After 2 years, Bristlenose Plecos reach their full size and will stop growing. If your fish is continuing to grow, it must be younger than this. If you have anymore questions, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.
Pleco Feed or Attack Other Fish. Pleco catfish aren't aggressive fish but if there is a dead fish they may feed on it. They do appreciate a good source of protein. Usually a fish dies and sinks to the bottom and then the pleco eats the entire fish.
Fish sometimes jump because water quality is bad. I highly recommend testing your water. They may also jump because of bullying by other creatures. They may jump because there's an electrical short somewhere and they're getting mild zaps.
"No" to Multiple Plecos TogetherThey often do wonderfully alongside other types of community freshwater fish. When plecos reach maturity, they simply cannot get along with fellow plecos. They can be highly territorial around each other. Therefore, it can be extremely dangerous ever to house them together.
Observe your pleco after feeding.After you provide food for your pleco, watch and see if your pleco gobbles it down. If your pleco immediately begins to munch on the food, they may be overly hungry and need to be fed more often. If your pleco ignores the food, they may need to be fed less often.
You could go with 2 females and they should get along. I don't recommend you put 2 males in there though. They can get territorial. I usually don't recommend them for algae control though.
Make sure the pleco you get is suitable for that size tank. Commons get way too big. Bristlenose, rubbernose, and clown plecos would work but they should have driftwood. And no, they shouldn't eat living guppies. if they die the pleco may suck on them.
A pleco would be perfectly fine with guppies. Any kind of pleco is safe with fish. If you had aggressive fish you'd have to worry about the pleco being attacked not the fish.
There are lots of reasons why this happened. Primarily though, I'd say your pleco died of a combination of being too cold and being in an un cycled aquarium. Look up the nitrogen cycle and fishless and fish-in cycling on this website. Also, never, ever take the fish out of the tank for any reason.
yes, pleco have teeth like formations for rasping algae and wood.
When you say "Algae eater" do you mean a Chinese or Siamese Algae eater? If so, this really isn't uncommon that they kill other fish. People often buy these thinking "they are small and cute" but they grow and can be quite aggressive.
For a pleco you would go thru the top of the head behind the eyes and stick a knife in there. Make sure it's sharp. My personal choice is whack em on the head and then stick a knife in the brain. The fish will be unconscious or dead from the blow to the head and the knife in the brain makes sure.
Plecos will suck on anything slow moving and laying around, because it looks to them like food. I would QT if at all possible and treat. The goldfish laying on the tank bottom is probably just going to make things worse. Also, sounds like the pleco is hungry.
Fish FanaticYou are darned right they will eat fry. A pleco is not automatically a pure vegetarian and it will eat fry opportunistically.
The common pleco is the most available one in pet stores. Other popular ones include sailfin pleco, Bristlenose pleco, and suckermouth pleco.
Some plecos ARE carnivourous and will hunt shrimp. Vampire plecos for one are hunters, and thier primary fodder is snails and shrimp If your pleco is eating your snails and has white dots, there's a good chance he's the one.
They do best in a small group, and they're active during the day. They're the perfect algae eater for a small tank.
They are also called plecos. They are one of the most common species of fish bought to keep an aquarium clean since they will eat the waste of other fish. Plecos are hardy fish that can live for 10 to 15 years. They are easy to take care of if you follow a few simple steps.
The body shape of a pleco can help a fishkeeper determine the fish's sex. This works best from a top view. Females generally have a more rounded body, while males are generally skinnier. When viewed from the side, females have a more rounded abdomen, which is longer in relation to the rest of the body.
While Plecos do eat detritus and algae, it will still need its diet supplemented. Feed your Pleco every day or every other day with Pleco-specific food. One to two times per week, feed your Pleco pieces of cucumber, zucchini, or lettuce (not iceberg).
To feed a plecostomus, use normal commercially available fish food. A plecostomus will eat flakes that have fallen to the floor of the tank. The pellets can be the generic type but also come designed for bottom-feeding catfish, which is a more desirable food choice for plecostomus.
Can be kept with community fish; keep only one Pleco per tank.
I have had BN plecos twice in the past and have very hard well water here, pH 8.4. If you want a BN pleco, I would not let the pH worry you all that much. Acclimate them properly and they will be fine.
Yes! All tropical fish require a heater. Plecos are not cold-water fish. Even if they were, it would be a good idea to include a heater in the tank to make sure the water temperature never drops too far.
A snail would be fine with goldfish, as long as it is bigger than your goldfishes mouth. No snail eggs with probably survive in your tank, but the snails might.
Bristlenose plecos can also benefit from supplemental feedings of vegetables. Grocery store veggies like spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, peas, carrots and green beans are suitable pleco foods. Some of them, like zucchini and carrots, work better when blanched first.
Suitable goldfish tank mates for smaller aquariums may include white cloud mountain minnows, danios, and gold medaka (check these are larger than the goldfish's mouth). For variety in larger aquariums suitable tank mates for goldfish may include Murray river rainbow fish.
A 10-gallon aquarium will be a fine starter size tank for two to four small goldfish, but the goldfish will not reach their proper adult size unless they are placed in a larger aquarium. The rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water per inch of fish.
Introducing your pleco to the tank too quickly can shock and kill them. Make sure your pleco isn't feeding off of your goldfish.
Follow these steps to get rid of algae in the aquarium:
- Clean the gravel with a siphon in order to remove waste and debris.
- Clean the aquarium filters.
- Increase water flow with a higher rated filter or supplemental power heads.
- Reduce feeding of fish to as little as once every other day.
