Are plecos good scavengers?

[mattybecks]

As the title may suggest, do pleco's make good scavengers for general uneaten foods like pellets/shrimp/anchovies etc? or is there a better option? (My Arow has recently started making a mess chewing, and has eaten/killed her other tank mates who would usually scavenge). I have tried cutting the food up smaller, sometimes she swallows, sometimes she spits.

 

[tlindsey]

As the title may suggest, do pleco's make good scavengers for general uneaten foods like pellets/shrimp/anchovies etc? or is there a better option? (My Arow has recently started making a mess chewing, and has eaten/killed her other tank mates who would usually scavenge). I have tried cutting the food up smaller, sometimes she swallows, sometimes she spits.

I wouldn't consider any Pleco a scavenger but there are species that are omnivores. I have 2 Bristlenose one eats algae off the glass and one eats Pleco wafers.

 

[mattybecks]

Sorry I should have been more specific. I was referring to the common pleco "Hypostomus plecostomus" I believe is the correct name?
During my online research I came across some claims that they enjoyed/needed some meaty foods in their diets?

I don't mean for the guys to be purely scavengers, I will be feeding them their own food too. Just looking for something to help with uneaten foods, and that dosnt become food itself.

My Aro is 50cm now in case that helps.

 

[mattybecks]

I wouldn't consider any Pleco a scavenger but there are species that are omnivores. I have 2 Bristlenose one eats algae off the glass and one eats Pleco wafers.

Would the common pleco I mentioned in the post above be a suitable omnivorous species?

 

[Rocksor]

Would the common pleco I mentioned in the post above be a suitable omnivorous species?

Like a lot of fish, they are opportunistic and won't pass up meaty food. However, their long poo would suggest that they are more towards the herbivore side than omnivore side. In the beginning of its life, I fed my common pleco, more zuchini and leafy greens along with algae wafers and shrimp pellets. Sometime after 10 years of age, it really didn't touch the veggies and went for the Hikari algae wafers more often, even when the wafers were only offered once a week. These wafers were primarily fish in content though. Too bad NLS Algaemax didn't exist back then, I would have liked to know if it would consume those.

 

[neutrino]

I don't know about anchovies in particular, but along with a number of other pleco species they do become more omnivorous with age. Personally, for a larger growing pleco, especially if there's room in the budget, I'd much rather have a sunshine pleco (L014) as one of the larger growing, omnivorous plecos that will clean up scraps. Several of the Pseudacanthicus species would probably fit the bill, also better looking fish if they fit your budget.