What should I feed wood-eating catfish?
Only certain genera of loricariid catfish are known to munch on wood:
- Panaque spp. such as Panaque maccus (clown pleco) and P. nigrolineatus (royal pleco)
- Hypostomus cochliodon group
Because of the lack of wood-digesting microbes in their gut and fast digestion time of less than 4 hours, scientists believe that these catfish are not actually digesting the wood. Instead, they are digesting the microorganisms, microbal byproducts, algae, fungus, and other organic matter found on the rotting wood, whereas the wood itself is passed as a waste product. In our experience, these catfish cannot survive on eating driftwood alone and need additional food to maintain a healthy weight.
To ensure your wood-eating pleco gets enough essential nutrients and vitamins, we like to feed high fiber foods such as:
- Repashy Morning Wood gel food
- Sera Catfish Chips
- Xtreme Sinking Wafer
For more information on pleco care, see the full article.