Is that a Pleco??

cjsarora

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Dec 1, 2005
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Kindly ID this fish.. Is that a Pleco..??

I was given this as an algae eater.. Would this do the job and stay with my redcap/angelfish/moor

A couple of my fish died today and I caught this one holding them in its mouth by their fins.. Is it a carnivore???

KINDLY LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY so that I can remove it from the tank if so??

fish1.JPG
 
cjsarora said:
Kindly ID this fish.. Is that a Pleco..??

I was given this as an algae eater.. Would this do the job and stay with my redcap/angelfish/moor

A couple of my fish died today and I caught this one holding them in its mouth by their fins.. Is it a carnivore???

KINDLY LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY so that I can remove it from the tank if so??
Yes, that's a pleco, a common pleco. They can grow 14+ inches. I would return it to the LFS and not keep it. It's WAY too big for your tank.

It's a sucker fish. They eat algae for the most part. They will eat dead fish at times, usually if there is nothing else for it to eat. It's probably very hungry because new tanks don't have algae.

If you can't remove him right away, give him something to eat. Algae wafers are good, blanched piece of zucchini or broccoli.

Definitely take him back when you get the chance. He's a good guy, but produces a lot of feces and is way too big for that tank.

Roan
 
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Yep, I can tell you that indeed, it is a pleco....but I don't know much about them other than what they look like,that they get very large and it aren't a fish that I would like to have (except of course for some ZEBRA plecos !! would LOVE to have some of THOSE !!!).......I've never owned one.
 
Yes, it's a pleco (aka common pleco). Same one I have for over 2 years and its ~8" now. It's not really a carnivore but when it gets hungry it eats smaller fish. Happened to me before... woke up one day and a couple of my glow-lite tetras disappeared.
 
Thanks for your quick tips.. I am in India currently and it is near midnight here. Should I let the Pleco stay in or shift it to some other bucket or something till I take it back in the morning..

I lost a goldfish and a moor today and caught the pleco with both of them in its mouth.. I am a bit worried that it might attack the other fish in the night..

I am sorry I dont have any other food right now except for the one given by the store guy and that too is of the floating balls type. Should I put that in???
 
I don't see a problem with putting it in a large water container until morning, but take it back as soon as possible! :D
 
Ok, first thing first. You shouldn't mix pleco into your goldfish tank. Goldfish in general prefer cool water and plecos are tropical (although keeping temp around 70 is fine for both). But if you really need algae eater in small tank, try Otocinclus or Siamese Algae Eater (SAE) they don't get very large. ** Oto or SAE look similar to another bottom fish Chinese Algae Eater, the later don't really eat algae and are quite aggressive, so beware.
 
common pleco? The picture is fuzzy, but it looks pretty similar to my leopard sailfin pleco. If the dorsal is huge, it's probably a sailfin pleco.
 
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