Feeding Young BN Plecos

Question
Hello Karen,  Week ago I bought 2 young,less than 2 in long, Bristle Nose Plecos.  One is doing just fine and other I lost after 1 week. I replaced him today.  I offer squash, sinking pellets, greens.  One that died I never saw eat, I did see other one eating, using flashlite after lights went out. They both have wood, hide places, that is where I place food. They are in different tanks. Do fine it troublesome to keep the fancy GF from eating their food, smell it at nite I guess!  Do you have any ideas to be sure that little pleco's will get enough to eat? How to keep GF from eating it? Any thing that the young ones prefer to eat? Only other thing I can think to do is to keep them both in one tank until they are larger,with no other fish. This isn't really what I can do easily. Thanks for your time.  Jean

Answer
Hi Jean,
Bristlenose Plecos are such fine fish!

Its hard to say what exactly could have happened to the one that died. Perhaps he had something wrong with him before you even brought him home, maybe he was already previously quite skinny or had a health condition that made him not feel like eating.

Young Bristlenose plecs enjoy the same foods as the big adults do. Zucchini, algae wafers, Romaine Lettuce, cucumbers and so on. Make sure to attach the vegetable with a rubber-band to a rock to secure the it and put it inside their favorite hiding spots as you have done. You could try cutting a separate small piece just for your other fish to distract them from the plecos meal.

I'm sure the Bristlenoses will be just fine then. ;-)

Karen~