Angel Nipping at Pleco

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DeirdreHoyle

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
517
Location
Portland, OR
Hi guys,
I just got a baby angelfish to go in my 29 gallon tank. I have 6 neon tetras, 4 harlequin rasboras, 2 kuhli loaches, a bristlenose pleco and the new angel.
At first I was worried about the tetras getting bullied because apparently angels like to eat them, but so far he hasn't even paid attention to the small fish. He has, however, become obsessed with the pleco. As soon as he sees my plec sucking on the tank walls he goes over and stares at him really closely for a while and then eventually nips at him. The pleco's fins are starting to look a little ragged and I don't know what to do...any ideas?

Also, my water parameters are
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.6
 
You can separate them or let it be, he probably can't so too much damage

Yeah I don't have any tanks big enough to move them to so I'm gonna try to wait it out. The pleco has sort of started defending himself so hopefully the angel will lose interest soon
 
When my angel was smaller than a quarter but he used to follow my hill stream loach around but only when my loach was on the glass walls, he would always just like stare at him, he would peck at him too but I never saw any damage, anyways I got him a friend and he lost interest
 
When my angel was smaller than a quarter but he used to follow my hill stream loach around but only when my loach was on the glass walls, he would always just like stare at him, he would peck at him too but I never saw any damage, anyways I got him a friend and he lost interest

Yeah that's exactly what my angel does. I can see damage though my pleco's fins are getting kinda ragged from it :/ My water is fine so that's not causing the fin ripping.
 
How bad is it? He will be fine, plecos are very hardy. A friend of mine had a get to his and it messed him up, but he came back like a survivor. He had bone showing but it healed in less than 2 months
 
How bad is it? He will be fine, plecos are very hardy. A friend of mine had a get to his and it messed him up, but he came back like a survivor. He had bone showing but it healed in less than 2 months

Oh wow...mine is definitely not that bad, and he does seem to be getting better not worse. I'll just wait it out.
 
I'm having the same problems in my 55g! I got a bn yesterday to help out with cleaning and he can't even get on the glass without the angel nipping at him. ): None of the other fish even bother with him. I have 4 Bolivians, 7 rasboras, two angels and the pleco. I really need his expert cleaning help but the angel is such a bully!
 
I'm having the same problems in my 55g! I got a bn yesterday to help out with cleaning and he can't even get on the glass without the angel nipping at him. ): None of the other fish even bother with him. I have 4 Bolivians, 7 rasboras, two angels and the pleco. I really need his expert cleaning help but the angel is such a bully!

Yeah! It's terrible! I don't know how to make him stop. I've started tapping the glass with a pencil eraser every time he gets close to the plec. That helps a little.
 
OP - Are you able to swap the angel if it's hassling your other fish and you cannot seperate it?

I'm having the same problems in my 55g! I got a bn yesterday to help out with cleaning and he can't even get on the glass without the angel nipping at him. ): None of the other fish even bother with him. I have 4 Bolivians, 7 rasboras, two angels and the pleco. I really need his expert cleaning help but the angel is such a bully!

Pleco's aren't actually all that good at cleaning... they tend to do more pooping than cleaning?
 
OP - Are you able to swap the angel if it's hassling your other fish and you cannot seperate it?

I might have to do that, but I don't want to I love angels :( I might swap it for a gourami instead.

Pleco's aren't actually all that good at cleaning... they tend to do more pooping than cleaning?

And about this ^ it's pretty true, my pleco keeps the walls really clean but he poops SO much lol I have to vacuum the gravel every Sunday.
 
That comment looks weird, I tried to reply to both comments but it didn't work. My response is inside the quote up there lol
 
So just to update, the situation got better for a little bit but then got a lot worse. The pleco's fins were visibly damaged, he looked super stressed (and the water was fine so it wasn't that causing the fin problems). I returned the angelfish to the store and I think I'll get a gourami once the pleco is healed up again. Felt terrible returning the angel but the pleco would've died :(
 
A pleco cave would've fixed the problem

I don't think it's that simple. The pleco has two caves that the angel can't fit into, but he doesn't sit in them all day. He likes to suck on the glass and be out in the open and any time he did that, the angel would bite him.
 
Yeah! It's terrible! I don't know how to make him stop. I've started tapping the glass with a pencil eraser every time he gets close to the plec. That helps a little.


This is what fish do and even more so in captivity. You will find that not all fish are compatible, I've had many times mixed angels with plecos with no issues. As a rule, angels can be aggressive towards each other not so much with other fish and at some point we have to know when to remove either the bully or the bullied.
BTW, I love plecos but I gave up on them a long time ago, they can get a tank dirty real fast.
Hope this helps.
 
This is what fish do and even more so in captivity. You will find that not all fish are compatible, I've had many times mixed angels with plecos with no issues. As a rule, angels can be aggressive towards each other not so much with other fish and at some point we have to know when to remove either the bully or the bullied.
Hope this helps.
Yeah I definitely learned the hard way. I used to have an angel with this same pleco and that's why I wanted another one but unfortunately they don't all have the same personality. The pleco was there first so I returned the angel. Thanks for the response.

Pleco's fins have already healed a ton in the two days since I returned the angel so I'm happy about that
 
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