Common pleco eat guppies???

[Wat2Go]

When we came back from a Spring Break trip 2 guppies were missing, so we assumed they had died and the person taking care of our tanks had "buried" them. But no.
Would a common pleco actually eat dead guppies?
They are really absolutely gone, and I don't think the neons ate them, or the remaining guppies...

[Pallen81]

yeah i think they would

[Dangerdoll]

any fish would eat their dead buddies

[Wat2Go]

Hmm. Well.. eeew.
They did a quick job though. All fish were alive on Friday evening and when I came home on Saturday two guppies were gone...


L.

[musho3210]

must have been tasty then

[Mgamer20o0]

you should see how fast snails deal with dead fish......

[Marinemom]

Any fish especially plecos will eat the dead fish. It is natures way of cleaning things up. I would watch the common pleco though. They have been known to go after certain fish even if they are still alive.

Just a thought.

Marinemom

[Addict]

The pleco probably ate them. Alive or dead. They will eat what they can fit in their mouths. Don't be fooled into thinking they are herbivores. They are omnivores.

I lost a Singapore shrimp and many ghost shrimp like this. I thought the Singapore shrimp was big/fast enough to not have to worry about.

[Wat2Go]

Funny you all say that. I already had the feeling this pleco was having great fun with the guppies at night. During the day it peacefully hangs near the heater, it is very active at night, and our guppies all look completely exhausted after only having them a week. Full color, nothing else wrong with them, they just seem very tired (hanging in the corner...)...
So, I already called the shop, they'll have him/her back, so bye bye pleco!

L.

[Addict]

So, I already called the shop, they'll have him/her back, so bye bye pleco!

L.
Eh. I'd take a pleco over guppies any day! But that's just me. ;)

[darcyengland]

I've actually had one of my pleco's go after a fish that was close to death...it was still alive...as soon as one pleco did it, the other two started as well...poor little guppy

[ljd290]

do you actually feed your plecs?
i use a plec site and its very rare for common plecs to go after live fish unless they are starving.

[Ketso]

So, I already called the shop, they'll have him/her back, so bye bye pleco!L.Good deal. If it is indeed a "common", it would have most likely outgrown any of the tanks in your sig soon enough anyway.

[Kyohti]

Some plecs are omnivorous and, when large enough, will go after weak and sick fish and even bully other fish at night (ones that rest near the bottom to sleep most often). But some are mostly herbivorous, too. It really depends on the species. Commons get too big and become too ornery to be with fancy fan-tail guppies by any stretch of the imagination, though.

[Wat2Go]

Yes, I would take a pleco over guppies too, but it is outgrowing the tank and now that it started eating fish, I am afraid it won't stop.
We did feed the pleco but it didn't eat much (and I guess now that it has found something yummy to eat, it would just wait till we add some more guppies!).
We exchanged it for two cories.

[musho3210]

what did you feed the pleco?

[Wat2Go]

Algea wafers (at night, when he/she was active), or seedless cucumber in a food clip. Hardly touched either of it.
Jeez, I hope we didn't starve it...it didn't look starved AT ALL and grew quite well (I am guessing a bit over an inch in 2 months..).
L.

[musho3210]

if it was a common pleco it should be fine, if it was more of a carnivorous pleco it wouldnt be too good. I think the guppy was already weak or dead and the plec just took advantage of it.