will my endli bichir eat my small pleco?

[Poklei]

any ideas? if i have a large one also will he eat it?

 

[XB aro]

what are the sizes?

 

[Poklei]

well i am wondering if they eat plecos in general, the bichir will eventually grow big, i have a green phantom which dont grow that big, he can fit in his mouth right now i am wondering if i shuld take out my pleco or not

 

[Lupin]

Poklei, you have to realize there are over hundreds of plecos. Many of them grow rather large and bulky so I would not consider that in general, plecos will easily be eaten by bichirs. If you think your pleco may be in danger of being eaten, take it out now before you regret losing it. It's actually a good thing you asked. Plecos have serrated spines so it's not surprising that most fish die from swallowing catfishes. Therein lies another issue with most plecos sucking the slime coat of most tankmates. It's all basically trial and error and logic.

 

[Poklei]

okay thanks i thought bichirs dont eat plecos lol i better go take him out right now

 

[David R]

Just look at the size difference between the two fish, if there is any chance the endli could grab the pleco then its risky IMO, would be a bad day if you woke up and found a dead endli with a dead pleco stuck in its mouth...

 

[Sunscream]

So Birchirs are very opportunistic and will eat plecos if they can fit in its mouth. I have a 15" Ornate and it eats the bristle nose plecos that are in my tank occasionally. Luckily they breed so I always have a bunch of bn plecos swimming around my 125g