Mean Pleco - leave in, trade in, or trade within?

[lmw80]

Ok, here is my situation....in my 10 gallon, I have recently noticed that my rubber-lipped pleco (about 1 1/2") is bullying my 2 corys. Chasing them all over the place, stressing them out...I saw physicaly contact once or twice...this behavior occurs during feeding time...I haven't noticed this behavior at any other time...

Do I:

1. leave him in because it's only during feeding time?

2. Do, I trade him in for another cory and take my chances with the algae....

3. do I trade him in for another pleco species...

4. or do I attempt to move him to my 2 gallon at work which houses a betta. The 2 gallon at work has a filter, but no heater...temp probably stays around 70---give or take a couple of degrees either way. If I don't put the pleco in my 2 gallon at work, I am going to try for 2 ghost shrimp in there.

I am really in a pickle about this....please..any and all opinions welcome! TIA!

[Hypostomus]

Trade him in for another cory-- preferably the same species as the two you already have. =)

[Madame_X]

Tough call, Lori... I don't know if he'd be happy in a 2 gallon. My little pitbull pleco is very active. He's all over my 12 gallon tank.

I've been thinking of moving a couple of the platies to my 29 so I could get a few pygmy cories for my 12... now I'm not so sure. :|

[Menagerie]

That's too bad about the Rubber Lip. I have never seen that kind of behavior from mine I would give him away. I don't think the pleco or the betta would be happy sharing the tank at work.

[patryuji]

I guess this is why they call them "pitbull" plecos.

Its a shame that your corydoras and the pleco could not get along. I was thinking about trading in a few fish to pick up one of those rubber lip plecos.

[lmw80]

I have had them in the same tank for over 6 months....first time I have seen this behavior.....maybe he needs a better hiding spot?

Originally Posted by patryuji

I guess this is why they call them "pitbull" plecos.

I take offense to this comment.. I'm sure you meant no harm but as an advocate to protect the breed from bad publicity I needed to comment.

Also they're may be a possibility that the pleco may feel its not getting enough algae so it starts to be aggressive when food is introduced as if to compete for it. Being as I don't know for sure what the amount of alage in the tank is. This could only be IMHO.

Please forgive me everyone if I come acrossed harsh.. The whole pitbull thing is a sensitive subject for me.

[Christmasfish]

They are called pit bulls for the look more than the steroetyped temperment.
I am sure you were just using the stereotype and meant nothing.



And to pitch in against sterotypes
My green eyed pit was a very sweet and well mannered dog while my obedience trial winner and tracking champion Brittany Spaniel broke a chain, leapt a 5 ft chain link fence tracked a kid 3 miles to his doorstep and left a gash requiring 28 stiches in a kids leg (witnesses say he WAS teasing her..but Dah-yam! I paid the bill anyway.) hated every kid in an age /size radius of 12-17.

[rossmort]

Originally Posted by lmw80

I have had them in the same tank for over 6 months....first time I have seen this behavior.....maybe he needs a better hiding spot?

My pleco has a good spot to hide which means I get to see him at most once a week and mostly that is just his tail. I hadn't seen him for 15 day so during a water change I started to look for him wondering how I could have missed him if he had died but NO, he is alive and well, just the most boring fish I have ever seen (or not seen).
Not a rubber lip BTW

[crazie.eddie]

Most plecos are aggressive towards other bottom dwellers. Being in a small tank isn't helping any. You can probably try to provide some hiding places.

[Christmasfish]

Maybe making sure more foos hit the bottom in two different spots..maybe now as he grows, he got little hungry...?


Not seen rubberlips cause problems in most golfish tanks... but goldies are so messy they may get tiredd of eating! they have been a few tales of them doing as other plecos and sucking the slimecoat and scales off the golds...but they were not certain really of the species half the time. My grandfather kept specie tanks adn biotopes so I can olnly go by what I have seen in passing or heard of on the net.

[patryuji]

Originally Posted by gotz_potential

I take offense to this comment.. I'm sure you meant no harm but as an advocate to protect the breed from bad publicity I needed to comment.

Please forgive me everyone if I come acrossed harsh.. The whole pitbull thing is a sensitive subject for me.

A little over sensitive eh? It was a light hearted comment. I doubt there is any chance of bad publicity for this particular species as it is one of the few prolific algae eating plecos which remains small enough for the average fish keepers aquarium. A simple search reveals that they are usually suggested as a choice animal to keep when you have algae in a planted tank.

I wasn't talking about the pleco. I was talking about the dog. apparently you need to reread the statement. As for being a little over sensitive, I have every right to be because ignorant people believe everything they read that was written by ignorant people that have never done complete research.

[Hypostomus]

I also think the person was just making a lighthearted comment.
You know...a little joke, or an observation that would bring an image to the layperson's mind easily.

If you get offended at the slightest non-PC joke well..you need to have a better sense of humor.

Next time they can choose their words a little more wisely then...Innocent animals get a bad rap cause the only comparison a person seems to make is a negative one. Just drop the whole **** thing and get back to the subject at hand. A fellow board member is having a problem with a pleco that seems to have aggression issues when its feeding time...

[lmw80]

patryuji - I do (well, did) have a planted tank with algae...maybe he is mature now (they grow up sooo fast (sniff!!)). Maybe I will trade him in for a juvi...he keeps my tank so clean...maybe I will just have to trade them in every 6 months or so until I can find a dwarf pleco species for sale in my area.