Pleco eat fish?

E

emmaS

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Nov 6, 2006
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I am so sad. Last week I had bought 3 neon tetras, smaller so not full grown like the 1 that was already in the tank. This morning I woke up and looked and they are gone--all three new ones. And the one old neon looks pale, his colors faded.

Did my pleco eat the fish? If so, why?
 
One of the guys at one of the fish stores I use told me he has seen his Pleco eat small fish. I have not, but have lost 5 of 6 neons in my tank with no trace of them found. I have another tank nearly ready for the last neon and a couple of head and tail lights, then the rest of the fish in my 55 gal. are to large to be eaten. My Pleco is a Common Pleco and is nearly ten inches long. He has a big mouth and easily could eat a neon.
 
usually what happens is new fish will enter the tank and for one reason or antoher they will die (stress, or some other factor) The body will then fall to teh bottom of the tank were a Pleco will have a good dinner.

This is not iregular. Plecos WILL eat fish.

Antoehr example. Large Angel fish or Discus a pleco may jump on to the side of these broad fish because of there surface area. They do it to get the alge and other things off them. The problem is in the mean time they remove skin tissue, scales and everything else.

Hope this helps :)
 
Thanks for the info on the pleco's diet. I will definitely try to supplement his/her w/ some veggies and more pellets.

Good news is the fish are alive! When I fed my tank this morning none of them were in sight--I looked and looked and could not find them. I fed them again an hour later hoping they might come out but nadda. Then this afternoon I noticed one of them was swimming w/ the older neon. Later, another. Eventually all three showed up! Of course, I don't know why they weren't interested in eating or where they could've been hiding.
 
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