Peaceful Tank Turned War Zone.

[ClaireN]

I’ve just come home to find two Platy’s in my boyfriends tank missing an eye, and I haven’t got a clue what has happened. We have got both out and into the hospital tank which was already set up, but it looks like the stress was too much for the bigger one and she has now gone, the little one is swimming around ok. This is on top of what happened the other day when I found one of the male Platy’s looking very worse for wear with half his tail missing, and I just thought he had been fighting now I’m not so sure.

It is a community 220 litre tank with the following fish:
1 x Common Sucker Loach
1 x Common Plec
1 x Red Tail Black Shark
1 x Pakistani Loach (Stripy).
5 x Adult Platy 3 babies
18 x Neon & Cardinal Tetra’s (not sure what ratio’s they don’t stay still long enough)
6 x Blue Tetra’s
3 x Cory’s

We have been told that at least 4 of the fish in the tank are aggressive, the Sucking loach, Red Tailed Black Shark RTBS, the Pakistani loach and the Plec, is this true? All of these fish have been in the tank from the start which is about 3 years.

I have recently come into this hobby and in the research I have done I have found out that the RTBS and the Sucking loach can be aggressive once they mature, but I haven’t heard such things about the Pakistani loach or Plec..

Who would you guess from the list above was responsible for the damage described? We are not sure who it is at the moment but are willing to re-home the suspects if we can find a good homes for them.

Do you have any other suggestions of what we can do?

Thanks in advance.

Claire

 

[black angel]

I would point the finger at two of those fish. The algae eater and the RTBS.

 

[Durbkat]

I always found that common plecos are very peacefull when given enough space to swim and get food with out other fish trying to eat it.

 

[ClaireN]

I agree with both of you, it is what my research more or less said but i just wanted conformation from others before we decide what to do.

 

[Barracuda518]

I had a RTBS that chased a couple of platies I had. I ended up moving the RTBS because it got very territorial.

 

[Sean_Buckley]

I would bet its the "common sucker loach", sometimes called a "chinese algae eater". When they get bigger, they become slime suckers and scale eaters.
Sean

 

[black_bull]

Either the CAE or the RTBS.

 

[Erised]

It's most likely what you call the 'common sucker loach' AKA chinese algae eater. While the other fish can be 'aggressive' none seem to be known for sucking out eyes of fish. Chinese algae eaters are, unfortunatly, known for this rather than just attacking a fish.

It's probably best of if you re-home him to a different tank or see if your local fish store will take him of your hands.