It appears that my bottom feeder has suddenly started to attack my gold fish. I've had him for about nine years without any problems whatsoever. But I've noticed in the last little while that he has started to harrass the fish in my tank. This morning when I turned the light in the tank on I immediately noticed a dead fish at the bottom. Almost immediately the bottom feeder swam over and lay on top of the dead fish so I ushered the bottom feeder away so I could remove the dead fish. At first I couldn't tell which of my fish it was but after doing a roll call I realized it was one of my black moors. What was strange was that it was completely white, had appeared to have lost it's eyes and it's stomach was ripped open.

Is this common and what should i do?

Hi,
Welcome to Koko's!

Do you know what type of bottom feeder it is? could it be a plecostomus, or something else?
Have you seen it attacking the live fish.. as sometimes they can be peaceful (depending on species) but if theres a dead one they will make a meal out of it.

Hmmm what kind of bottom feeder is it and how big? Is it bigger than your goldfishes?
Are you sure that the bottom feeder killed the black moor?

Common plecos can get big (up to 12 inches or more) and once they get big they'll attack the goldies. Bristlenose pleco or rubberlip pleco is the only recommended species to go with goldfish.

Hi Justin and welcome to the forum.

Is your plec a common? It may be that the fish died and the plec decided to make a meal out of it. Its rare for any plec unless really big to take down a healthy goldfish.
Common plecs and related types once mature need meat in the diet so feeding them prawns and such will help with his diet but you might notice as well a tendency to chase after the fish as they have a strong liking for the slime coat.
It may be time to trade him in for a more peaceful smaller type of plec such as a bristlenose.

Thanks for your welcomes and your quick responses.

I'm not sure what exact breed my bottom feeder is but it's very 'prehistoric' looking and is probably about eight inches long. Obviously I don't know for certain that it attacked the black moor but it is definitely chasing after any other fish that comes near it. I've also seen it do what I can only describe as prowl the bottom of the tank.

Sounds like a common plec and you should really get rid of it before it damages your other fish.

Eight inches...sounds like a common. All plecos are prehistoric looking anyway

Sandy is right btw. The pleco is unlikely to kill the fish. Was the black moor healthy the night before?

Btw, how big is your tank and how many fish is in there?

Had a feeling most of them were prehistoric looking!

As far as I know the moor was fine last night. I'd done a water change the day before and they all seemed to be havinbg a whale (excuse the pun) of a time.

As to my tank it's 90 gallons and I have 12 small gold fish of varying colours and shapes.

Hmm a nice big tank u got there!

12 goldfish is pushing it for your tank btw, so it's best not too add anymore goldfish in there.

And unfortunately you have to remove the pleco from the tank ASAP as sandy said. An 8-inch pleco in a tank full of small goldfish is not a very peaceful thought

But I've had the pleco for nine years, during which I've a number of diifernt fish, and never had a problem before. Why would it be a problem now?

Hmmm that's fair argument, but I still think removing the pleco is the safest bet. My opinion is that the pleco lately developed a taste for goldfish. U may try to leave him in there, but keep a close eye and remove him as soon as something goes awry.

Okay, I'll keep an eye on him and if it persists then i have friend who would probably take him. His name is Gerald by the way. The Pleco not the friend!

Thanks for your help - much appreciated.

Cheers!

While a plec is young its main diet is algae and plants but as they get older they become more carnivorous and need meat in the diet which is probably why he is cruising after the fish looking for a weakness. If a fish lies on the bottom at night to sleep it wont see the plec sneaking up behind it.

Just thought I'd give you an update on Gerald the born-again carnivore. I'd forgotten that I still had my old 20 gallon tank in the garage so I dug it out and now it has a population of one. I work from home so he's residing in my office and the gold fish population is safe! Couldn't bear to get rid of him after nine years.

Any recommendations on any fresh water fish that could keep Gerald company without risking their well-being or should I just leave him in splendid isolation?

And once again thanks for your help. I'd never visited this site before so it's nice to find out that it was absolutely the right place to come.

Good to hear that!
Any small, swift moving fish is good company for Gerald. Maybe tetras, danios, platies or white cloud minnows. Guppies & mollies are also good.

I'm glad you could keep him I just realized that no one really confirmed this was a common pleco. Does he look like this?
http://www.oceanarium.co.uk/images/product/originals/127.jpg

Yes, but not with stripes. Sort of mottled black and brown markings. I have a picture of him but I don't know how to post it.

Hi Justin and welcome to Koko's!
I'm glad you found this place too....it's the best, so stick around!

