2 Common Plecos

[grumpymole]

my 2 common plecos are fighting, will they stop, or is it a fight to the death?

 

[smithrc]

my 2 common plecos are fighting, will they stop, or is it a fight to the death?

might want to get this moved to the catfish section...

How long have they been together?
How big are they and the tank they are in?

Any chance of a piccy of the tank?

 

[Durbkat]

How big are they? Because I heard after they get over 3 or 4" they get territorial and fight to the death. So seperate them immediatly. Because your not supposed to have 2 common plecos together in the same tank. They only have all those plecos together at lfs is because they sell them at 2" and they aren't territoral at that length. Why do you have 2 plecos in a 80g in the first place? 1 common pleco needs a 100g or more because of there size.

 

[grumpymole]

hmmmmm.... well 1 is 6" and the other 3" and the small one is attacking the big one, it just started today, they have been in my 80g tank together for over a month now with now probs, but now...
i have lost my usb cable so nopics im afraid, although if i find the lead then i will post one or two here.
and i didnt know about the 100g for pleco rule...
im really not doing the plec thig right latly, i have posted a lot of topics on them.

 

[Durbkat]

Well seperate them because the 3" pleco might have starting to become territorial and thats why they are fighting so if you have another tank put the small one in it until you can return it to your lps or give it to a friend.

 

[grumpymole]

Well seperate them because the 3" pleco might have starting to become territorial and thats why they are fighting so if you have another tank put the small one in it until you can return it to your lps or give it to a friend.

i have removed the 3" one and placed him (temporarily into my unocupied 7.5g i shall than pass it to one of my most devoted friends ( towards fish)

 

[smithrc]

How big are they? Because I heard after they get over 3 or 4" they get territorial and fight to the death. So seperate them immediatly. Because your not supposed to have 2 common plecos together in the same tank. They only have all those plecos together at lfs is because they sell them at 2" and they aren't territoral at that length. Why do you have 2 plecos in a 80g in the first place? 1 common pleco needs a 100g or more because of there size.

Sorry but that is mostly not true... - what happen to the info you learnt about 10 mins ago??
2 commons in an 80gal when full grown will need to be empty to give them enough open space - a bigger tank would be nice - and if they are looked after well a common plec will grow around 1" a month so will be somewhere around 8-12" after a year


Are they side swimming at each other and flicking their tails at each other?

They are most likely just be having a dissagreement - probubly about who wants what hiding place...

 

[Durbkat]

) oh sorry bout that but it is true when the mature they get territoral.

 

[grumpymole]

the small one was actually ramming the larger one out from behind the filter.

 

[smithrc]

the small one was actually ramming the larger one out from behind the filter.

Sounds like they will be fine together - once they work out who gets the filter

 

[grumpymole]

ok...
everywhere i looked including google and here have both given me a mixed bag of reactions. funny really.

 

[morgan]

I have read on Planet Catfish that Common Plecos are "peaceful but territorial to conspecifics" I have no experience of this as I only have one Common. I won't be getting another for this reason.

 

[smithrc]

ok...
everywhere i looked including google and here have both given me a mixed bag of reactions. funny really.

a 3" and a 6" common will be fine in a 100gal (and will probubly be fine once they are fully grown too)

there is another option that also works if you dont have much room for swimming.... a bare tank. It might sound odd but then there is nothing for them to get teritorial over - this is why shops can get away with it for extended periods.

As they slow down growing they will eat less and poop less as they dont need the energy to grow. this goes in hand with them becoming slower and more lethargic - they will then be less bothered by other plecs.
Our 10" only moans if someone tries to nick his food

I have read on Planet Catfish that Common Plecos are "peaceful but territorial to conspecifics" I have no experience of this as I only have one Common. I won't be getting another for this reason.

Thats true of most plecs - but with preperation they will be fine. try to give them a few hiding places each then they can choose. in our L134 tank (4 plecs total) there are 2 bambo tubes making 3 caves, a slate cave and 3 bits of bogwood forming 4-5 hiding places then there are 2 filter in there for them to hide behind / under . - its just all on a larger scale for commons

 

[andywg]

Have to agree with SmithRC here.

My sailfin gets bullied by the royal panaque, but only when they're eating, or the panaque decides he wants to be where the sailfin is. Never anything major.

In the community we have 3 plecs (L254, L333 and a Chaetostoma) and they are fine as there is more than enough bogwood to keep them all happy and give them all somewhere to sit.

Andy

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It does help a great lot on how you organise your tank decor. If you have 2 common plecs in the same tank you should have a minimum of 3 large caves or shelters and 3 large open areas in the tank split up by boundarys. This is because if you just give each plec 1 peice of terotory and 1 cave the other plec will always want its tank mates terotory, so the more open areas and caves you have the less likely they are going to have disputes over who has what.
As far as feeding goes with algae wafers, just drop 3 algae wafers in the tank at night when the lights are off- 1 wafer at one end and the other at the other end and the last wafer in the middle. Same goes for any other foods you feed the plecs- ah, i see you have now separated your plecs.

Common plecs get to around 10 and 15inchs long when full grown, sailfin plecs get between 18 and 24inchs, the minimum tank gallons for a common plec is 60gals although by far the most important factor is surface area- theres no point in having an 80gal for example if its all height and no width and length. As long as the tank is at least 1 1/2ft high then all that matters is the length and width of the tank. The reason why there is such a big difference in how big these fish can get is because they can hybridise/breed with each other and their offspring are very hard to tell apart.

Common and sailfin plecs are very similar in personality, they are far more show than violent and are some of the most peaceful plecs you can get, but they will stress each other out to a great extent if nothing is done about their enviroment.