Oscar vs. Pleco

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Serpentine

Serpentine

Piranha
MFK Member
May 17, 2018
373
460
77
Pleco: 1
Oscar: 0

I think that our resident sailfin pleco (P. joselimianus) killed one of our Oscars. Maybe someone can take a look at these wounds and confirm.

She was being nipped some by her Oscar buddies when I pulled her out and put her in the hospital tank, thus the minor fin damage. She was floundering around with her skin missing on both sides. This would have happened the night before last while the tank lights were off. She died today despite isolation and treatment. :(

Grump the pleco is about 14 inches long and--I think--wasn't getting sufficient food because the Oscars were poaching her algae wafers. She had driftwood and biofilm but that's not enough to sustain a large pleco. Every time she was given wafers or veggies the Oscars horned in. Even though they were fed first they still did it. I suspect she was hungry, she caught the smallest Oscar (5 inches) in the middle of the night and she sucked off her slime coat along with her skin. Grump is now in another tank.

Does this look like pleco damage? Other than her fellow Oscars and a silver Arowana there are no other suspects.

https://imgur.com/OJkGWBF

https://imgur.com/tRCzgFJ
 
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Reactions: Jexnell
I've only seen plecos defend themselves
What you describe is pretty wild
I guess it's possible
Was this Oscar messing with the pleco?
At night a pleco definitely has the advantage
 
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A well placed whip of a large pleco's tail is enough to injure a small fish. Maybe even put it down! Seen a reaction like that years ago in my nephew tank. For me i know it's possible. Sorry for the lost, but by the photos. Looks like that oscar got it's lights Knocked T.F.O.
 
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No one ever messes with Grump. The Oscars don't attack her. They just pilfer her food. I have seen her aggressively chase them away from her wafer stash, pursuing them for a couple of laps around the tank. I never saw her hurt them though.

The littlest one, asleep in the middle of the night, would be an easy target for a hungry pleco looking for some tasty slime.
 
Looks like pleco damage to me...I actually had to remove my common pleco because of the same issue with my silver aro...lights out it went after slime...maybe drop a slice zucchini or cucumber in at night so the pleco gets its fill
 
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My 12” common pleco harrasses my 8” oscar all the time. No one else messes with him. Sometimes it’s missing scales, and doubtless the pleco is responsible. They share a 55g tank. They really need a 125 minimum asap. Whatever the reason for it, the pleco is definitely aggressive.
 
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Common Plecos can be quite nasty when they get larger. Had an extremely aggressive 10” h. Cyano. Added it to one cichlid community tank and she instantly attacked everything. Added her to a tank w/ a common Pleco that fought back and would ram the cyano. The cyano was relentless, but the pleco was causing more damage. Got rid of the pleco. That cyano probably wouldn’t have survived if I didn’t remove the pleco.
The damage looks similar and was from ramming.
 
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