# Can Bristlenose Plecos get enough food in a Malawi tank?



## forkman (May 29, 2018)

I am thinking of putting a Bristlenose Pleco in my 125 gallon mixed Malawi tank. My concern is that my fish eat virtually everything that I feed them with no food remaining on the bottom at all. They even love algae wafers. I am not sure how I would get food to a pleco and he may starve once he ate any algae or biofilm that exists. Any ideas?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

They find enough to something to survive. You can add algae wafers in the dark if you are worried.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Agree. I seldom see my plecos eat. As long as their bellies are plump, no problems.

I would not add one fish though...wait until the next time you add 3-5 fish.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

We have 35 to 40 bristlenose plecos total in our various tanks. Most come out and feed at feeding time. Some are even so bold as to compete with the africans for the food. 
Noki is correct, add the waffers in the dark if you want to supplement their feeding.


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## forkman (May 29, 2018)

Thanks for all of the responses. In the reply that stated do not add one fish, and wait to add 4 or 5. Did you mean just not to add a single fish, or to add multiple Plecos? I may add a pleco with one other fish soon, but I don't intend on adding many more fish for awhile.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would do 2 BN in a 125G but would wait to add them until you can add more than 2 fish so the newcomers do not get singled out.

A way to accomplish this if you have enough fish would be to remove 3 fish for a month...then add back the 3 you removed along with the 2 new BN.


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## fish_gazer (Nov 9, 2017)

Chow time in my aquarium is chow time for everyone.

Back when they were juveniles, my plecos (I have two) would swim on their backs at the surface to eat. Later, they would trap pellets on the glass and eat that way. Nowadays, they mostly vacuum the substrate.

Like others, the algae wafers are eaten by the fish as well, so it's not specifically for the plecos. In fact, I only throw them in there once a week or so as a treat since the plecos don't seem to mind eating fish food.


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## forkman (May 29, 2018)

All very good responses, thanks


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

I feed my bristlenose plecos zucchini slices (no skins, they do not eat the seeds). I wrap an elastic band around the slice and a thin stone so it sinks. This works well in tanks where the other fish do not like zucchini. But I put a BN in a tropheus tank with zucchini and the tropheus ate the zucchini before the BN came out!


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