Pleco destroying plants

[Alin10123]

Hey guys, i've got a planted tank with about 6 plants in it. Now it's actually 4 plants because the every morning when i wake up i see that the pleco has destroyed a couple of the plants. It'll look sort of like he chopped them down or something. I can't really just stick them back in the substrate because when he bites down he'll seperate the branches/twigs from the bottom part which act as roots.
Every night when i go to sleep i will drop in about 5-6 of the algae tablets and every once in a while i'll tie down a piece of zuchini to a rock. Although he's got yet to touch the zuchini.

Can anyone offer any advice? This hobby is going to get expensive if the pleco keeps pulling up my plants.

thanks

[maxpayne_lhp]

If you just can't take your plec to another tank, you may want to offer him more plant-food so he won't (or less) destroy your plants. Any vegy you can think of, salad, letuce, potatoes... Remember to remove left-overs!

[flynngriff]

Sure... Get rid of the pleco...

Seriously, I doubt you'll find any way to stop him eating the plants, so that's probably your only option if he's not eating the zuchini instead. And 5-6 algae tablets is a lot of food, too. Unless your pleco is HUGE, that's probably way too much. Are you taking them back out in the morning since they're not being eaten?

You might try one of the fancy pleco varieties, since a lot of them are carnivores. You could look on planetcatfish.com and see what species you might like instead. Just an idea.

Good luck!

[Damon]

How big is the pleco? What plants are in the tank? I've never known plecos to eat plants unless they are not getting enough algae (herbivorous types). They have been known to destroy plants while cleaning them of algae. If this is the case I would remove him and try a smaller fancy pleco.

[Alin10123]

The pleco isn't that big. I'd say about 4 inches max. Probably closer to 3 inches.
Is 5-6 tablets of Algae a lot? In the morning when i wake up, all the tablets are pretty much gone. Except for a few crumbs leftover that seeped into the gravel.
Hmm... i'll try to feed him some lettuce i guess.

[Damon]

I (and many others here) drop 1 in every 2-3 days.

[Alin10123]

Eeeer.... 1 every 2-3 days? eeeer....
Then where are the algae tablets going everynight???????? I cant see them in the morning!

[flynngriff]

They are likely just dissolving and becoming rotten food in your gravel bed... There's not much chance that your pleco is eating them all.

For a 4 inch pleco, I'd put in one every other day.

[margo]

You need to get some floating plants.

I used to have a plecostomus named Plecky. I loved him. He was a good fish. He liked freeze dried worms. I'd drop a cube in the tank and he'd eat it upside down. It was so cute.

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by margo

You need to get some floating plants.

I used to have a plecostomus named Plecky. I loved him. He was a good fish. He liked freeze dried worms. I'd drop a cube in the tank and he'd eat it upside down. It was so cute.

I dont think even if i tried to feed the pleco freeze dried worms that he's even get a chance to eat it. For the reason being, as soon as i stuck those in there, they'd be eaten by the other fish. The pleco wouldn't even know that the worms were in the tank since it love to hide in the case. So as a result, it can't really see anything.