Chacas and plecos?

[chacalover]

Is it ok to mix 2-3" BN with 3-4" chacas?Will the BN's bother the chaca's

[Richard B]

It's not something i've tried so can't speak from experience. Chacas & BN's don't really occupy the same specific spot in a tank although they're obviously both bottom dwellers. BN's will hide in rock crevices & twisted roots whereas chaca hide in leaf litter, in plants & in flat caves. If the BN's are well fed they shouldn't try sucking on the chacas to eat the slime coating which has happened with very hungry BN's & other fish on odd occasions, & might be a possibility?.

[Marc van Arc]

Will the BN's bother the chaca's

A good question which I can't answer. But how about the other way round? Don't you think that may involve a risk as well?

[chacalover]

I keep my chacas fed good everynight.I think I'm going to put some driftwood in the tank for the BN plecos

[Shane]

One more thing to take into account is that there have been various reports that Chaca can release a toxic substance into the water. Regardless, my Chaca always ate any non-Chaca placed in their tank.
-Shane

[sidguppy]

I can remember Marc's huge Chaca once snacking a 3" young Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps.....that's about the same size as an adult female Bristlenose

The chaca just made it disappear, not being bothered by the spines
however if it goes wrong and the Ancistrus manages to erect it's opercular spines and lock them you end up with a dead Chaca, choked on a dead Ancistrus

not a risk i would take.

another thing: if the pleco is big enough not to be eaten it can turn the table and harass and rasp the skin of such a slow mover.
I've had this happen with my Axolotls wich were badly mauled once the grumpy old Bristlenose male in there found out that the "susages on legs" were a handy foodsource.....

an Axolotl ain't no Chaca, but the movement speed and activity level is quite comparable.
I've also heard about certain pleco's harassing fish like Platystacus or Bunocephalus. some individuals just ignore them, some however do not

[chacalover]

One more thing to take into account is that there have been various reports that Chaca can release a toxic substance into the water. Regardless, my Chaca always ate any non-Chaca placed in their tank.
-Shane

U are right! They do release a toxic substance into the water that lowers your PH thats why I keep my tanks with a sack of crush coral.

[chacalover]

I can remember Marc's huge Chaca once snacking a 3" young Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps.....that's about the same size as an adult female Bristlenose

The chaca just made it disappear, not being bothered by the spines
however if it goes wrong and the Ancistrus manages to erect it's opercular spines and lock them you end up with a dead Chaca, choked on a dead Ancistrus

not a risk i would take.

another thing: if the pl*co is big enough not to be eaten it can turn the table and harass and rasp the skin of such a slow mover.
I've had this happen with my Axolotls wich were badly mauled once the grumpy old Bristlenose male in there found out that the "susages on legs" were a handy foodsource.....

an Axolotl ain't no Chaca, but the movement speed and activity level is quite comparable.
I've also heard about certain pl*co's harassing fish like Platystacus or Bunocephalus. some individuals just ignore them, some however do not

Thanks for your input guys! I'm setting up a 20 gallon long for the plecos as I type.I'm not risking these chacas for anything!Thanks guys again!

[panaquej]

hi. i recently got a chaca bankanensis and palced it in a 75 gallon tank together with some synodontis, a 12 inch albino gibbiceps, L47 pleco and a peckoltia. 3 days later the gibbeceps died. is it possible that it got poisoned by the chaca? are my other fish in danger too?

[Richard B]

Possibly...I've kept chaca with a multitude of other cats & only ever had a small madtom eaten, but it's clear they pose a predation threat to fish half their size or smaller. & the pH drop factor has been recorded a few times, which is a concern, although i haven't personally had this happen. Toxicity is another possibility but none of these is a 100% guarentee to happen but it is something a chaca keeper needs to be aware of & prepared for if it does happen.

[panaquej]

thanks richard. i still find it strange though that a 12 inch pleco would die just like that. i mean my chaca is about 4 inches. besides, my two other plecos in the tank weren't affected.

[Richard B]

It is strange, but "fish are just like people" as a crude example 2 individuals might be the same species but one is the arnold schwarzenegger & the other is much weaker, timid etc - there can be generalisations about a species, such as, hardy, placid, aggressive etc but someone can always find an exception to the rule.

Your one fish might have been a bit weaker than the others & succumbed to something easier, wheras the others were a bit tougher? This might not be the case but is worth considering