I have a tank full of cichlids all about 3" inches and one BIG pleco about 7" inches in size....the pleco will not harm or bother any of my fish will it???? :duh:
Another DUMB Question? Part II
- Thread starter theblueprint
- Start date
theblueprint said:
Not normally, but when I was a kid, we had a pleco that would suck the scales off of fish.
In my tanks, it's usually the pleco who gets picked at. Sometimes africans will leave pleocs alone, but not uncommonly they'll peck at it.
Jim
Jim
pleco's as they get old get a taste for fish scales and the slime coat on other fish. This is especially true of the "common" pleco's. Pleco's are not as bad at this as the chinese algae eaters, but it still can cause some problems with your fish. Just keep an eye on the pleco and you fish to see if the pleco is attaching itself to the other fish or if scales start to come up missing.
I do not agree with Bob's stocking in his tanks and much of his advice however I am going to side with him on the pleco thing. Common plecos and MOST large plecos you can buy after about 5-6" in size turn from being herbivores to full carnivores when given the chance. They can get extremely aggressive, and if they feel they can infact make a snack out of one of your other fish, they will. Back when I was keeping them I had two that there 16" and 13", both would pin feeders to the sides of the tank and eat them, as well as harass the oscars I had at the time.