plecos eating fish

corkgsxr

I'm told plecos never eat live fish.

I donno though iv a 6" tiger pleco. New small fish seem to disappear, snails turn into a empty shell over night.

No body's anywhere, there not in the filter either.

I'm convinced he's snaking on them

fred funk }{

No. I'd say your fish and snails are dying from other causes rather than the Pleco, who are mostly vegetarians.

gbee

This type of fish is perfectly capable of killing your fish and eating snails. They are sometimes sold as snail eaters.

Though they are under the broad band of algae eaters and are mostly vegetarian, they have the power to take down anything in the tank, occasionally they go rouge, and only meat will satisfy them, they are capable of starving to death once they get a taste for meat and are denied it.

This range of fish go from extreme docility to aggression to the point where they have to be alone in a tank.

They will eat dead fish and food on the bottom as well.

So your Pleco could be innocent, or the vandal, but they are mostly community fish.

corkgsxr

fred funk }{ wrote: »

No. I'd say your fish and snails are dying from other causes rather than the Pleco, who are mostly vegetarians.

Overnight shells completely empty. Dead stuff don't disappear that fast


Seems happy out with pellets every few days.

fred funk }{

corkgsxr wrote: »

Overnight shells completely empty. Dead stuff don't disappear that fast


Seems happy out with pellets every few days.

They will eat things that die. It's a fairly common misconception in the aquarium-when a fish is seen to be eating something it is believed to have killed it too.

Same goes for filters. I have often heard from people who say their filter is sucking up their fish and killing them, when in reality, the fish dies and the filter ends up sucking up the carcass.

Check your water parameters and tell us what the readings are.

Mr Whirly

gbee wrote: »

This type of fish is perfectly capable of killing your fish and eating snails. They are sometimes sold as snail eaters.

Though they are under the broad band of algae eaters and are mostly vegetarian, they have the power to take down anything in the tank, occasionally they go rouge, and only meat will satisfy them, they are capable of starving to death once they get a taste for meat and are denied it.

This range of fish go from extreme docility to aggression to the point where they have to be alone in a tank.

They will eat dead fish and food on the bottom as well.

So your Pleco could be innocent, or the vandal, but they are mostly community fish.

I'd take all that with a pinch of salt.

I agree with Fred here. A dead snail or small fish will disintegrate into nothing very quickly. Snails are sensitive to high nitrate levels.

If things are dying it's nearly always a water quality issue.

corkgsxr

How essential are water changes. How often? Etc.

Proportionally iv a large filter on it, half filter, half bio, never gets dirty.

Have to get a test kit

Mr Whirly

Water changes are very important. The nitrogen cycle is producing lots of nitrates in your water. Failure to dilute them will cause a number of possible issues. At least 20% every two weeks needs to be changed.