Confused...

[david13latham]

Uh...Can a pleco not go with a clown loach?

[wataugachicken]

a pleco can certainly go with a clown loach, but not in your 20g tank. clown loaches grow slowly, but they grow large, up to a foot, and should be kept in groups of at least 5 in order to be happy and show natural behaviors. without more info about your pleco i don't know how big it'll grow, but if you picked it up somewhere for just a couple bucks it's probably one of the common species, reaching anywhere from 8-24" fully grown.

[david13latham]

They are both going into a 75 gallon in about a week. I believe my pleco has eaten a clown loach. I am a bit dumbfounded really.
I put the loaches in a few days ago because i went to a shop and they were in a tank with large chilids and it was only 10gallons! haha so i took them and they were about 1.5inches. One still remains in the tank but after searching and searching i found my pleco HUGE! looked like he grew a inch and about a inch wide also while i was at work.
Heard of this before. I will try to get a picture of him but he runs when i turn the lights on. so ill have to basically find him without lights and take a photo w/ flash i guess.

[Lupin]

They are both going into a 75 gallon in about a week. I believe my pleco has eaten a clown loach. I am a bit dumbfounded really.
I put the loaches in a few days ago because i went to a shop and they were in a tank with large chilids and it was only 10gallons! haha so i took them and they were about 1.5inches. One still remains in the tank but after searching and searching i found my pleco HUGE! looked like he grew a inch and about a inch wide also while i was at work.
Heard of this before. I will try to get a picture of him but he runs when i turn the lights on. so ill have to basically find him without lights and take a photo w/ flash i guess.
What?! I've never heard of plecos eating loaches before. Loaches have a means of defending themselves so to say a pleco ate the loaches is unbelievable to me. If not, even more impossible to believe. How large is the pleco now? I don't believe a pleco less than four inches is capable of this.

[david13latham]

Well! you tell me! haha
i came home to a missing loach!

[david13latham]

the pleco is only a few inches maybe 4.5 to 5 IF that

[Lupin]

Hmmm...I can guess the loach died and the pleco simply scavenge on the body. What L-number is the pleco? A lot of plecos have "leopard" in their names. What are your water parameters and what test kit did you use? How did you acclimate the loaches?

[david13latham]

I am pretty sure its just a common pleco.
The loach that is still there is in the other picture.

This is the pleco after wards all buldged up. The one with him upside down is before. like 2 or 3 days ago.
I am about to do a test kit ( API Master )

[david13latham]

Used a 10 gallon tank to quarantine for 2 days or so with 2 clown loaches.

[Lupin]

Your pleco is a Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps. Any clearer pic of the loach? Does it look skinny?

[david13latham]

These are the only two i got. Ill try to take more in a second.

[david13latham]

I don't believe it was aggression from the pleco. I think it was more like the fish died from previous bad health and then pleco ate it for a bite of protein. Only thing i can think of. I guess instead of 2 more clown fish ill have to get 3 now haha

[Lupin]

Used a 10 gallon tank to quarantine for 2 days or so with 2 clown loaches.
I just noticed this. Why did you quarantine the loaches for only two days?

[david13latham]

hm idk seemed long eough to me

[fishorama]

Loaches are good at hiding, he may be ok.

A quarrantine of only 2 days is not worth doing, it. 2 weeks is a bare minimum but really 4 weeks or more is needed to make sure new fish are healthy, eating & able to adapt to you tank conditions.

[david13latham]

Wow... i didn't know that you had to quarrantine for that long... good thing you told me i plan to get a good about of fish in the next couple of weeks.

[pinkertd]

David - a pleco is only going to suck on a dead fish. There's no way the pleco went after or killed the clown loach. As you said, it's quite possible the loach just died shortly after being put into the tank. It's also possible that that little loach is holed up somewhere where you can't see it. Seems like they find the smallest hole they can find and squeeze into it! They are definitely masters at hiding.