Rogue Plec?

[Squidward]

Hi All,

I am having a bit of a disaster in my tank.
Over the festive period I went away for 2 weeks. Came back to a few fish missing.

Then over the past few weeks, every few days I find a half eaten dead fish in the morning.

My thoughts are one of my Plecs got hungry while I was away and started attacking the other fish(Angels, Rainbows etc) while they slept. And has now gotten into the habit of it. Even though they are fed daily on either chopped prawn, minced fish or bloodworm.

The potential culprits are a L114 (Leopard Plec), L029 (Galaxy), or a Rusty of unknown L number. I suspect it is the L114.
Anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks
Squidward

[FrankNL]

I've got a L114 as well and found a half eaten corydoras last week, so it could be possible.

[nvcichlids]

the L114 or the L29 could have done it. Both species can get aggressive when hungry, and are very capable of taking out a fish if they want the food.

[jvision]

I once had a 10" common pleco that woul pick off tetras in the night, so I'm inclined to assume any large pleco would snack on small fish when given the chance.

[RickE]

What makes you think the fish are being eaten alive and are not just dying due to something that got out of kilter whilst you were away? Dead fish will be eaten by pretty much anything.

[Squidward]

What makes you think the fish are being eaten alive and are not just dying due to something that got out of kilter whilst you were away? Dead fish will be eaten by pretty much anything.

I've seen a few fish that have been badly attacked but still alive.

Whatever is attacking them seems to go for the face area first.

And whoever the culprit is shouldn't be totally starving. I feed them on a daily basis. And even when I was away, they were getting fed twice a week.

I took the L114 out of my main display tank and put it in another tank, so will see what happens over the next few nights.