Pleco Help

[PaBucsFan]

Hello everyone, I believe I have a Leopard Hifin Pleco. Over the past month or so I have had 3-4 fish die over night. On the morning of each discovery my pleco would be attached to the dead fish. This morning I discovered a dead fish with the pleco sucking the insides out of it. I was not aware of this fish being sick so my question is this: Are some/all plecos hunters at night? Meaning will they attack, kill, and eat other fish?

 

[BackToTheFishes]

Plecs WILL feed on dead fish,but I have never known them to attack healthy ones

 

[raptorrex]

Hello everyone, I believe I have a Leopard Hifin Pleco. Over the past month or so I have had 3-4 fish die over night. On the morning of each discovery my pleco would be attached to the dead fish. This morning I discovered a dead fish with the pleco sucking the insides out of it. I was not aware of this fish being sick so my question is this: Are some/all plecos hunters at night? Meaning will they attack, kill, and eat other fish?

can you give me some information on: tank size, fish ages and sizes?

its not uncommon for plecos, of the common type, to get aggressive with age. though i am not suggesting this is the case. this type of pleco is an omnivore, and will eat most things.

 

[star4]

I once had a rogue common plec that attacked and killed guppies & rams, I actually sat and watched her do it! she was ok when I moved her to another tank with bigger fish, a friend had the pleco off me and it killed another plec, so it can happen. I put mine down to the fact that the person that brought it to me had never fed it properly as it didnt seem interested in plec wafers, cucumber or any other foods.

 

[PaBucsFan]

It is in a 20 gallon tank, I have had the pleco for about 6 months now. He/she is about 4 inches long. He will eat algae wafers but not a lot of it. He likes shrimp pellets and flash frozen crap. The pleco has a leopard design with a hifin. When I bought the pleco it was labeled as a hifin pleco. The fish he dined on the morning in question was the most healthy and shocking to see gone. He ate a hole through the stomach and I would assume sucked out the insides.

 

[kizno1]

Does it look like this?
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+gibbiceps&image_id=2835

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?species=pterygoplichthys+gibbiceps&image_id=5587

If it does then it need to be upgraded to a 150G+ or sold/given away. They can grow 18"+ and can be quite aggressive i made the same mistake as you when i first started and one of them killed the other and started pushing other fish around,

 

[PaBucsFan]

The second link looks identical to our pleco. Petsmart only sold him for 4 dollars. I assumed it was a common pleco. I have a friend who can take him once he gets bigger. Thank you for all of the help.

 

[kizno1]

The second link looks identical to our pleco. Petsmart only sold him for 4 dollars. I assumed it was a common pleco. I have a friend who can take him once he gets bigger. Thank you for all of the help.

Both my links where the same fish its just they can vary slightly. There common name is a gibby plec.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Okay. Thank you. He has been the same size since I got him in April. If I notice him getting bigger I will give him to my friend. I wish petsmart and petco would label things better.

 

[kizno1]

Okay. Thank you. He has been the same size since I got him in April. If I notice him getting bigger I will give him to my friend. I wish petsmart and petco would label things better.

He probably wont be growing because hes stunted its better to give it to your sooner rather than later. Maybe replace it with a BN plec, clown plec, L340, L183, L144 and loads of others.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Thank you. I will talk to my friend about it.

 

[Flagtail]

Thank you. I will talk to my friend about it.

Or you can move him into your pond.

 

[PaBucsFan]

I didn't think about putting him in the pond. Will he thrive in there? I live in PA so I deal with pretty cold. We heat the water to about 50 F during the winter.

 

[iownupkr66]

give it a go and what type of catfish u got in ya pond m8 because they could scrape or it could kill the goldfish because the goldfish are not aggressive and are easy prey for the little feller




good luck



jordan.