My New 100l Tank

[MrsM]

nice tank...and pretty betta, i heard plecos can get a bad temper too.....id offload him asap...less heartbreak to rehome 1 fish rather than watch him kill all your others.

 

[bmonki]

nice tank...and pretty betta, i heard plecos can get a bad temper too.....id offload him asap...less heartbreak to rehome 1 fish rather than watch him kill all your others.

really? the only time i ever heard of a pleco attacking something else was another pleco who wanted his cave... our old pleco was the gentlest giant!

 

[MrsM]

nice tank...and pretty betta, i heard plecos can get a bad temper too.....id offload him asap...less heartbreak to rehome 1 fish rather than watch him kill all your others.

really? the only time i ever heard of a pleco attacking something else was another pleco who wanted his cave... our old pleco was the gentlest giant!

ive read they get really territorial and carniverous as they grow....they "go off" algae wafers and turn on fish... it may or maynot be true but they grow BIG..like 24" big!! that means alot of tank is needed and the bioload is massive from a plec!!

 

[dannybgoode]

Very rarely heard of an aggressive plec - clumsy yes, aggressive no...

Cheers

Danny B

 

[Tizer]

they can get territorial and quite easily hurt other fish with their size especially when they don't have a lot of space

 

[MrsM]

Very rarely heard of an aggressive plec - clumsy yes, aggressive no...

Cheers

Danny B

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxeAUoCAG5Q

so whats he doin???

 

[dannybgoode]

Rarely, not never...

Cheers

Danny B

 

[MrsM]

Rarely, not never...

Cheers

Danny B

just found this too.....
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/409248-extremely-aggressive-pleco-cat/page__p__3444116__fromsearch__1#entry3444116

 

[bmonki]

Very rarely heard of an aggressive plec - clumsy yes, aggressive no...

Cheers

Danny B

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxeAUoCAG5Q

so whats he doin???

trying to guard both his hidey hole and the chunk of food at the front by the looks of things... OP - its usually better to put any food near the plecs chosen spot and then turn off the lights as they are nocturnal and prefer to feed in the dark - also you'd avoid him having to leave his territory to get the food - which should stress him less

tbh i dont really see the problem with OP keeping the pleco for a bit - she's not being naiive thinking she can keep him forever and already has a home sorted for him once he's grown a little... its a 100l so he shouldnt need to be moved til hes like 4-5" (obv depending on tank dims)... its not like she's gonna wait til hes a foot long and then try to find a home.

He will get quite fast, and yes most definitely clumsy, will probably knock over most of your plants and decorations within 5 minutes of you putting them back upright, but personally i love their little puppy like faces and they remind me of dinosaurs can get some proper little characters too it's also nice that when he moves to your brothers tank you'll still be able to visit him and wont miss him too much

 

[MrsM]

yes he is being territorial and agressive with it, im in no doubt the op will rehome the plec as and when s/he see's fit just wanted to say that it will (most likely) get agressive toward other fish

 

[bmonki]

meh. edited as i cba.

 

[MrsM]

meh. edited as i cba.

only kiddin' be cool its all healthy debate

 

[snazy]

The stuff on the video is typical when they get scared or stressed. Sometimes if I bang something or make sudden loud noise my pleco can panick like that. Also, when I feed him cucumber, I put it normally on the same spot in the tank. A few times I put it on a different place without knowing. He came out straight away, and obviously smelled it but couldn't find it and then he went nuts swimming around the tank searching for it nervously until he found it. It looks exactly like on the video above. To me it never look like aggressiveness
I've noticed from when he was a baby, that he don't seem to be able to find the food easilty like he's blind or something although he can see me very well He used to wait until all the corys and platies gather around the wafers and then he would just swim in between and steal it I think it's something to do with their eyes being on top of their head and they can't see the wafer below if too close to it. But most of the times, he would go around when everyone has finished and calmed down and suck up on the sand for left overs.

Don't forget that most plecos, not only commons are carnivores/omnivores. There's actually very few algae eaters and the commons are one of them. Generally common plecos are mainly detritivore but they also feed on insects and algae. In their natural habitat they don't eat other fish at all or sucking on live fish. That probably happens when they are severely underfed in a tank or can't compete for food as the giants they are, they can be quite shy and although sometimes they steal the occassional wafer, they are not persistent stealing food and would rather retreat into their place if it's too buzzing around.