Reason being that I put in algae wafers is that I have a pleco to feed. My pleco is an albino chocolate pleco meaning its very shy. It's about 5-6 inches from head to tail and my albino tiger oscar is 5-6 inches. Every night around 10 or midnight, I would put in one algae wafer. I could see the oscar trying to eat it like putting it in his mouth then spitting it back out considering the wafer is pretty big for his mouth. My pleco doesn't come to eat the wafer right away. Starting from last month my pleco was fine until I got the oscar. The belly of my pleco is a little bit thin. It used to be big. So I'm guessing it must have to do with the oscar eating the wafer and leaving none for the pleco. I tried putting 2 in but after like an hour I come back to check, it's completely gone. Oh yea, I have Hikari algae wafers if you want to know. Also, my JD would nibble at the wafer too. The Jack is too small for the wafer to fit in his mouth. If my oscar does eat the wafer then what should I do with feeding the pleco? Should I get a new tank for the pleco? I have had the pleco for about 7 months when it was about 4 inches and never had a problem with it.

Given half a chance o's will eat just about anything you put in your tank. I should not worry about it, algea wafers will not harm your oscars at all. If you find that your Oscars are eating them before the other fish then try putting them in an hour after the lights go out. Because plecos are nocturnal, they will forage when the lights are out and everyone else is asleep.

My o sometimes get the wafer meant for the pleco. I also feed green squash th my plecos and the oscars wont touch that. Also be sure you put the wafer in at least an hour or two after the lights are out. By then the o should be kinda sleepy. I use a dim flashlight to get to the tank when i feed the plecos as to not wake the oscars up with a bright ceiling light or lamp.

my O's love algae wafers. I try and distract them (by feeding them at one end; then drop the wafers on the other end so they don't see them fall). But inevitably, they'll see (or hear) my clowns macking down on the wafers; then come over and steal the wafers from the loaches- LOL.

like Penn said, they'll shove whatever they can in their mouths. Here is one of my O's when he was quite smaller with an algae wafer he had shoved in his face; terrible quality but it's still worth a laugh

Thanks for the advice. I will try to feed the wafers 2 hours after the lights been off. But what happen if the oscar is still awake. One time I went to sleep and I forgot to feed the pleco. It was around 2 in the morning and everything was dark. You could see the dark fish figures in the tank though. And I could see the oscar moving in front of the tank begging for food. I dropped in an wafer in then went back to sleep. If I'm correct, I'm pretty sure the oscar got the wafer then.

until i started puttin waffers in 4 my plecos at night my oscar used to eat ALL of them, would even eat them before his own floating pellets, but feedin plecs just b4 bed with lights out sorts the problem

my pleco is WAY bigger then my oscar..the oscar will sneak up and steal the wafer but then the pleco will chase the O around until he drops its lol...plus the wafer is too big to fit into my oscars mouth

My O might occasionally gulp it down as I drop it in for the Plec, but he always spits it out.

Reminds me of an ex-gf I used to have...

johnnyphoenix wrote:

johnnyphoenix wrote:


Nice. lol

Try putting in zucchini in the bottom of the tank for the pleco. I'm pretty sure the Oscar will leave that alone. Mine will eat algae wafers as well. He usually spits them out, but will eat chunks of them. So I put in some Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets. That way everyone gets food (the little EBJD, the Pictus Cats, and the pleco) and I try to occupy the Oscar with his floating pellets and it usually works out. Very few food fights now. Just between the EBJD and the Pictus Cats, but it's nothing major.

Jenni wrote:


Best advice yet, for the Oscars won't eat the zuchinni.
My plecos eat more than one zuchinni a week, and the algae wafers get eaten by anyone else in the tank.
Make sure to rince the zuchinni well before feeding it to your fish.
My Oscars, my SD's and even my Gar will sometime grab a algae wafer.
Zuchinni will give your fish enough nutricion and will give him something to do.
Make sure you got some driftwood in the tank for your pleco will need the tanins from the woodraspings to digest their food properly.
You can also try potatoe, cucumber, spinach or brocolli, but mine only like the zuchinni.
You can also try to stick some Hikari wafers in a slice of zuchinni.
Your O may leave the wafers for the pleco then.

This Hypostomus will eat a quarter of a zuchinni a day and may eat for over 12 hours on end.: