Pleco

[Lewis1998]

hi all, i have a tank with 4 guppies, 5 black skirt tetras, 3 cory cats and a pleco the tetra chase everyhing aroind but have never attacked anything but this morning i woke up to my pleco on the floor so i put him in the tank luckley still alove and noticed all his fins are all torn he was very agertated and was darting around the tank he has been in there for 5+ months with no problems till now, i decided to move him into my guppy fry tank and the fry were all pecking at his fins and made them worse, i have put him in quorantine but does anybody know why he is being attacked, thanks

 

[Lunar Jetman]

What size is your tank and the quarantine one? What are the water perameters, e.g. Ph, Nitrate, Nitrite, etc?

 

[Colin_T]

post a picture of the fish.

 

[Lewis1998]

All perameters are fine and the main tank ks 90l he is now in a 60l

 

[fluttermoth]

Lewis; I'm afraid we need actual numbers from any tests you've done. Just saying they're 'fine' doesn't give us enough information to work with. Please include the figures for pH and hardness too, if you know them

A picture of the fish would really, really help too x

 

[Byron]

A weakened fish will frequently be the target of other fish, so that likely is why the fish are now "attacking" him. He should be removed from other fish, or at least be in a tank where he has a good hiding spot and will not be targeted, until he fully recovers. He needs a chunk of wood with a tunnel or crevices so he can escape and hide completely. An artificial hiding place can be used, such as a half flower pot (made of only clay or some safe material, no plastics etc.) or a rock cave. Somewhere to fully hide.

I won't comment on treatments; when we have photos others will be able to advice on this. Frayed fins can be due to several things, nipping obviously, but also water conditions, the stress of being out of the tank, etc.

You answered the question on parameters as "fine," but that tells us nothing. Please give us numbers for any tests. We cannot adequately help if we don't know all the issues/data.

Black Skirt Tetras are notorious for nipping fins. You may not have seen this, fish often can be sneaky and not misbehave when you are present as you distract them and they associate you with food, etc. But it could occur during other times. Having a larger group can sometimes help, but this species is a fin nipper of slow or sedate fish, like plecos, so this is probably something you should look at resolving. Don't keep them in the same tank.

 

[Sarah73]

A weakened fish will frequently be the target of other fish, so that likely is why the fish are now "attacking" him. He should be removed from other fish, or at least be in a tank where he has a good hiding spot and will not be targeted, until he fully recovers. He needs a chunk of wood with a tunnel or crevices so he can escape and hide completely. An artificial hiding place can be used, such as a half flower pot (made of only clay or some safe material, no plastics etc.) or a rock cave. Somewhere to fully hide.

I won't comment on treatments; when we have photos others will be able to advice on this. Frayed fins can be due to several things, nipping obviously, but also water conditions, the stress of being out of the tank, etc.

You answered the question on parameters as "fine," but that tells us nothing. Please give us numbers for any tests. We cannot adequately help if we don't know all the issues/data.

Black Skirt Tetras are notorious for nipping fins. You may not have seen this, fish often can be sneaky and not misbehave when you are present as you distract them and they associate you with food, etc. But it could occur during other times. Having a larger group can sometimes help, but this species is a fin nipper of slow or sedate fish, like plecos, so this is probably something you should look at resolving. Don't keep them in the same tank.

They are even worse when not kept in a good group as well. What kind of pleco? Bristle nose? Rubber lip? Common? (Hopefully not)