I Think My Pleco Is....

[KevinM]

Hi, im Kevin, and i just registered today.

I have a 19 gallon tank, yesterday i found my beautiful siamese fighter dead when i came home from school, it was blue and red (very shiney) i noticed in the morning it looked a bit dull. But when i found it all its coulour was gone...it was all white. And today i found my Pleco attacking my marble angelfish!!!! (its now dead) could my Pleco be a murderer? its not even about 15cm yet! Also my 3 fremale fighters look sort of fat!

my fish...

* 3 clown loach
* 1 redtail shark
* 1 Sword tail
* 1 Medium angelfish
* 1 Pleco
* 1 Male dwarf gourami
* 2 Cory sterbai
* 3 Female fighters

 

[Barry P]

Kevin, im no expert but that looks like quite an aggressive community. My Crown Tail is in trouble at the moment and its because of the Loach`s nipping and biting him. I have been spoon feeding him seperately to build his strenght.

Sorry for your loss!!!

 

[KevinM]

Kevin, im no expert but that looks like quite an aggressive community. My Crown Tail is in trouble at the moment and its because of the Loach`s nipping and biting him. I have been spoon feeding him seperately to build his strenght.

Sorry for your loss!!!

Hi, i actually think the clown loach are a little far from aggressive....when its night id observe them for hours on end with a dim light....the clown loach seem to get along with all the fish.....but the siamese fighter was the most agressive....im baffled....but now it looks like the pleco is attacking.....im thinking of giving it away if i cant resolve this.....thanks for the comment

 

[dwarfgourami]

The first word that springs to my mind is not "aggressive community" so much as "overstocked". (Though there are certainly aggressive members in that community too).

This tank is too small for angelfish (30 gals minimum recommended size), plecos, redtail sharks and clown loaches. Your individual fish may be small now, but even small plecs produce a lot of waste. Also male and female fighters should not be kept together. Bettas should never be kept with potential fin nippers. Redtailed sharks can be territorial and aggressive, bettas are bred to be territorial and aggressive, and some plecs can also be territorial and aggressive. Stick those together in a small tank and you may well get trouble.

I could add that corys should be kept in schools of at least 4-5- but don't go addding more fish to this tank, you should be looking at rehoming fish or getting a bigger tank.

What are your readings of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? Another possibility is that your fish succumbed to poor water stats and were eaten by the others when dead or dying (even very peaceful fish will do that).

A better arrangement of this tank would be 4-5 sterbai corys, the 3 female fighters and either the swordtail or the dwarf gourami- though I would keep a very close eye out for signs of aggression between female fighters and gourami. The tank is not ideal for a swordtail as ideally they need more room to manouevre.

 

[KevinM]

The first word that springs to my mind is not "aggressive community" so much as "overstocked". (Though there are certainly aggressive members in that community too).

This tank is too small for angelfish (30 gals minimum recommended size), plecos, redtail sharks and clown loaches. Your individual fish may be small now, but even small plecs produce a lot of waste. Also male and female fighters should not be kept together. Bettas should never be kept with potential fin nippers. Redtailed sharks can be territorial and aggressive, bettas are bred to be territorial and aggressive, and some plecs can also be territorial and aggressive. Stick those together in a small tank and you may well get trouble.

I could add that corys should be kept in schools of at least 4-5- but don't go addding more fish to this tank, you should be looking at rehoming fish or getting a bigger tank.

What are your readings of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? Another possibility is that your fish succumbed to poor water stats and were eaten by the others when dead or dying (even very peaceful fish will do that).

A better arrangement of this tank would be 4-5 sterbai corys, the 3 female fighters and either the swordtail or the dwarf gourami- though I would keep a very close eye out for signs of aggression between female fighters and gourami. The tank is not ideal for a swordtail as ideally they need more room to manouevre.

Hmmmm...well im definatley going to get rid of the pleco....maybe the female fighters....i was going to get antoher angel....but i think ill leave just the remaining one.....

 

[@ombomb]

The first word that springs to my mind is not "aggressive community" so much as "overstocked". (Though there are certainly aggressive members in that community too).

This tank is too small for angelfish (30 gals minimum recommended size), plecos, redtail sharks and clown loaches. Your individual fish may be small now, but even small plecs produce a lot of waste. Also male and female fighters should not be kept together. Bettas should never be kept with potential fin nippers. Redtailed sharks can be territorial and aggressive, bettas are bred to be territorial and aggressive, and some plecs can also be territorial and aggressive. Stick those together in a small tank and you may well get trouble.

I could add that corys should be kept in schools of at least 4-5- but don't go addding more fish to this tank, you should be looking at rehoming fish or getting a bigger tank.

What are your readings of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? Another possibility is that your fish succumbed to poor water stats and were eaten by the others when dead or dying (even very peaceful fish will do that).

A better arrangement of this tank would be 4-5 sterbai corys, the 3 female fighters and either the swordtail or the dwarf gourami- though I would keep a very close eye out for signs of aggression between female fighters and gourami. The tank is not ideal for a swordtail as ideally they need more room to manouevre.

Hmmmm...well im definatley going to get rid of the pleco....maybe the female fighters....i was going to get antoher angel....but i think ill leave just the remaining one.....

The advice you have been given about the stocking level is sound.

You definitely need to rehome:

The Angel - Max size 8" - aggressive / territorial
The Red Tailed Black Shark - Max size 5" - potentially VERY aggressive and definitely VERY territorial
Clown Loaches - Max size 13"
The Plec (unless you are very lucky and have bought one of the very small types) - Max size upto 20"+

If you don't do this now, you will have more problems, stressed fish and potentially disease in the tank that could wipe them all out. As it is your filter will be unable to cope with the bioload as they grow and the water conditions will be appalling, assuming the RTBS doesn't pick them all off first as it is highly likely to in a tank that size.