I am really glad you got your plec in another tank and can keep him. I wouldn't want to give him away after 9 years either. I would love to have a common plec too but for this reason I don't. I have a rubberlip plec in with my goldies. I may have to get another tank set up just for a common though one of these days!

Alot of us here post pics through photobucket.com .
It is really easy to use, you just set up your FREE account, upload your pics there. Once uploaded, you can just right click on the IMG tag below it and choose copy. Then come here and right click/paste in the reply box and submit your post. Your pic should be there. If you need any more help, just let us know.

Oh and sorry about the loss of your moor . Sandy's idea of giving him some meat in his diet now will probably make him a very happy boy.

right does the plec look like this commons are very possesive about there space and will chace off intruders if they don't like the look of them. normaly they like 20gal of there own space in a tank.

Here's a couple of not very good shots of the infamous Gerald!

Hope this works!

<img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/justmyalbum/DSC00157.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

<img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/justmyalbum/DSC00154.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">

I'm not sure that looks right!

How did you attach your picture Wizz?

Does that pleco have blue eyes?? If so, it is an endangered species, and I'd try every way to keep him alive! They aren't allowed to be sold in pet stores in my area anymore. And he is a real beauty.

He does indeed have blue eyes. I had no idea about his rarity. I'm so glad I remembered I had that 20 gallon tank. I actually offered him to the pet store but the Saturday staff didn't know whether they could accept him.

And rest assured he's not endagered while he's in my care!

Ooops wrong quote! That was inresponse to Raivynn's post.

It's been a traumatic day!

Justin, you have no idea what a rare beauty you have in your tank. In the African wild, blue-eyed plecostomus are practically extinct. I have only seen one other. It was accepted by a local pet store years ago, and they still have him/her. They couldn't sell it. By no means is your plecostomus common. Trust me. Look them up on g00gle, and you'll see just how rare s/he is.

If you ever need a good home for your blue-eyes, give me a call. I'd pay any amount of shipping. lol.

Rai

PS: The reason Blue-Eyes are nearly extinct is BECAUSE of the fish keeping hobby. The fish were removed so quickly from their native habitat that they couldn't cope with the numbers lost. Sad, sad, story. I'm not sure what the exact condition of the species is at the present.

I had absolutely no idea! I almost feel guilty for having him but also somewhat honoured. Unfortunately it appears that their rarity is even more drastic than it appears judging by this snippet I found:

Goodbye Panaque Suttoni

Panaque Suttoni is gone, as reported from a local fish vendor today to me. The Blue Eyed Plecostomus (a blue eyed-black bodied algae eater) is said to be gone from the ecosystem. One of two things seem to be the reason..

1. A parasitic outbreak in the region, that Gov't tried to control but ended up destroying most the life in the little ecosystem because of carelessness.

2. An oil spill wiped out the ecosystem where this pleco, and other things lived.

Said to be the only area where the pleco lives in the wild... let's hope someone is breeding them privately or in fish farms.


That's really sad but makes me even more determined to give Gerald the best care possible.

This all just blows me away!

To take a pic from photobucket and place in a post, right click the bottom tag and copy, then paste in your post.

Wow! He's a beauty! Congratulations on have such a rare find

Wow what a great looking pleco!! Those blue eyes are gorgeous!

So glad you found that 20 gallon (and this site!).

You're glad I found this site! Not nearly as much as I am!

As I said before, being ignorant of what I was in possession of, I'm completely overwhelmed by the reaction from you guys.

If I hadn't found my deceased Black Moor at 7am I wouldn't have surfed for help but would have just phoned the pet store I go to and may not have discovered Gerald's celebrity status at all.

Have to say that, because he has always been so resilient during the 9+ years I've had him, I just took him somewhat for granted. Needless to say that, from now on, I'll treat him like the king that he apparently is.

What a cutie! Maybe you could advertise him as a breeding specimin and borrow the opposite sex to try and hatch some eggs, or vise versa.

From what I can gather these guys are pretty thin on the ground so finding another one might be difficult. But you never know. Something to think about.

What a beautiful pleco! and certainly not a common. U can try searching at www.planetcatfish.com and have a look at their database

...And good luck on sexing it...Plecos are nearly impossible to tell apart.

Oh believe me I've been spending most of the day visiting just about every conceivable site pertaining to Plecos since you guys let me in on what a rare specimen is!

And that's just one of the many things I've learned today!

WOW Justin! I just saw this post. Gerald is beautiful!

Im so glad that you could keep him! Lucky indeed!!

Thanks Erin. Took 9+ years for me to realize I was lucky but, hey - better late than never. I'll take some more (better) pictures that will do him even more justice.