Golden Nugget Died. Could My Platy Have Killed Him?

[Be4st]

About 2 weeks ago, I went and bought a Golden Nugget Pleco from the LFS. all seemed well up until yesterday when I could no longer find him. I figured he was being his usual elusive self so didn't think much about it. Earlier today, my girlfriend said she could see him under one of the hiding places closest to where my female Platy is giving birth. Upon closer inspection, you could see him on his side and immediately moved the rock he was under and realised he was dead.
 
He looked like he had been dead a while. All of his colour had gone, so had his dorsal fin and it looks like he had been eaten a little because he had little holes in his head and along his back and his eyes were no longer there. At first glance, it looked like shed skin like you get from a snake. All white and hollow.
 
At the moment his tank mates are 1x Sunset Platy male, 1x Platy female (giving birth), 3x Guppy female and 1x Betta male (never seen him attack anything). My first thought is maybe the Betta's temperament had changed and he attacked him but he has been OK with him from what I have seen. I watched them very carefully the first week and he just ignored him. I then wondered if maybe my female Platy got defensive about the GN Pleco choosing the hiding place right next to where she gives birth and where the fry are hiding and killed him.
 
All the water parameters are good. I have been feeding all fish the normal flake food and I dropped a piece of cucumber near where the GN Pleco was hiding but he never seemed to like it.
 
Does anyone have a clue what happened so I can avoid this in the future?
 
Many Thanks
 
Be4st

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

My basic understanding of Golden Nuggets is that they need high end tropical temps, with lots of water movement to maximise the reduced oxygen potential of warm water, which conflicts badly with Betta splendens' and Guppies' requirements.
 
Ideally all newly purchased fish should be quarantined for several weeks, but this is more important with fish such as these.

 

[Be4st]

Ah ok. Cheers for the reply. I did do a little research before I purchased it but none of the pages said that anywhere. I'l remember that for next time. Does that apply to all Pleco's or just the GN's?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Temp and water flow requirements vary from species to species, PlanetCatfish is always a good reference point for catfish husbandry.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

For gold nuggets proper diet is the key. Most folks do not know how to feed these fish which is why they do so poorly in many tanks. They are Aufwuchs feeders who graze all day long. In tanks they tend to be fed once or twice a day which is not sufficient for good health and growth.