Would a pleco harm a molly?

[CACAdmin]

I have a female Green Sailfin molly who is very shy. I purchased her and two others quite a while ago...the other two didn't make it. (Don't worry Melody, these are not from our order... they're doing just fine! :biggrin: ) She has always been very shy & hides at the back of the tank amongst the plants except to come out for food. She became much braver a few after I added 4 more mollies. They all seem to be getting along just fine.

However a few weeks ago, I spotted that she was injured. It wasn't hard to notice... a large chunk of scales missing on the top her head. I thought maybe she had scraped herself on some of the tufa rock back in the area she likes to hide in. Amazingly, she healed very quickly. However, the past few days she has become elusive once again. Today she appeared with a small round patch of scales missing on her side.

The only thing I can think of is that her hiding place in next to Mr. Pleco's cave. The circular patch brings the size and shape of his mouth to mind. Would a 5 inch pleco harm a 3 inch molly? He doesn't seem to bother anyone else in the tank.

[Jonesy]

common pleco? or more exotic?

[CACAdmin]

I think he/she's a common pleco. I'm no go at IDing them so will try to get & post a pic tonight (not easy... he's can be a little skittish at times).

[hp10BII]

IME, plecos don't care who they harm as long as they don't harm back.

My buddy insists on common plecos for his algae eaters, but he's had to return/give them away once they start turning on his goldfish.

They love the slime, so I don't know if mollys are any slimier than goldfish or not.

[hp10BII]

Forgot to add, since plecos are nocturnal, it's very easy for them to latch onto other fish when they are snoozing away. Once they have a taste for fish slime, it's pretty hard to turn back.

[Melody]

That's very interesting. I have heard of other algae eaters doing that, but not Plecos. I haven't owned a lot of plecos so I suppose that's why. Always learning...

[CACAdmin]

IME, plecos don't care who they harm as long as they don't harm back.

Actually that's true. He's the biggest fish in the tank and yet he'll give up an algae wafer and back away immediately from my 2 inch clown pleco... lol.

It's interesting that it's just the one molly but she's the only timid fish in the tank so maybe she's fair game.

Thanks to everyone for your input... very helpful.:) At least I know that the pleco may be the culprit. Shall monitor the situation more closely and see what I can find out. When I figure out what's going on, I'll post again.

[CACAdmin]

common pleco? or more exotic?

I think he's a common pleco. See pic of 5 inch pleco here: http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397

[Jonesy]

yup they're commons....I wouldn't worry too much.....Chances are, your plecos will more then likely only go after fish that bug them. This has been my experience anyhow.....If you find that the pleco is chasing them, may want to get a veggie clip. This way if the pleco goes up they will be going for food and not too harass....Does your pleco have some place to hide??? Caves and driftwood will give him alot of hiding places making him alittle more comfortable, and less likely inclined to be active during the day.

[CACAdmin]

I do have a driftwood cave but my clown pleco monopolizes that. However, I made a couple of caves out of tufa rock and they tend to hide out there. I think maybe you're right. The plecos don't bother any of the other fish... just the one molly who likes to hide out in the plants next to the rock cave. Maybe they perceive her as a threat.

Not sure what you're talking about when you say a veggie clip (showing my ignorance). Could you elaborate, please? Thanks!

[Jonesy]

a veggie clip is a clip attached to a suction cup. You can attach veggies(cucumbers etc). This may cause a diversion if your pleco is chasing. What you may be able to do is move to common's cave away from the plants so that it isn't a territorial issue. I have a L177 that had a few bouts with some young cardinals that hung out by his cave. Remedy was to move the cave. I guess if you wanted to you could move the plants instead, i just find it easier moving caves.......Hope this helps ya out

[CACAdmin]

Thanks!:biggrin:

[CACAdmin]

I can't believe it! This same molly just attempted fishy suicide... she jumped out of the tank:eek: . I don't know how long she was there when I found her on the carpet. I was pretty sure she was dead (her gills weren't moving), but I put her back in the tank just in case.

First she just sank to the bottom and lay on her side but within about 10 seconds her gills began to move. After a minute or so she made an attempt to swim (unsuccessfully at first but eventually swam up an laid on her side on some plants). Within 10 minutes she was swimming around the tank appearing just fine... I couldn't believe it!:biggrin:

My tank is partially uncovered as a piece of the glass top was missing (broken) when I bought it and it is on order. However, I have never had a fish jump out. I will obviously drop the water level some more.

[hp10BII]

Interesting read about plecos and discus:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=53682

[hp10BII]

Sorry to hear about your suicidal molly, if she pulls through and bear children, that would be a story to tell.

