Aggressive Pleco

Not sure if anyone on here has the problem, he is only about 10-12cm (Bolivian ram in pictures for size reference)
but he is highly aggressive especially at feeding time.

He head buts other fish, chases them around the tank, comes up to the surface for pellets.
Is this kind of behavior normal ? will it get worse as he gets bigger ?

I feed him omega one veggie rounds after lights off, but he he seems to like normal pellets allot more.
is there a potential issue with a pleco eating pellets all the time and sometimes even leaving the veggie round.

 

I have 2 Large Pleco's and they are actually quite peaceful. They do come up to feed sometimes, however, they are not aggressive.

Maybe he is particular needs more food? I feed my guys flake and algae wafers every now and then, but I know other people feed them baby marrow. Perhaps feeding him baby marrow will ensure he has his own food source, that doesn't really have to compete for (I'm Guessing)

 

@Juddy, in my experience its kind of hit or miss with these guys and aggression, they can be very placid and shy, but often when it comes to competing for food at feeding time, they will try to bully everyone else away from what they believe is their food, i've witnessed this behavior in some of the pleco's i've kept and yet with other's they prefer to wait till its quiet befor coming out to feed..


@Amazinmic, even in the case of keeping more than one pleco, sometimes you will find 2 pleco's will get along, and in other instances the the two will continually fight untill one eventually dies..

if, as in your case they dont fight, then dont split them up ever, coz if you do and later try a different pair in one tank, you may not get the same peaceful relationship.

 

@Reedfish

Whats a L091 ? how aggressive does he become ?
a problem to other fish and killer.
or is it a just stay off the ground because that is my area type deal.

 

Most Plec is aggressive. Its normal. Some people says its not aggressive. but in the night? watch

 

And to add to this, watch out if your fish are slightly ill as the pleco's will suck onto them. Mine helped to kill 2 fancy goldfish in this manner!

 

lepord pleco or sailfin pleco,

These guys get really big. 50cm+
There are signs for these plecos to be arrgresive and hope you know this, They are omnivors.
meaning they will require meaty food. Feeding pellet rounds they will go for it but sounds to me that he/she does not like
the veggie round you feeding it and thats why its fighting to get other food eg, the floating pellets.
try using other veggie rounds or wafers.

Just my 2c

 

My mistake these are more herbies!
Pleco! (not ancisturs) opsy!!!!!
Disgaurd the meaty part

 

I was also thinking that , maybe he is being so aggressive lately because of not enough food or the incorrect food.

I am not sure which pleco it is .. both these fish, the pleco and the ram are someones reject fish. MY LFS has 2 large tanks and if you cant keep a fish or its giving you trouble you take it back to the LFS and it lands up in the reject tank..
i feel sorry for the rejects and its a tank full of incompatible fish .. not the best conditions .. and they are really cheap/giveaway so i ended up taking these two home..

they are both looking 100% better and much better condition fins since I bought them about 6 months ago

 

They both are lovely, I myself love the bolivian rams
I have 7 in total but I lost one last night (he/she was not eatting for weeks)
The picture sure shows they are been cared for and the color is showing really well on both.

pitty that your lfs has a reject tank but look at these 2!! they not rejects!! they lovely
I always wanted a lepord pleco but the darn thing gets toooooo big 50cm in tanks
and 60cm in the wild so they GET big!

Try out hikari algae wafers if you can, see if it changes its attatude.

 

+1 :elefant:

 

@Juddy

I've got 2 plecos, one normal hi fin pleco and one leopard pleco. They are peaceful through the day but when the light go off they become active. Plecos isn't aggressive according to me, just defensive and will chase any fish out of the way that enter its territory.

Plecos is big eaters in the night, the best time is to feed it in the night to prevent them to attack or try to get hold of your other fish. I. Use Hikari algae wafers and ocean nutrition algae wafers. Spirulina Algae is very important for them. Hikari is the best food I've used sofar and that food make your plecos grow very fast.

I feed as follows.
Monday - Hikari
Tuesday - Baby marrow(boiled to make it sink)
Wednesday - Ocean Nutrition
Thursday - Hikari
Friday - Hikari
Saturday - Baby marrow
Sunday - Ocean Nutrition

There is a few veggies they will eat and that is healthy for them. Some veggies you must avoid as it is bad for their health.