Some help please!!

[Kalamatas]

Hi!! I am a new member of this forum and new to this hobby!! So i have some problems and questions!!!
1) I have a 45 gallon aquarium with 2 juvenile senegal bichirs (8-9cm each), the one is albino, a red tail shark and a small common pleco (4cm)...yesterday i saw the one bichir (which is the most aggresive) to have the pleco in his mouth trying to eat him...the pleco eventually escaped but the bichir was chasing him a lot...so i took the pleco and put him in my betta 15 litre aquarium...the betta was flaring and chasing him the first two three hours but now he just seems to ignore him...so my question is if the pleco will grow up enough in this 15 litre aquarium, so i can put him again with the bichirs...and if i have to feed him more and with what....
2)does my aquarium fit any more fish or these are enough? and if it cans you suggest any tankmates for the bichirs??
3) the bichirs aquarium which is planted, is full of small snails...i searched them on the internet and i saw that i have to do something because it is a species that eats plants...should i put some helena snails to eat the other snails (which are still babies the most of them) and if yes how many helena snails...

Thats my questions, thank you for reading!!

 

[Fish king]

First off no the pleco won't grow in that and if the bichir eats it he will die to cat fish have spines on there dorsal fins I'm not 100% that a pleco has those but if he does you will end up with two dead fish second a Oscar fish mite work but I'm not sure how it will do with a red tale shark but anything that won't fit in the bichirs mouth will work with them so you can add some more fish but keep up with water changes and bichirs don't eat plants but may up root them


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[F.Sam]

I can not help you with question 1&2, since I know nothing of predatory fish. I do have knowledge about snails tho! ? I once had a snail infestation in my 30g, i put in 3 helena's and after a good month I didn't see any snails anymore. So I think one per 10g is a good start, if you want to speed up the process you can add more fcourse..

After they have eaten the snails, they will start acting as your clean-up crew


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[Kalamatas]

First off no the pleco won't grow in that and if the bichir eats it he will die to cat fish have spines on there dorsal fins I'm not 100% that a pleco has those but if he does you will end up with two dead fish second a Oscar fish mite work but I'm not sure how it will do with a red tale shark but anything that won't fit in the bichirs mouth will work with them so you can add some more fish but keep up with water changes and bichirs don't eat plants but may up root them


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pleco is really small right now, i think that if he gets 6-7 cm long, bichir will no longer be a threat because bichir is small too... you think he cant get this long in a 15 litre?? i like oscars very much but i think i cant fit one in my 45 gallon...i think they need more space

 

[darkhymn]

That 3 gallon tank is by most standards too small for the betta alone. As for your pleco, he's probably going to put an unsustainable bioload on it. If he's kept in there too long, it may cause undue stress for both fish, and it will almost certainly stunt your pleco's growth.

I'm afraid you may have a very poor selection of fish and that your 45 gallon tank will be insufficient for them. You have four primarily bottom dwelling fish, all of which are aggressive and territorial, in a tank that will be insufficient for all but the red tail. The bichirs will most likely be aggressive toward each other and may try to eat the shark and - as you've discovered - pleco (while he's small), the shark will most likely be aggressive toward everyone, and the common pleco is fairly territorial. He may aggressively defend hiding places, which the bichirs will also want. The bichirs will grow to be over a foot in length and should have a minimum of 55 gallons (and should be separated). The pleco could grow as large as two feet and, depending on who you ask, will need between 75 and 100 gallons minimum. The red tail should be more than happy in 45 gallons, but you'll want to avoid other bottom dwellers or aggresive fish, sticking with more peaceful fish in his size range.

 

[Kalamatas]

That 3 gallon tank is by most standards too small for the betta alone. As for your pleco, he's probably going to put an unsustainable bioload on it. If he's kept in there too long, it may cause undue stress for both fish, and it will almost certainly stunt your pleco's growth.

I'm afraid you may have a very poor selection of fish and that your 45 gallon tank will be insufficient for them. You have four primarily bottom dwelling fish, all of which are aggressive and territorial, in a tank that will be insufficient for all but the red tail. The bichirs will most likely be aggressive toward each other and may try to eat the shark and - as you've discovered - pleco (while he's small), the shark will most likely be aggressive toward everyone, and the common pleco is fairly territorial. He may aggressively defend hiding places, which the bichirs will also want. The bichirs will grow to be over a foot in length and should have a minimum of 55 gallons (and should be separated). The pleco could grow as large as two feet and, depending on who you ask, will need between 75 and 100 gallons minimum. The red tail should be more than happy in 45 gallons, but you'll want to avoid other bottom dwellers or aggresive fish, sticking with more peaceful fish in his size range.

you are right....i plan to build one large aquarium but this will happen in the future when my fish become bigger...now they are really small...the two bichirs are going very well, they swim together all the time...the one is albino and will not grow much (from what i have read on the internet)....i think they are male and female but this is just a guess of mine...however the problem is the pleco...i dont want him to be eaten, i just want to get 2-3cm larger...and i just have these 2 aquariums for now....cant i do anything??

 

[darkhymn]

Do you know someone who might foster him for you in the short term? I'd be very concerned for both your pleco and your betta in that 3 gallon... I've also read about people temporarily keeping a sick fish in a rubbermaid container or the like as well, though usually this involves a spare aquarium filter. Perhaps that would be a viable option for you until you could find a more permanent safe place for him?

You can probably get away with keeping him in with the betta for a few days with careful monitoring if you need to, but be mindful of stress levels and ammonia/nitrite spikes, as plecos are fairly dirty fish, and your betta's bacteria colony will likely not be able to sustain them. If you choose to follow this route, you'll probably want to keep on top of frequent partial water changes.

 

[Fish king]

pleco is really small right now, i think that if he gets 6-7 cm long, bichir will no longer be a threat because bichir is small too... you think he cant get this long in a 15 litre?? i like oscars very much but i think i cant fit one in my 45 gallon...i think they need more space

If your tank tank is wide enough it can be done I know people who have


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