I have three Ancistrus temminiki (bristlenose plecos) cute, active, full of personality. They keep getting these little pot bellies and trailing fecal strings. I've read that plecos that get too much protein can get bloat, bacteria overgrowth and whatnot in their guts and I'm concerned.

I've been feeding them Kyorin Algae Wafers "Ideal for Algae Eaters" "a perfect balance of vegetables and proteins" (package copy) but the ingredients list starts out fish meal, wheat flour, wheat germ meal, starch, dried seaweed meal - don't see any veg until the 5th ingredient, with a minimum protein of 33% I have no idea what is too high, but it doesn't sound good, given what I've been hearing.

What do you guys feed your plecos (and I'm hoping I can hear from some pleco heads or breeders here) how do you keep them in trim, is there anything wrong with these wafers? What's a good percent of protein? What should I be looking for on the ingredient list? Should I switch to a home made diet? Cooked vegetables and whatnot primarily? There are a couple of big logs in the tank with them for wood, so they have that in their diet. Is what is going on with them something other than diet related?

On another note, they're all about a year old (one older than a year) and nobody has much in the way of bristles. Does that mean I've got all girls? How quick do bristlenoses get their beards? Could the pot bellies be eggs? (except the fecal strings are a bad sign) Arrgh! I'd hate to lose one of these little monkeys.

I hear a lot of people use algea flakes but the better flakes are ones with less fish meal in them. Look around for those.. I dont remember what kind they are tho.

I fed mine about everything, including canned peas and frozen zuccini slices... how long are they? Usually by 3" the males are showing whiskers..... plus there is males are usually easier to find if you do have 3 fat females! And they don't mind being outnumbered like that!