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Pleco Question

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:13 pm
by Linus
I just bought a 2 1/2 inch Pleco. He will be with my 1 1/2 inch Belize Slider.
I'm worried about the Pleco because Agamemnon is always begging for food(and I usually give in).
Do you think the fish will become a meal?

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:15 pm
by BullDog
There's a good chance it will. If you want to keep the pleco safe for sure, you'll have to put it in its own tank.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:15 pm
by Daniel3507
yep. maybe not right away but it will happen

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:16 pm
by Linus
Darn, Well I don't have another tank so I'm going to have to watch for the first hours of contact, and feed Agamemnon a lot.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:23 pm
by megcornell
You don't want to overfeed the hatchling, that can put stress on his organs and cause pyramiding.
To help give the pleco a chance, make sure he has hiding places. A pleco out in the open of a bare tank is a very enticing snack whether a turtle is hungry or not.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:27 pm
by Linus
Would it be worth it for me to go and get a couple feeders as well?

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:32 pm
by geekyturtle
I put a pleco in my 20g tank with a hatchling and he's still going strong after about 8 months. Other fish have came and.. well.. gone, and the pleco is still there. I've noticed his fins sometimes look like they've been bitten, but it usually grows back in a few days.
I've also tried feeding it the algae discs, but the turtle tends to eat them first. Which is funny to watch because they're really hard and not big enough for the turtle to eat in one bite.. or many bites.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:32 pm
by megcornell
I've never had a pleco in my tank so I don't really know. What I do know is that my turtles go after everything in the tank, so I don't think a distraction would help.
Whether the pleco is the only fish or one of ten fish, eventually I think your turtle will get curious enough or hungry enough to nip at it.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:44 pm
by Linus
Well I let him out after 1 hour of "bag floating."
He's sucking on the filter. Agamemnon is hiding right now.

Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:33 pm
by BullDog
Good luck!


Posted:
Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:12 pm
by Linus
It's been kinda boring. Agamemnon has been sleeping the whole time.

Posted:
Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:45 pm
by Linus
Well the Pleco sleeps in Agamemnons favortie hiding spot which isn't that big, yet neither of them mind each others company.
P.S. I bought 5 Minnows, Agamemnons interested, but their fast.

Posted:
Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:49 pm
by Fuzzy Hamster
We have a pleco and a cichlid in with Spike as well as 6 feeder fish. Currently, the pleco & cichlid are both bigger than Spike, and probably will be for another year or more. They have some rocks to hide in so I suspect that they will be able to evade Spike easily enough when he gets bigger. So far he hasn't even shown any interest in the feeders, but I am in the process of setting up a breeding tank with Spike's old tank, so eventually he will have some fry to chase and hopefully eat.

Posted:
Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:25 am
by Linus
So in 4 hours, 5 minnows(a 50 cent value) completley cleaned all the Algae out of the thank leaving the Pleco with nothing. Luckily I have some wafers, but I bet the Minnows will eat that too.

Posted:
Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:06 am
by Fuzzy Hamster
Plecos can eat pellets as well, although you need to put them (or wafers) in your tank at night, so your turlte won't eat them. Plecos tend to be nocturnal, so we feed ours at night, just before we go to bed, while the fish and Spike are asleep.