I think my pleco is dying (or dead by now)

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DarkSoul

Mad Scientist
Mar 12, 2007
1,227
2
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London, Ontario
so the day before yesterday he was doing fine seemingly, sticking to the glass, eating algae etc.

The tank had been slightly neglected over the last two weeks as ive been dealing with some very big bad stuff in my life, but i had kept up doing water changes once a week.

Sunday i did a 50% change and gave the tank a good cleaning, it had some almost crusty algae on the glass or something so i wiped that all down.

I didnt see the pleco much during the WC, but when I did he seemed ok.

Lastnight, I notice him lying on his side on the bottom of the tank, not really doing anything.
I gave him a little nudge with my algae cleaner, and he righted himself, but didnt move much at all. So thinking he was hungry I dropped in a sinking wafer and moved it beside him.

he sort of moved on top of it, but that was it.
Then i noticed my betta go and attack him, to which i nudged the betta with the cleaning rod.

then the betta got curious as to what "god" was doing and swam up to examine the rod, still in the water.

Is it possible that at some point between monday and tuesday my betta beat my pleco to death?

the betta tends to leave the cories alone but he will often go and hit the pleco or scare him away. he is a complete bully towards the pleco, but basically ignores the cory cats.

I put the betta in his cup lastnight for the night to see if the pleco survives, and if he does i dont know what to do.
 

shaggbark

The rare and Elusive....Ninja Cod
Feb 12, 2007
651
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Hopewell Jct. NY
Sorry to hear about this DS. A couple of years ago I had a betta in a community tank for a total of 4 days. I pulled him out when I saw my small pleco being attacked by him. The pleco died a few days later with a wound on his head. How's your pleco looking now?
 

DarkSoul

Mad Scientist
Mar 12, 2007
1,227
2
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41
London, Ontario
my pleco is now looking dead. he was dead this morning, and im pretty sure it was the bettas fault.

Im considering now getting rid of the betta to someone who can care for it properly, or giving it his own 2.5gallon tank with some plants and stuff, and then getting another betta for the 35 gallon.

I think part of the problem was the betta was alone for a good month or more in the tank, so it was pretty much all his until i added other fish.
 

olivesaxer

AC Members
Sep 20, 2007
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that also seems really odd... i was under the impression that the only part of a pleco that was "soft" was his underside and his eyes.

terrible situation, though
 

DarkSoul

Mad Scientist
Mar 12, 2007
1,227
2
38
41
London, Ontario
I can only assume that the betta beat the crap out of him. My water params are fine (0,0,5) and all of the other fish are doing well, including the cories..... what else could have caused him to simply flip over and die, if not being beaten to death, or being stressed from being picked on all the time?
 

Eupterus

The one who takes a different path.
Jul 22, 2007
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31 Spooner St. Quahog, RI.
I really have to question this as I've never heard of a betta attacking, stressing or killing a pleco. And the usual signs that a pleco is being attacked severally is eye damage because of their armored bodies.. I've seen the gory pictures of plecos with their eyes bitten out.
 

DarkSoul

Mad Scientist
Mar 12, 2007
1,227
2
38
41
London, Ontario
my plecos fins were in terrible shape.

for a while after i did the massive cleaning and rescaping of the tank, the pleco was fine, his fins gre back and all was well.
then about a week or so after, the betta started beating on him again. the pleco was small, only about 3" if that.

His colour faded alot during his last day, he still had his black spots, but his much darker black body was faded to almost white.

I have no idea what happened to him, could he have starved? was it too late for him by the time i tried to feed him a wafer?
 

shaggbark

The rare and Elusive....Ninja Cod
Feb 12, 2007
651
0
0
50
Hopewell Jct. NY
I saw my betta picking on my pleco with my own eyes. He continued to flare and peck at him every few minutes. I put the betta into another tank but the pleco had a visual wound and died soon after.
 
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