Aggressive Plecostomus

[neesha]

hi, im quite new to keeping tropical fish, although saying this i watch them all the time and have got to know their antics, but over the last few days my pleco has become aggressive towards the other fish, even chasing them nearly to the top of the tank. Has anybody heard of this before and if so could you please advise me. Thanks Shay

 

[Mikey1]

some pleco species are more aggressive than others, what type do you have? there are hundreds of them.....its not too common for a basic common pleco to be aggressive.....
 
i have had an aggressive pleco that i was forced to sell.....too bad cause he was a beautiful gold spot pleco.....he was attacking my tinfoil barbs to the point where he was ripping off their scales, and the tinfoil barbs were more than DOUBLE his size!!
 
some plecos get aggressive when they get to breeding size, but the aggression is rarely seen before then.....when they mature to breeding size they kind of have a change in personality.....not really anything you can do about it unfortunately
 
i have even seen plecos literally latch onto the sides of other fish and suck the slime off them....
 
so to answer your question....it is not uncommon for a pleco to be aggressive

 

[Paradise3]

some pleco species are more aggressive than others, what type do you have? there are hundreds of them.....its not too common for a basic common pleco to be aggressive.....
 
i have had an aggressive pleco that i was forced to sell.....too bad cause he was a beautiful gold spot pleco.....he was attacking my tinfoil barbs to the point where he was ripping off their scales, and the tinfoil barbs were more than DOUBLE his size!!
 
some plecos get aggressive when they get to breeding size, but the aggression is rarely seen before then.....when they mature to breeding size they kind of have a change in personality.....not really anything you can do about it unfortunately
 
i have even seen plecos literally latch onto the sides of other fish and suck the slime off them....
 
so to answer your question....it is not uncommon for a pleco to be aggressive

 
You sure it was a Gold Spot? Gold Spot only get to 2" long max.
 
I do agree with everything else you said though about asking what pleco  

 

[Mikey1]

some pleco species are more aggressive than others, what type do you have? there are hundreds of them.....its not too common for a basic common pleco to be aggressive.....
 
i have had an aggressive pleco that i was forced to sell.....too bad cause he was a beautiful gold spot pleco.....he was attacking my tinfoil barbs to the point where he was ripping off their scales, and the tinfoil barbs were more than DOUBLE his size!!
 
some plecos get aggressive when they get to breeding size, but the aggression is rarely seen before then.....when they mature to breeding size they kind of have a change in personality.....not really anything you can do about it unfortunately
 
i have even seen plecos literally latch onto the sides of other fish and suck the slime off them....
 
so to answer your question....it is not uncommon for a pleco to be aggressive

 
You sure it was a Gold Spot? Gold Spot only get to 2" long max.
 
I do agree with everything else you said though about asking what pleco

 
 
"gold spot" is really a generic term.....many different pleco species are commonly referred to as "gold spot"
 
it was a "Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus" to be more specific

 

[Paradise3]

 

some pleco species are more aggressive than others, what type do you have? there are hundreds of them.....its not too common for a basic common pleco to be aggressive.....
 
i have had an aggressive pleco that i was forced to sell.....too bad cause he was a beautiful gold spot pleco.....he was attacking my tinfoil barbs to the point where he was ripping off their scales, and the tinfoil barbs were more than DOUBLE his size!!
 
some plecos get aggressive when they get to breeding size, but the aggression is rarely seen before then.....when they mature to breeding size they kind of have a change in personality.....not really anything you can do about it unfortunately
 
i have even seen plecos literally latch onto the sides of other fish and suck the slime off them....
 
so to answer your question....it is not uncommon for a pleco to be aggressive

 
You sure it was a Gold Spot? Gold Spot only get to 2" long max.
 
I do agree with everything else you said though about asking what pleco

 
 
"gold spot" is really a generic term.....many different pleco species are commonly referred to as "gold spot"
 
it was a "Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus" to be more specific

 
Ah OK I like to use Latin names or the correct Common name so the correct species to go with "Gold Spot" really is Parotocinclus spilosoma  Thanks for clearing that up lol.

 

[neesha]

Hi, thanks mikey 1 for your reply, i was told today to try him with some cucumber so i done this and he did calm down, so i will try doing this and if it doesnt work the shop said they will take it back. Thanks Shay

 

[Mikey1]

Hi, thanks mikey 1 for your reply, i was told today to try him with some cucumber so i done this and he did calm down, so i will try doing this and if it doesnt work the shop said they will take it back. Thanks Shay

 
 
zucchini or lettuce are alot better than cucumber....also try sinking algae wafers