crazy Pleco

[Skittyfish]

I have a small3-4" common pleco in my 10g with 3 baby mollies,6 head and tail light tetras and 1 otto. My pleco has been jumping up into my whisper h.o.t. filter...there is plenty of algae in the tank for him, and the filter lip looks clean.
Any ideas on why it's doing this? I am afraid it's going to get stuck, I don't have any way of blocking the filter off so that he can't get in...:confused: .

[PeteSC]

Just guessing......does it have a place to 'hide' when the tank light is on?
Mine used to wedge itself behind the filter intakes......heater, etc. I put piece of PVC pipe in, and it took up residence there.
(At least when the light is on) I still find heaters dislodged, and the spraybar sometimes, but I think this is happening at night, and odn't know whether to blame the oscar, or the pleco.
Also....aren't plecos from fast moving water? Maybe it just likes the current?

[clayt101]

I've had several plecos do that. I'm not sure why. Just make sure thaat it can't jump out:D

[barndog]

You may need to add oxygen to your tank. Make sure the filter is moving the surface of the water. The less the surface moves, the less oxygen the fish have. Clean the filter if it seems clogged, or add an airstone for better circulation. Also, the warmer the water is, the less oxygen there is. Keep the temp at around 78 degrees, and make sure your heater keeps the temp stable in the tank.
HTH

[JackDonkey]

He/she probably just likes the current. I had a fish tank in my bedroom a long while ago with an emporer filter and about 1/2 hour after the lights were off you could hear those guys munching on the plastic parts of the emporer in the outflow. It was like scrap scrap scrap...... scrap.. scrap scrap scrap... It was actually pretty funny.

[Stephen]

Although I've never kept them, a quick little info search on them suggested they enjoy fast of strong current and water flow. I'm guessing they come from fast moving streams or rivers where they live in the currents. Maybe that's the reason it's surfing the filter output.

[Skittyfish]

I guess so...Temp is 78 degrees and the flow from the fliter is fast enough that it hits the front glass and bumps up a bit. It has plenty of places to hide, so I don't think thats it, and it does this during the day, looks odd only seeing the tail sticking out.

Thanks for your ideas, I'll keep an eye on it.

[NJ Devils Fan]

He will get to be around a foot long and out grow the tank. Happened to a friend of mine. His pleco was like a little over an inch when he got it and in like 10 months, it was over 6 inches and had like no room to move around. I would suggest trading him into you LFS for a few cories or a smaller type of pleco.