Sailfin pleco acting.......odd?

[Gabe]

Well this is the second time I've noticed him doing it. He is floating upside down on the surface of the water. He is alive and has now(as I was typing) changed places so he is now on the wall of the tank. Anyhow, is this normal behavior?? He is now about 5-6 in and I've had him for about 2 years now. I've also noticed that he kind of freaks out every now and then. He'll be sitting there and all of a sudden he is swimming way fast or it looks like he is frantically looking for something. Very strange.

Gabe

 

[toggle]

im a complete noobie so im prob wrong but i think they go to the surface upside down to eat flakes


ok.............you can flame me for being such a nooby and my rather stupid suggestion

 

[SirMinion]

im a complete noobie so im prob wrong but i think they go to the surface upside down to eat flakes
ok.............you can flame me for being such a nooby and my rather stupid suggestion

Not all plecos will do it, but its certainly not unheard of for a pleco to surface feed in this way....see? I didn't flame you!

Another possiblity is oxygen. Plecs come from fast flowing, highly oxygenated waters and need more oxygen than other fish. The water near the surface of the tank is richer in oxygen than the rest of the tank. He may be strugging with his breathing and so is going to the surface.

Ensure the tank is well aerated and add another airstone if in doubt.

On our plec tank, we have two strong powerheads and a full length bubblewall, many of the plecs are often found head down facing into the bubbles enjoing a jaccuzi!

 

[Gabe]

Oh, ok. I have just recently found him doing this, would it have anything to do with him getting bigger?? I'm sure the bigger he gets the more oxygen he would need, yes? Or maybe not, I don't know. I just thought that it would be a behavior that he would have done for a while. I think I'll try adding the air stone again, I took it out for some reason months ago. Maybe he's been doing it for a while and I just never noticed.

Anyhow, sorry for the rambling, I need to go to bed. Thanks for the info though.

Gabe