Feeding an Ancistrus

Question
Hello Richard,

Recently I got an Ancistrus and I'm not quite sure how much I should feed him. He's constantly scavenging for food, but I don't know if that's just his nature, or if he's actually hungry all the time.

I feed him 1 tablet (Tetra Pleco Tablets) every second day.
The days I don't give him tablets, I feed him sliced vegetables (cucumber and zucchini).

I am not sure about his age, but he's around 2,5 inches.

I don't know if my specifications are relative to my question, but here they are just in case: 16 gallon tank. In the tank there are 5 Cardinal Tetras, 5 black Phantom Tetras, 1 Pearl Gourami, 1 Ancistus, and 1 Apple Snail.

Many thanks!
-Julian

Answer
Hi Julian

The Ancistrus diet should be primarily greens. Any type of algae based food such as algae wafers and algae flakes. The Tetra Pleco tablets and the cucumber and zucchini are good choices. Another good choice is TetraVeggie. He will also eat algae that grows in the tank as well as leftovers from the food you feed the other fish.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard