Warning: Plecos and African Dwarf Frogs

[katfood]

Just a warning coming from my recent personal experience:

Do not be misled by petstore employees when they tell you plecos and african dwarf frogs (and other small aquatic animals, if i'm not mistaken) are compatible tankmates. I have recently witnessed a pleco nearly battering an african dwarf frog to death by attaching its mouth to the frogs body and moving swifty along the substrate in the bottom of the tank. The pleco was completely aggressive in posture and did this repeatedly until I was forced to seperate the species. I have also heard of several other accounts of this with dwarf frogs and other small fish and animals.

Once again, this is just a friendly warning to aquatic hobbyists everywhere. This was awful to witness and had I not been home, I'm sure the frog would have suffered injuries leading to death or drowning, etc.

 

[Leopardess]

Yes, thank you for posting a reminder. Frogs should not be kept with any territory-staking bottom feeders, especially medium to large plecos. Frogs should, ideally, be the largest bottom-feeding animal in the tank, IMO.

"I have also heard of several other accounts of this with dwarf frogs and other small fish and animals. "

Can you clarify that?Are you saying frogs shouldn't be kept with small fish? In my experience, frogs, at least the vast majority, are fine will small fish like neons and even pygmy cories. Of course, fry are another story....

Perhaps I'll add a special note to my ADF article in the articles section about plecos and frogs.

 

[RTR]

A hungry pleco will attack any fish with a cross-section large enough for it to grasp with its mouth. Thus the stories (true) of plecos attacking Angels and Discus and goldfish and any other high-bodied fish. A well fed pleco will not. Once it has found that slime is a food source, especially one which may be followed by even more protein (the dead fish), it hard to train them out of it.

 

[katfood]

Yes, I ment that I had heard of plecos attacking other small aquatic creatures.

My pleco was not hungry, had been feeding daily on sinking algae pellets. I don't know exactly why it was attacking the frog... it seemed to be a territory issue, however, even though the frog was peaceful and never bothered the pleco.

 

[magicmarymac]

The reason I came to this forum was because all but one of my frogs died after introducing one dwarf pleco. I also lost a couple of cory's and neons. (Now to get him out of there.) Do you think he would be safe with a Betta?

 

[pinkertd]

What kind of dwarf pleco do you have?

 

[msjinkzd]

I would recommend making your own thread so that it gets more attention

 

[melissadotson]

i have 2 plecos in my 55 gal. tank 1 small and one very large..the large one is the largest fish in the tank..i also have 2 african drawf frogs in there and the plecos don't bother them at all..and i have had all of them together for months now...sounds like you just have a mean pleco ..i think fish are like people. they have they're own personality's ...

 

[7itanium]

I have kept ADFs with plecs before with no issue.... LOL I have kept EVERYTHING with plecs with no issue tho.. I seem to have great luck

good to know tho-- I wont do it again

 

[froglover007]

I have also heard of this. Although not as bad as Chinese algea eaters, they are definitely not safe with animals that have high levels of mucous(i.e. African Dwarf Frogs, Discus, etc.)