On the menu for tonite......

[jimmy chonga]

Thought I'd start a thread about what we're all feeding our plecos and also we can get some input on what different species prefer. :biggrin:

last night was green pepper. my little royal LOVES peppers, as does the adonis(he eats everything)
L114 and L14 turned up their noses at it though. tonite is scallop and frozen melon rind

broccoli stem is favoured by all in the tank, the sunshine is usually the first one on it, I find scoring the surface of it attracts them to it faster.

so what's for pleco dinner tonite? :matrix:

[2wheelsx2]

I serve one of the following at least 3 times a week: yams or zucchini, shelled frozen peas
As an occasional treat, I feed: Bok Choy (leaves and stems), watermelon rind, canteloupe rind, whole slightly blanched carrots, mango pits with some meat left on it, oranges (peeled)
Twice a week I feed either Live blackworms or frozen bloodworms, depending on whether I have the live worms or not.

I feed twice a day, so the rest of the meals are comprised of: NLS large fish pellet, Dainichi XL Pro, Ken's earthworm sticks, HBH soft and moist with krill, NLS H2O wafers, Hikari algae wafers, Pam's critter crumbs, and Sera catfish chips. Most of my fish will go after everything, but my Pseudas seem to be only eating the meaty food plus the peas. Even my Hypans (L201, L129, L340) go after the yams.

[MsGardeness]

I only feed once a day - afternoon and take out the next morning. Yesterday was Pam's Critter Crumble - seafood variety. This afternoon is kale and a piece of peel from a cucumber we are having for dinner! Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy

[Pamelajo]

Friday night the L333 got earthworm sticks, the rest of the tanks are all bns and they had sweet potato.
Last night the L333 got the seafood mix as well as the bns.
Tonight my L333 are getting shrimp and the bns will be getting broccoli stems.

[Bwhiskered]

Try the frozen Brussel Sprouts. Thaw them in warm water and pull them apart. My bushynose love them. That is what they feed in Europe.

[Pamelajo]

Thanks Charlie, never thought of them.

[Bwhiskered]

Brussel Sprouts are made into a frozen food along with shrimp and other things by the top pleco breeder in Denmark. He does not give a complete receipe.

[Pamelajo]

He does not give a complete receipe.
I can understand that. lol

[2wheelsx2]

That sounds interesting. I'll have to save some next time we have company. I detest Brussel sprouts and only serve it on special occasions. :D

[jimmy chonga]

lol same

I eat pretty much everything, the only way I eat brussel sprouts is braised in some form of animal fat :secretsmile:

but for my plecos, anything

[Bwhiskered]

I may feed some asparagus stems tonight the veggie eaters like them.

[jimmy chonga]

I may feed some asparagus stems tonight the veggie eaters like them.

you use the snapped off woody parts? if so that's a great idea, makes more sense then throwing them in the green bin

[2wheelsx2]

I do that with the woody parts, but you have to peel them first.

[Bwhiskered]

I usually cook them slightly and then split them.

[MsGardeness]

How do you serve shelled peas. I tossed a couple in and thought it was great that they sank; but then had to get out the leftovers. That was fun - fishing for uneaten, slippery peas! I won't be able to reach to the bottom get them out of the big tank when it's running.

[MsGardeness]

They are getting broccoli tonight

[2wheelsx2]

I never have problem with any leftover with shelled peas. I thaw them, shell them and throw them in, but not too many. Tonight it was a whole 8 inch long zucchini in the 125 with a couple of slices for each the 20 and the 15 gallons for the BNP's.

[Bwhiskered]

I don't feed shelled peas. But I do feed snow peas. I blanch them then freeze them. When I feed them I thaw them and split them in half.

[2wheelsx2]

Fed them a couple of asparagus stocks (just the base) and a small yam last night. Everything was just washed and unpeeled. The asparagus was very popular with the L128s and L200s. Yam as usual, was taken by most everyone.

[jimmy chonga]

anyone have a good recommendation for feeding three beacons?

i put broccoli stems, and sweet potato in the tank for him and they come out relatively untouched. i know a large part of their diet is meat, but even scallop barely gets grazed. maybe he's just lazy and is relying on pellet/tablet food mostly? :miarockt:

[2wheelsx2]

My L91 love live blackworms, frozen bloodworms, shelled peas and earthworms sticks. Don't see to touch the veggies except to nibble yams once in a while. And of course like your experience, love pellets (NLS, Dainichi).

[Bwhiskered]

My bushynose like Ken's 9 mm Cichlid Pellets. With other plecos some love them and some hate them. All a matter of personsal taste.

[jimmy chonga]

made a big batch of grilled asparagus soup, saved a few stalks for the fish. they are completely destroying them right now......

and I thought they liked broccoli stems.....

[2wheelsx2]

Does the water smell like stinky pee? :p

[jimmy chonga]

LOL

actually that was the first thing i thought of when I took them out of the tank this morning

no stinky pee, :secretsmile: very healthy pleco poops tho.....

[Jennifer Griffin]

So far my longfin albino BNs are liking blanched/boiled carrots and cucumber. I have to say it feels really strange boiling cucumber, but the plecos and even the cories were devouring it. I thought I would try only slightly nuking it to preserve more nutrients, but that hasn't been too popular. Raw green leaf lettuce was not a hit either. Thinking tonight I will try either steamed sui choi wrapped around a piece of wood or blanched zucchini along with the usual algae wafers. I've read that brussel sprouts seem to be popular with veggie eaters so I am leaning toward the steamed sui choi as it has a similar sweet flavor like the brussel sprouts. :D

[jimmy chonga]

going to give carrots another chance tomoro. going to lightly blanche them this time though