# Farlowella Catfish slowly starving?



## nanovaseftw (Dec 25, 2009)

A couple months back I picked up a farlowella catfish. Its a very elegant fish that keeps to itself. I read all I could on keeping him and his need for good water conditions. At the time my 40 gallon bowfront had been still in its cycling stage and had a few large brown algae blooms. This was no problem for my farlowella and after the first week of keeping him I havent seen algae since. He loves to hang on to my large anubia and pretend he's a stick haha. Anyways the absence of algae in my aquarium is getting me worried that he may be slowly starving to death. As this is common for these poor guys since they slowly feed off algae. I find him being fairly active compared to reports I've read on these lazy guys. Making me think he may be having trouble finding food.

Does anybody have any insight on how I might be sure that he is getting the food he needs?


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

A buddy of mine has had those before..... Algae wafers, or parboiled veggies... (I've heard zucchini mentioned.) 

Hope that helps!


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## nanovaseftw (Dec 25, 2009)

I try to give him algae wafers but hes such a passive eater that he rarely finds them before I have to vacuum them out. Zucchini and cucumber might be a good idea though because I could leave that in all night.


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

I have the same question, but about Otos.

I found this short thread which may be helpful to us both, about growing algae as food:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/algae/6055-growing-algae.html

From what I read elsewhere, even if Otos eat vegetables (mine do) it's not a complete substitute for algae given their digestive chemistry.


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## mindnova (Jan 22, 2008)

Yes mine cleared my tank rather quickly. He has double in size and alway has a fat gut. Shrimp pellets are what mine like along with Cichlid veggie pellets. Algae wafers and Zucchini slices are great. The Zucchini slices need to be microwaved until mushy. I slice a whole one and freeze them on a cookie sheet then bag them. Those vacuum bags help them to last longer.

The best time to feed him is at night and try to put the food in the same place. They learn quickly if you keep a schedule. A large Amazon sword plant is great for him he will hide between the leaves and as they get older algae will grow on them and he will feed on older dying leaves.

They are beautiful fish and sadly most will and do starve in aquariums.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

mindnova said:


> Yes mine cleared my tank rather quickly. He has double in size and alway has a fat gut. Shrimp pellets are what mine like along with Cichlid veggie pellets. Algae wafers and Zucchini slices are great. The Zucchini slices need to be microwaved until mushy. I slice a whole one and freeze them on a cookie sheet then bag them. Those vacuum bags help them to last longer.
> 
> The best time to feed him is at night and try to put the food in the same place. They learn quickly if you keep a schedule. A large Amazon sword plant is great for him he will hide between the leaves and as they get older algae will grow on them and he will feed on older dying leaves.
> 
> They are beautiful fish and sadly most will and do starve in aquariums.


i use suchinni with my plecos, i use one full piece peeled a little without microwaving and use a spoon to sink it and is virtually GONE in a day and half

i read somewhere you can do peas and squash but havent tried


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