Tropical Fish Forums

effectivenow · New Members Joined: 18 May 2005

I recently added 2 small plecos to my tank of 4 goldfish. 3 days later I found that my largest lionhead had a pretty damaged tail and he seemed very sick, next day he kicked it. This morning I noticed a large red spot on my fantail, almost like a hicky. The pet-store guy told me that these plecos can live in the same tank, but I'm afraid he's wrong.

Any suggestions or truths for me?

kjh90 · Regulars Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Location: Ohio

Plecos will sometimes attach on to slower moving fish such as goldfish and discus in order to eat their mucous membrame. I would suggest getting rid of either the goldfish or the plecos. How big is your tank?

haname

plecos are tropical fish and not ideal mates for goldfish which need cooler temperatures.

Also some will attack other fish unless well-fed.
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Happy fishkeeping!

~Haname

effectivenow · New Members Joined: 18 May 2005

Well, I found out that they do like sucking on Goldfish from a friend and the red hickies on man fantails established that. When I got home yesterday I noticed that one of my Pleco's was already sick, so I removed them both and placed them in a another tank alone. A couple of hours later the sick one kicked the bucket. When I woke up this morning the other one was dead.....

Just to be safe I treated my tank for fungus and ich, cleaned the glass with a sponge brush and made a 25% water change. I also learnt that I was cleaning my filter out with tap water which turns out to be a no no, and I wasn't conditioning my water changes properly.

This morning I noticed that my remaining Fantails seemed much more happier and less stressed. I think 3 fantails will be all I keep for my 20gal, and that's even pushing it.

Thanks for the advice,
Marco

AWAK.

I have a Hypostomus plecostomus (+/- 6") in with my 2 Redcap Oranda's, 2 Shubunkins and Calico fantail, he does not bother with them. I keep my water at 20 deg's c minimum, as in summer the water temperature can go up to 30 deg C and in winter as low as 15 deg C. Maybe I'm lucky but he was only about 1.5" when I got him.
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Poseidon · Regulars Joined: 18 Jun 2005 Location: Olympia (US)

You can pretty much have goldfish with only goldfish. They're not many coldwater species.

Fella · New Members Joined: 12 Jun 2005

clfavello · Regulars Joined: 06 Jun 2005

yeah, dojos go fine with goldies, at least my pair does. It is very interesting to watch the two dojos interact with each other as well as the goldfish (I have 3 comets and 2 Shubunkins). I also have a common pleco, and he does fine. The only time I have seen him chase/attatch to a goldfish was when the gold was sick. But as I have fast moving species, you might be more cautios with the slower moving ones...

tom495 · Regulars Joined: 02 Aug 2005 Location: Harlow, Essex (UK)

what about the garra pingi pingi they clean algae and do a good job too they reach a max size of around 16cm.

joelle · New Members Joined: 12 Aug 2005

When I first started fishkeeping ~4 years ago, I did not know that goldfish needed cold water. I stocked up my tank with a variety of tropical fish and kept the tank at 75 +/- 3 degrees F. The original goldfish lived a great life for 3.5 years before he developed a tumor and died. I now know that goldfish are coldwater fish, but mine do not seem to mind the warmer water. Are fancy goldfish different? I currently have a fancy white/orange fat guy with long fins and a black moor.