My pleco Ate my loach?? :S

[Mr.Collings]

Hey everyone, kinda new here, just had a quick question..


I recently added a yoyo loach to my tank to help with a snail infestation.
The tank currently houses a 2 and a half inch common pleco, and 3 small calcio gold fish. The loach was doing great, eating snails, being very active, etc. On the third day of him being in the tank, i found him floating at the top.
He had a few spots of blood on his tail, and a Lot of blood under his mouth (like on his neck part? :S) it looked like he was attacked...

Now i'm guessing since goldfish aren't aggressive, that my pleco was the one that did it.... so my question is, are pleco's known to be aggressive with other bottom feeders like loaches? Like, is that normal? In all honesty i thought they would end up becoming like best friends or something lol...

 

[Terri1987]

i doubt your pleco killed him. he may munch on him if the loach is already dead. loaches should be kept in groups..probably water quality issue. id test it.

 

[kevinfleming21]

i doubt your pleco killed him. he may munch on him if the loach is already dead. loaches should be kept in groups..probably water quality issue. id test it.

 

[Mr.Collings]

I know it wasn't because of the water as i keep the trusty master water test kit close by all the time. I think I've actually grown a compulsive water testing disorder because I check it soo much lol... But tested it probably like 2 days before, if that, and there was no nitrate or ammonia problem :S

 

[sigaru]

hmm..you said no ammonia problem. i was going to ask what size the tank was, because goldfish are big water polluters. lots of ammonia. but you said that was fine. plecos do have a tendency to suck on other bottom dwellers, but usually slower ones. i dunno if your loach was anything like the kuhli loaches my dad has had [the yoyos look to be not quite as long], but my dad's were always very very quick. and usually, if anything, the pleco would suck spots of the slimecoat off, leaving it open to infection, which would usually show up as a fungal infection, white fuzz or something on those spots. i have known goldfish to be aggressive.... but not always, so maybe yours aren't? i'm not sure what happened if you say your water quality was good.. you mentioned nitrates and ammonia...have you tested nitrites? i dunno if it could have been that..

 

[Mr.Collings]

hmm..you said no ammonia problem. i was going to ask what size the tank was, because goldfish are big water polluters. lots of ammonia. but you said that was fine. plecos do have a tendency to suck on other bottom dwellers, but usually slower ones. i dunno if your loach was anything like the kuhli loaches my dad has had [the yoyos look to be not quite as long], but my dad's were always very very quick. and usually, if anything, the pleco would suck spots of the slimecoat off, leaving it open to infection, which would usually show up as a fungal infection, white fuzz or something on those spots. i have known goldfish to be aggressive.... but not always, so maybe yours aren't? i'm not sure what happened if you say your water quality was good.. you mentioned nitrates and ammonia...have you tested nitrites? i dunno if it could have been that..

I think it was just a normal yoyo loach. Also there was no white fuzz or anything so i don't think it was a fungal infection...and i guess it could have possibly been the goldfish that killed him, i didn't know they could ever even get aggressive lol....so yah i guess it could have been them as well.... and yah i checked the water quality and it was good, however i only checked for ammonia and nitrates, i never ended up checking the nitrites... to be honest i never usually do, as i figured if the nitrites where high, than something else probably would had been as well....I could be wrong though as I'm still kinda a newbie to this hobby lol.... but yah, i should have tested the nitrites i guess a little too late now, but i will start checking them when i test the water now as well

 

[Experiment397]

hey it might have been the pleco. i had a chocolate albino, just a brownish albino sailfin, that killed multiple fish and would ambush feeders and suck their slime coat off. and from the wounds he is decribing it sounds like the pleco got him, wheter he was allready dead is the only real q...

 

[Chromobotia]

If the Pleco was the culprit, I would think that you would have a dead goldfish instead of a dead loach since it would be easier for the Pleco to grab the goldfish (slower moving).

If it is possible that the Pleco was the culprit, are you feeding him? A lot of people think that all Plecos need to survive is what grows on the tank glass.

 

[zadsham]

How is the decorations in your tank. I have had Loaches get stuck in tight places and then injuring themselves trying to get loose. It happened to a golden Loach that I had and he got stuck in a holey rock.

 

[sterlingtjones]

My Bushy Nose would always chase my Kuhli Loach when he saw him; it looked like he was trying to eat him.