Pleco fins

[dawning]

Hey, I've got two Rhino Plecos I keep in the same aquarium and it seems like the bigger one beats on the other. Lately, I've noticed that the smaller one has a few small rips in its dorsal fin. Should I care? I could move one in to another aquarium, though I thought it'd be nice to keep the two together, for company.

Thanks,
J

 

[c17]

hi, iv'e not herd of anybody who has put more than one plec in an aquarium apart from pet stores, the main reason being is that they get so big, 12-18 inches and unless you have a very large tank, i think the two may be fighting for room to breath if in a smaller tank and with the agression of a plec, this may be a fight that could kil one of them off.

i personally would stick to just one in a tank, move it to another tank or most good aquarium shops will have any unwanted fish back, although you generally recive nothing in return.

hope this helps.

 

[Tolak]

I have a few plecs in the same tank, and the smallest one is the most aggressive, usually during feeding. Have seen ripped fins on several occaisions on the larger two, and they heal fine on their own, provided the water parameters are good.

Tolak

 

[Bomag]

depends on what size tank you have i would say only one on the norm but with my tank i have two common sail fin plecs in and when the smaller one first went in the bigger one would chase it all the time sometimes damaging the fins of the other one but after a couple of days everything was normal again and now they lay together and suck along the front glass together

but like i said its your tank which should make your decision whether to keep it ie : how big ,,and how is it stocked

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I have 2 plecs in the same tank and they are fine. They are small plecs though, c17 not all plecs get massive. It depends on the kind of plec.

I wouldn't worry about it, just moniotr the situation. If he gets worse or doesn't get better, shift him.

 

[Oddball]

Plecos can fro no apparent reason become territorial in the blink of an eye, this in itself is not a problem and small rips and tears will heal so thats no problem. Only consider action if this behavior persists which may stress out the weaker pleco

 

[dawning]

I've moved the bigger fish I've nicknamed "asshole" to my other aqarium. That one has 3 other very small plecos in it. In it's place I put in my Elephant Nose, maybe in a month I'll try it again.

Thanks,
J