lot, but as i said with time he will start to readily feed on what you offer him.

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Permalink Reply by AquaNoob on August 26, 2012 at 9:48pm

I have a BN Pleco too. A little female. She seems to like cucumber the best and won't touch many other kinds of veggies. Broccoli is ok too though. I usually boil a slice of cucumber in water for a minute and then dunk it in ice water to blanch it then drop it in the tank. She is on it within a minute usually. One Pleco probably doesn't need more than a slice of cucumber every 4 or 5 days and be sure not to let left-over veggies sit in the tank for more than a day.

But yeah, i also seem to remember it took a while for her to get used to the tank and start eating.

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Permalink Reply by Jetmatt on August 27, 2012 at 9:46am

thankyou for the replies! this definitely helped, ill try a cucumber every couple of days to see if he pounces on it. the veggies never sit more than 6 hours in the tank at night. seems to be grazing on algae a lot, so im not overly concerned about him starving. thanks!

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Permalink Reply by AquaNoob on September 1, 2012 at 12:51am

sounds like he's starting to feel right at home if he is grazing on the algea! Cool!

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Permalink Reply by ŦůRbö ۰ Ҏяѻ ۰ on August 29, 2012 at 2:30am

I cant get my other fish to leave my pleco's food alone. They always find it and eat it all before he can get to it. Even when I throw it in between rocks and caves, my smart Angel fish will get it out and all the fishes will peck at it for awhile, then my silver tipped cat shark will swim by and pick it up, and suck on it for hours swimming in circles with it in his mouth. Or sometimes if its small enought he'll swollow it and you can see the shape of it in his belly. (they are like natural waffers, so some are odd shaped) I believe the pleco is getting enough food, although I dont have any visable alge, but he goes number 2 evey time I look at the tank, so hes eating something. LoL