What do plecos eat, and how do you keep them?
The pleco is also known as the multi-radiatus armored catfish, the suckermouth catfish, and the mouse fish; friends who keep fish usually keep a few plecos in their tanks. They often cling to the sides of the tank and can play a certain role in purifying the water quality. There are also many varieties of pleco, not just the single black kind; there are golden-yellow ones too. So what food do plecos generally eat? How do you keep them?
1. What food do plecos generally eat?
As an omnivorous fish, the pleco has a very large appetite. It likes to cling to the walls of the aquarium or to aquatic plants, and its main food is algae, the mucus secreted by fish on the tank walls, and food debris. However, they also have drawbacks: they will swallow the eggs of other fish, or lick the wounds of fish when they are sick. Of course, they do not only eat these leftover baits; if you give them fish worms or fish feed, they will eat that too.
The pleco has a body shaped like a half-cylinder, slightly wider on both sides, and the tail is lightly forked. The pleco's mouth is on the underside, the dorsal fin is rather broad, and the belly is flat, like a round fan-shaped sucker.
Seen from a distance, the belly of the pleco looks like a small pipa. The common skin color is dark brown, covered with black spots. Adult plecos are also rather large and are often active at night, making them suitable for mixed keeping with large tropical fish.
2. How do you keep plecos?
1. Water quality management
To keep plecos, choose soft water or low-hardness water, with the water weakly acidic or neutral. If the water is too acidic, it easily causes the fish to have difficulty breathing and to grow slowly; if the water is too alkaline, it will corrode the fish's gill tissue.
2. Water changing methods
Use two methods: partial water changes and full water changes. The method is to use a siphon to suck out the feces, leftover feed, and other dirt from the bottom of the tank, with the amount of water drawn out being about one quarter of the tank's water volume, then add the same amount of water at the same temperature. However, this water must be new water that has been left to stand or chemically dechlorinated. In autumn and winter, change it twice a week; in spring and summer, three times a week is enough. For a full water change, first take out the equipment, aquatic plants, and fish in the tank, then use a sponge to thoroughly wipe and clean the tank walls and bottom. A full water change can be done once every three to four months.
3. Water temperature requirements
Plecos are very sensitive to temperature, and unsuitable temperatures can cause the fish to die. Keep the water temperature between 20-24°C; during the breeding period, control the water temperature at 25-28°C, and the temperature difference between day and night must not exceed 4°C.
4. Oxygen
Aquatic plants produce oxygen through photosynthesis, so you can increase the oxygen content in the water by adding aquatic plants to the tank. At the same time, promptly cleaning out dirt and changing the water can also increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.