[CACAdmin]

Very intersting read about plecos & discus... thanks!

As for my molly, she's elusive today (as per usual). Can only catch a glimpse of her among the plants at the back of the tank but she looks to be ok. Yes, it would be something if (providing she survives the escapade) she eventually has babies! If that does happen, I will definitely post about it... because she definitely didn't look alive when I found her (she wasn't even still wet!).

[Pamelajo]

Have heard of regular plecos not allowing anything in their tanks. A friend of mine has one and so far the only thing she can keep with it is two dojo loaches it killed everything else.

[Melody]

Well it has nothing to do with a pleco, but I had a Guppy jump that was so black that I barely noticed it on the dark rug. I figured the cat had done something it shouldn't :rolleyes: . So I got a paper towel and when I tried to pick her up, she jumped. Scared the hellouta me...lol. I chucked her in the tank. She recovered. She was always weaker than the others after that and the males harassing her would leave her barely able to hold herself up in the corner. I kept her away from males and she did fine without them bugging her. I think it was similar to lung damage - she didn't have the stamina after that. She did live a full life otherwise though, and she gave birth to the fry she was carrying.

[CACAdmin]

Thanks for the encouragment Melody. She still seems ok tonight... maybe a little quieter (but she has always been shy). I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[CACAdmin]

Update on the pleco's behavior. He has definitely developed at taste for 'molly slime' He has now gone after my other mollies.:eek: I evicted him from the tank this morning :mad: & will be posting him as free to good home (with very large tank and no molllies!)

[CACAdmin]

Update: Sad to say but my molly who jumped out of the tank died last night. :(

[Melody]

What a shame. I had no idea that some Plecos could be that aggressive.:no:

[CACAdmin]

She seemed to recover each time from her injuries but the leap out of the tank did her in. Even though she was eating and swimming just fine, one side of her had lost most of its color (the side exposed to the air when she lay on the carpet). I'm assuming the tissue on that side died from lack of moisture and oxygen. I would have put her down if she had appeared to be suffering but she seemed to be doing ok. I guess it was just too much for her.

Additional note, water level in 70G is MUCH lower... I don't want any more escape attempts... mind you my guess is that she was trying to elude Mr. Pleco... who is BTW incredibly fast.

[hp10BII]

Additional note, water level in 70G is MUCH lower... I don't want any more escape attempts... mind you my guess is that she was trying to elude Mr. Pleco... who is BTW incredibly fast.

Sorry to hear about your molly. When I first heard about her suicide attempt, it would of been my guess she jumped out trying to elude Mr Pleco too.

[CACAdmin]

Update: I'm pleased to announce that Mr. Pleco and his smaller sidekick (Mr. Pleco jr.) were both adopted a week ago, and everybody in the tank seems to be much happier for it.:yes:

I'm absolutely amazed at how quickly my mollies recovered from their injuries (the result of encounters with Mr. Pleco)... well, except the one who committed fishy suicide. There is not any hint of what were huge missing chunks of scales.

I still have 4 plecos but they are not commons. 3 are White-tipped BN and one is a Clown pleco... and none ever show any interest in the other fish. :smile:

[Pamelajo]

Glad to hear that you found a home for them and that your fish don't miss them.
Bn's are much better tank mates.

[Jonesy]

I guess i want to defend pleco's in this. Commons aren't aggresive...well, not all the time:)
I'm not sure what happened to provoke the pleco in this instance but it may have been a competition for food or territory in the tank. My common hasn't touched anything in either of his tanks...Sad that your mollie decided to take the plunge into the carpet graveyard, but i don't think that the pleco was 100% to blame on this..Not saying that he wasn't at fault, just not 100%. Geez...after reading what i typed i realized that i should work for ICBC.....

[CACAdmin]

Geez...after reading what i typed i realized that i should work for ICBC.....

:rofl:

Actually, I think it all started over territory as the molly kept hanging around near his cave. However, once he got a taste of her, he started going after the others. I don't think the the smaller common went after any of them but I decided he ought to move out too, just to be on the safe side.

[Jonesy]

ya i agree!!!!!!!! I guess i was just concerned that plecos in general were being made out to be this craxy *** fish that will take out anything, yes even a Mollie....I think we have to think about all natural environments that these fish live in....A pleco will protect it's territory no matter what. In the wild and in the home aquaria

[Melody]

Maybe they spawned and he was protecting eggs and you're gonna have a ZILLION Plecos!

:BOLTS:

[CACAdmin]

:Eek: