Help! Aggressive Plec Killing My Fish!

[love4aquatic]

I have had this pleco for a long time, i dont know how many years, and it has never been aggressive, but now it is swimming over other fish and beating them against the gravel/wall whatever is near!

what is wrong with him? he is usualy shy.

is this like what elephants do? is he going through must? i am not even shure if it is a he!
help! he already killed 1 of my jewel cichlids!

 

[Athena]

Hello again - you forgot to mention how large the plec was (on your other thread).

It sounds like a territorial issue going on. Sometimes, as certain fish grow, they become more concerned about guarding their own territory, even in larger tanks. Could just be that he's decided he's had enough of sharing his space with certain other fish and is fighting them off. It's quite natural.

It's also not uncommon for some larger plecs to go on the rampage and actually kill/eat smaller tankmates.

If the situation is still the same and yours is causing havoc, you may have to consider the prospect of either rehoming him or some of the other fish - just for the sake of keeping the peace (and safety!) in the tank.

There isn't much else you can do really - it's not that he's got something you can "cure" LOL - it's just normal fish behaviour for that species.

Oh, one last thing I can think of is that you might want to double-check your water parameters to ensure they are all at a safe level. Sometimes, bad water quality can make fish become more aggressive than normal. So you should at least rule out this possibility before rehoming anything.

Regards - Athena

 

[DaveyH]

I had a bristle nosed plec that all of a sudden turned on the Corys for no reason that I could see. He would smack them with his tail and actually manged to kill two of them. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

 

[love4aquatic]

Hello again - you forgot to mention how large the plec was (on your other thread).

It sounds like a territorial issue going on. Sometimes, as certain fish grow, they become more concerned about guarding their own territory, even in larger tanks. Could just be that he's decided he's had enough of sharing his space with certain other fish and is fighting them off. It's quite natural.

It's also not uncommon for some larger plecs to go on the rampage and actually kill/eat smaller tankmates.

If the situation is still the same and yours is causing havoc, you may have to consider the prospect of either rehoming him or some of the other fish - just for the sake of keeping the peace (and safety!) in the tank.

There isn't much else you can do really - it's not that he's got something you can "cure" LOL - it's just normal fish behaviour for that species.

Oh, one last thing I can think of is that you might want to double-check your water parameters to ensure they are all at a safe level. Sometimes, bad water quality can make fish become more aggressive than normal. So you should at least rule out this possibility before rehoming anything.

Regards - Athena

sorry about that. i was in a hurry.

he is, i think adault? about 1ft but i thought they get bigger, i have had him through every thing! i can not even think about rehoming him! if i have to i will buy him/her his own tank! i have had it since the beginning almost, throught the ph problems and even the times every fish died but him! he has become my favorite!

the parameters i checked again they are the same!

amonia-0 nitrate-0 nitrite-0 ph-7.8

any tips to lower aggression he used to be peacefull!

 

[xingumike]

try rearranging the tank decor

 

[matchstickman47]

haha i look like a fool now lol

hehehe

lol
i meant to say i wouldnt ... thought that was obvious

you do make a point of losing an argument though dont you

actualy its kinda funny lol


hahaha

 

[love4aquatic]

i rearranged it.

he killed my other jewel and both moori cichlids, it is like he has an order planned out?

 

[Mystil]

Sorry. I could not see if you had added how big the tank is and also what your stocking levels were...

 

[Athena]

Sorry, when I said about rehoming the plec I didn't actually mean you would necessarily have to get rid of him (I know, these fish become part of the family!) - rehoming can simply mean getting another tank and rehoming him into it.

So rearranging the tank decor, as someone suggested, did not solve the issue?

Is he being fed enough?

So sorry to hear he's killed another of your fish. I think another tank may be on the cards...he's obviously going through a personality change, for whatever reason and is just not happy sharing his space any more. As you can see from reading other comments on your threads, it's not an uncommon thing for a plec to become aggressive like this.

What size is your tank and what are all the other fish you have in with him?

Athena

 

[love4aquatic]

Sorry, when I said about rehoming the plec I didn't actually mean you would necessarily have to get rid of him (I know, these fish become part of the family!) - rehoming can simply mean getting another tank and rehoming him into it.

So rearranging the tank decor, as someone suggested, did not solve the issue?

Is he being fed enough?

So sorry to hear he's killed another of your fish. I think another tank may be on the cards...he's obviously going through a personality change, for whatever reason and is just not happy sharing his space any more. As you can see from reading other comments on your threads, it's not an uncommon thing for a plec to become aggressive like this.

What size is your tank and what are all the other fish you have in with him?

Athena

i have two jewels-killed

1 red finned shark

2 clown loaches

1 red serpae

2 moorii cichlids-killed

and an unknown tiny catfish, mabey corydoras.- killed

in a 90 gallon tank.

i feed him cucumber, lettuce, sweet potatoes, celery, algae wafers, i spoil him!

but i noticed i added cucumber and it didnt sink later i came back and little red bugs were all over it, could this be causing problems?

i will move him into a 55 gallon alone will that be okay? i will eventualy get a bigger one but the 55 is what i have empty now.