Aggressive pleco

[gspille]

I know I've had common pleco's in the past that seemed a little territorial, and have read often they can get aggressive. But holy cow, this one I have now takes it. He's about 10 inches now, and I have him in one of our 125g's with 3 tinfoil barbs, 3 bala sharks, and a syno cat.

He really attacks everything but the catfish.

 

[yogurt_21]

when you say attack, what do you mean? if he's sucking onto the side of the fish he's likely hungry. at 10" there's not enough in the tank to feed him. drop in some cut zuchini with a fork stabbed through it to weight it down. he'll probabally go to town.

now I've also seen my 16" pleco get quite agressive when first attacked by my oscar. if there's another instigator it may be time to seperate the two.

 

[scatz]

have a little move around of the tank decor, try to give him a dark area/cave that he can take up as his own territory, they can become aggressive if they feel that the whole tank is their territory to defend.
if it is around feeding time that he gets most aggressive, try feeding when the lights are out too, they are more inclined to feed at night

 

[zerojquan85]

Your 125 should be big enough.. but u probably need to make hiding spaces...

I give my Plecos several driftwood as hiding space.... forming caves and stuff... u def should consider that or feeding him more...

 

[gspille]

I have two large driftwood, two rock caves, and an artificail hollow tree for hiding spots between him and the catfish. Plenty of hiding space. I feed zuchini or cucumber about once every 2 weeks, and feed spirulina sticks every other day. He eats the sinking pellets and sticks, too, when I feed them each day.

What I mean by attack is when they get close to where he's camped he'll give chase, and continue chasing around the tank several laps before stopping. I did notice on spot on the side of on TFB where he may have either scraped a decor or been bitten.

 

[Fish_With_No_Name]

I have two large driftwood, two rock caves, and an artificail hollow tree for hiding spots between him and the catfish. Plenty of hiding space. I feed zuchini or cucumber about once every 2 weeks, and feed spirulina sticks every other day. He eats the sinking pellets and sticks, too, when I feed them each day.

What I mean by attack is when they get close to where he's camped he'll give chase, and continue chasing around the tank several laps before stopping. I did notice on spot on the side of on TFB where he may have either scraped a decor or been bitten.

My pleco does that too, and he's half that size. He will slap my cichlid around if she gets too close to his wafers when I feed them. He's the biggest fish in the tank, so he's the boss.