Pleco that has gotten a taste for my Tiger Barbs.

[wakingupnow]

For quite some time now, I have been blaming bacterial issues as the culprit for my very seemingly healthy Tiger Barb's deaths. So, when I would see one that always had some sort of large red area on it's body (almost always on the sides, belly or gill area), I'd try and treat it as soon as possible.

However, night before last I found one of my younger Green TB's at the surface with a large red area (almost looks like a hickie) near it's gills on the underside. This time, since I knew for sure that this fish was in great health and the water parameters were good I wanted to try and let nature take it's course.

Yesterday, I found the fish was dead and it was stuck to my Pleco's mouth. I've never actually caught him in the act of damaging the TB's, but this made it seem a little more clear since I've gone through a couple dozen of them just to make a school of 6 in my 20 gallon.

Now, I'm afraid to put him in my 55 gallon which has 2 Canas snails and some pond fish (a couple pup fish, real parrot fish and mosquito fish). Possibly I should try it to see if any more deaths occur in the 20 gallon?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[blue2fyre]

What have you been feeding the pleco? Do you know what type of pleco it is?
It could be a coincidence. Any fish will eat on a fish that is already dead or dying.

 

[wakingupnow]

I'm 99.9 percent certain that it's a Sailfin Pleco and I feed it all sorts of things. It's staple every night is 2 algae wafers (the snails eat the leftovers) and I give it boiled cucumbers, spinach and then I have some brine shrimp/spirulina blocks that I mush into a hard ball so it will sink for him.

He gets fed pretty darn well I'd say.

And all the others that have died never had any problems until one day I'd come home and they are either in the corner by themselves or already dead with hardly any damage, but one red patch.

 

[blue2fyre]

well if it's a sailfin you pretty need to move him to a larger tank. Those guys get pretty big.

 

[wakingupnow]

Oh yea, I know. When I first purchased him I was clueless about fish, but since I've gotten very deep into the hobby I have been getting bigger tanks..lol. He is one of the main reasons why I got a 55. After he outgrows that, I'm taking him to a friend's pond because not many people have big tanks like that here.

I have the 55 that I set up in January which has cycled and is ready for him, but I'm afraid he's going to kill those guys in there too.

 

[Jannika]

Yeah, pleco's have this "Oh don't mind me, I'm just a peace lovin' algae sucker" act down pat. There's a whole other side to them that comes out when your back is turned. Gotta love 'em though.

 

[cellodaisy]

How large is your pleco now? Do you have a quarantine tank (or even a plastic storage bin) that you could put him in temporarily? I'd be inclined to isolate him and then keep an eye on your barbs. If they have no more sores or deaths, then it's a pretty good guess that it was the pleco. If they do, however, then you know you'll have another problem.

 

[jm1212]

It may well be the Pleco, but I would bet that he tiger barbs are pickig on one another and the weak ones are getting picked off by the pleco

 

[wakingupnow]

Update:

I moved the Pleco into the 55 gallon about 2 months ago and NONE of my Barbs in the 20 gallon are sick or have any indication of illness. I can only assume that it was the Pleco! I feed him sooo much goodies and he still wants to suck the slime coat off of the fishies!