NEW BABY TANK!!!

Question
I got my first paycheck on thursday and since then I have fully equipt my second tank with a filter and a heater, and of course rocks and statues etc...I moved the babies to the seperate new 10 gallon tank and they are doing great. I got some brine shrimp for them to much on and I rotate between that shrimp, flake food, and first bites when I feed them. They dont get fed when I'm at work but I make sure they're stuffed before I leave and feed them every hour after I come home. I work at a wal-mart now (one that is amazingly not so evil to fish) and I was looking at our fish and i saw this one adorable absolutely perfect male pleco, and I had to bring him home. I know that as they age they will get much larger, but I know they grow pretty slow and the little guy is barely over an inch long. Once my college restrictions on tank size go away I'll be able to get them a superbig tank a little later on. Probably start off at a 55 gallon but thats a ways down the road.
I now have a pleco in each of my tanks. A rubberlipped pleco is in the tank with my adult GLOfish and the Kuli loaches.
My new beautiful tank now has the 10 baby GLOfish, 3 blue mystery snails, and the new beautiful pleco I would do anything to keep.

This new pleco's name is Joey, and from now on I will refer to him has such.

I dont think Joey likes me because if I get too close to the glass and he catches me looking at him he puffs up his top fin and fans his tail fin as far out as it will go. He then starts swinging his whole backside at me as if to try and push me away. Why does he do that? I dont want him to be hostile around me, especially because I know these plecos can become very interactive with their owners.

Now that I think about it, Jynx isnt very responsive to much of anything. I've still never saw her in the act of eating an algae wafer or anything else, but she still has a belly so she does eat.

I feed both Joey (Common pleco),and Jynx (Rubber lipped pleco) algae wafers, and I tried feeding them a blanched cucumber but that didnt take. Honestly I havent seen Jynx eat even the wafers, but she has to be because shes got a moderately buldging belly. I tried that cucumber trick with both of my tanks, and my little plecos didnt want any cucumber I blanched and gave to them.

I really Want to know a good simple food I can feed them that they will automatically know is food and actually give it a try. I did the cucumber, but they didnt want that. What else can i give them that they will all devour instantly?I love my plecos to death and I'm willing to do what I need to to keep them fed, but I hear differient things from every website and I dont know what to do anymore. If its some strange veggie or fruit or whatever I will buy it just so I know they will eat it, What cant
they resist?


I have some driftwood pieces soaking as we speak, but they dont seem to be in a hurry to stay at the bottom of the tub. I've had them pinned under water since thursday, but I dont know how long this will take. The drift wood I got was acutally intended for use by reptiles, but it was in small enough pieces and was at least profesionally treated in one way or another. My tank is too small for those massive logs meant specificly for aquariums. The pieces I did get are pretty small, and for the life of me I cant find the lable to the thing they came in. The intended usage was for reptiles to crawl over or whatever else they do. Do you think I should use this wood for my aquarium anyway? If so, how long should I soak it. If I shouldnt use that wood what wood should I use? I had my eye on some on amazon.com, but I was hoping not to pay for shipping.

I'm sorry if my question tonight is very half- witted, but I'm not really sure how I'm still awake right now

Answer
Hi Kelley,

1)Is your Pleco a Common Pleco or a Bristlenose or other Pleco? If it's a Bristlenose, then you won't have to worry about getting a larger tank anytime soon. Bristlenoses are among the smallest Plecos, like Pit-Bull Plecos. If it's a Common Pleco (the most common variety, ha ha,), then it will eventually grow to 24" long! Just a heads-up there! Rubberlipped Plecos only reach a size of 8" or so.

2)Don't disturb or try and observe the Pleco too much during the first few days. The Pleco is stressed, after transport, and it probably doesn't want another scary thing happening. Allow a week for the fish to get used to its new surroundings. It's quite common for fish to be scared of humans during the first period of ownership.

3)As long as the Plecos are eating in some way or another, I wouldn't bother getting another type of food. Algae wafers are perfect for Plecos, (and the truth is, there's no 'instant grab' food). Plecos need time to find their food. They don't recognize something as food until it decomposes or disintegrates enough so that it will be softer for its rasping lips. I've observed this behavior in my Corydoras cats too. If I drop food into the tank, they ignore it, until they literally 'pass over' the food. Even if the food is dropped literally on them, they don't even seem to notice it. But once one cat finds it, the others come, too! You might want to try zucchini. I've had better results with that than cucumber. You can also try a better brand of Algae Wafers. A good brand is Hikari Algae wafers, if that's not what you're using already.

4)Don't put fruits in the tank. The acids will mess up the water and your fish.

5)I don't see why you couldn't use the driftwood. However, you will have to be extra careful, and soak it for a longer time. I'd soak it for at least 3-5 days, to make sure any harmful things inside are leached out. Then, you can put it in the aquarium.

Good Luck, and Best Wishes to your fish!