Where has this baby pleco come from?

[Rach2022]

Hey All,

I was hoping you could help me understand what has happened.

Jan 2021, I brought a blue phantom pleco, it was about 2 inches at the time, fast forward to today and its now about 5/6 inches and doing well, The blue phantom was the only pleco in the tank, I have never bothered to work out if it male or female as the only one in the tank it didn’t matter. Yesterday I did a water change on the tank and accidently knocked over one of the root ornaments in the tank and out came a baby pleco about 1.5 inches in size, I can’t understand where this baby pleco has come from? I didn’t manage to get any photos and after doing the water change I haven’t seen it since, I believe its back hiding in the root.

In the tank is
1 Blue phantom pleco – Now also a baby pleco
4 loaches – 1 clown, 2 golden and 1 dwarf chain
6 blackline tail tetras

The last fish that was brought and added to the tank was the blue phantom pleco in Jan 2021

Thanks

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum

This is certainly a mystery! Plecos are egg spawners and need a male and female to reproduce so curious to see where this goes! A photo of the baby would be useful if you were ever able to coax them out somehow?

Have you added any plants or decor to the tank since the pleco you added? Some stores keep plecos and sometimes SAEs in their plant tank and I'm wondering if the little guy was attached to a leaf and came home that way?

I suppose its not impossible to imagine that when you got the Blue Phantom as it was caught a fertilised egg was brought with it to the bag and its survived that process to hatch in your tank and grow.

Wills

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

What is the tank size? Are you certain it was a young pleco?

I'm curious to know what "blackline tail" tetras look like...post some pics of the tank

 

[DoubleDutch]

Hi welcome to the forum

This is certainly a mystery! Plecos are egg spawners and need a male and female to reproduce so curious to see where this goes! A photo of the baby would be useful if you were ever able to coax them out somehow?

Have you added any plants or decor to the tank since the pleco you added? Some stores keep plecos and sometimes SAEs in their plant tank and I'm wondering if the little guy was attached to a leaf and came home that way?

I suppose its not impossible to imagine that when you got the Blue Phantom as it was caught a fertilised egg was brought with it to the bag and its survived that process to hatch in your tank and grow.

Wills

An Oto maybe ?

 

[Rocky998]

Hmmmm strange... Maybe a land phantom pleco came and decided to visit but then they got a bit to lovey dovey

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

4 loaches – 1 clown, 2 golden and 1 dwarf chain

This Noah's Ark approach to loaches pains me...
Please look up how loaches are meant to be kept in groups because of their social needs where a group has a strict hierarchy, meaning minimum of five individuals of the same species to allow them to thrive. Since you've mixed the odd individuals from different species, that have very different sizes as adults, you're inevitably going to have problems with aggression and bullying down the line if you aren't already. But since you've already had them for more than a year, I don't even know how you'd go about trying to fix this stocking problem... @Byron any ideas?

 

[DoubleDutch]

This Noah's Ark approach to loaches pains me...
Please look up how loaches are meant to be kept in groups because of their social needs where a group has a strict hierarchy, meaning minimum of five individuals of the same species to allow them to thrive. Since you've mixed the odd individuals from different species, that have very different sizes as adults, you're inevitably going to have problems with aggression and bullying down the line if you aren't already. But since you've already had them for more than a year, I don't even know how you'd go about trying to fix this stocking problem... @Byron any ideas?

I am not Byron but I definitely agree for the Dwarf Chainloach. I once adopted a single one in a tank that I bought. Feom the start it became clear that it needed company of its own species. It seemed to harass my C.habrosus but it clearly was in search to interact with its own.
I rehomed it to a big school with another keeper. I will NEVER forget the moment we put it in. A really moving moment to me.
Therefor Dwarf Chainloaches shouldn't be kept alone.... period.
For the other loaches I can't speak.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I am not Byron but I definitely agree for the Dwarf Chainloach. I once adopted a single one in a tank that I bought. Feom the start it became clear that it needed company of its own species. It seemed to harass my C.habrosus but it clearly was in search to interact with its own.
I rehomed it to a big school with another keeper. I will NEVER forget the moment we put it in. A really moving moment to me.
Therefor Dwarf Chainloaches shouldn't be kept alone.... period.

Agreed!

For the other loaches I can't speak.

Clown loaches really need the company of other clowns too, but also get far too massive for most hobbyists to house properly.

I don't know what species he means by "golden loach", there are a few it could mean according to google - hope it's not a Chinese algae eater...

 

[Byron]

First we need to identify the "golden loach" species to know what it is. My search of this common name retrieved three if not four different species.

As DoubleDutch said, dwarf chain loaches must, I repeat must, have a group of five or more. Same holds for the clown loach--but these get very large, 8 inches up to 12 inches, with some reported at 16 inches. A group of five minimum for their own health means a very large tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I am not Byron but I definitely agree for the Dwarf Chainloach. I once adopted a single one in a tank that I bought. Feom the start it became clear that it needed company of its own species. It seemed to harass my C.habrosus but it clearly was in search to interact with its own.
I rehomed it to a big school with another keeper. I will NEVER forget the moment we put it in. A really moving moment to me.

Can you describe what happened when you added it to the group of other dwarf chains, please? That would be the ideal outcome for most loaches that have been kept alone previously! But I'd also be afraid when adding a single individual to an already established group that have figured out their hierarchy - that they might team up to pick on the new guy outsider, you know? Very glad that didn't happen with yours though!

 

[DoubleDutch]

Can you describe what happened when you added it to the group of other dwarf chains, please? That would be the ideal outcome for most loaches that have been kept alone previously! But I'd also be afraid when adding a single individual to an already established group that have figured out their hierarchy - that they might team up to pick on the new guy outsider, you know? Very glad that didn't happen with yours though!

They immediately started interacting, touching, chasing, playing and communicating.
I have often adopted single Corys. Those show a behaviour likewise (shpuldn't be kept as single) but are quite more timid at that moment.

I was really amazed and moved by it.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

They immediately started interacting, touching, chasing, playing and communicating.
I have often adopted single Corys. Those show a behaviour likewise (shpuldn't be kept as single) but are quite more timid at that moment.

I was really amazed and moved by it.

I would have loved to have seen it! You should have filmed it
Agreed with cories, I wouldn't hesitate to introduce new ones into a group since they're so social - the three I adopted the other day are still in QT, but I can't wait to see how they react when they join my gang of 18!
But loaches are a bit more concerning because they can be more territorial/aggressive/form groups with a hierarchy, where one is dominant over the others, which have their own rankings in the group, so I'd be worried about introducing a new singleton to an established group in case they all targeted the singleton as an outsider to their group, you know? Or that it would have to squabble with all of them to find his place in the group. That's if it was joining a group of adults.

I'd be less worried about introducing a new group of youngsters to a tank with a single adult, since I think the adult wouldn't be able to target just one to dominate, and the new juveniles wouldn't have established a group together yet, to see the adult as an outsider.

But if you've done it and it worked out, I'd be much more confident in trying and recommending it! Would be so much better than condemning them to live alone until they pass, which must be so awful for such an active, social fish. Would probably need to keep an eye after introducing, just in case - might get varying results depending on the fish involved.

 

[GaryE]

The mysterious catfish. I reckon two Loracarids fell in love and got married. But they lost an egg in the roots of a plant, or maybe they lost a baby. It took cover, only came out at night and has now surprised you.
Usually, there's broodcare of the eggs, so a baby is a more likely scenario.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I’d love to see a pic if you can get one