General Care Discussion :: R.I.P. Pleco

[jskpinoy]

I've read several posts here on the forum about plecos becoming a meal for the turtles eventually. Well I was on 24 hour duty last week and could not feed my turts for 24 hours, plus the next workday until 1700 (5 PM)..i came back and my poor pleco was missing almost all his fins back fin, tail fin, etc.... i immediately moved him to my fish tank but it was too late, plus my bigger pleco harrassed him even more and that night he died..... that pleco did pretty good for almost 8 months with my turts, but eventually my turtles jus got bigger and hungrier?.... Rest in peace...
but my turt tank started staying clean longer than when the pleco was still alive.
heres some pics of the pleco and turts once living in harmony....
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[Daniel3507]

that was a big pleco. i had to get rid of my pleco also. i looked over and saw the tail in my turtles mouth and he was swimming around with it.

[steve]

That tank looks fairly small and that pleco didn't seem to have a place to hide. Not surprised how it ended.

[jskpinoy]

can u really see the size of my tank from that pic?

[untsmurf]

Yeah, based on the width of the tank, it doesn't look that large. Plus, based on the size of your turts (looks like ~4-5'' each) they should be in at least a 100 gallon tank.

[jskpinoy]

sux..well im leaving this duty station in 8 months.... i keep looking at the bigger tanks here but theyre all so expensive and my turts r growing fast.... they started so small only had them for a year

[mikee]

js-noy -- You can keep your tank cleaner if you up size your filter. If your tank is properly sized you should have a filter/pump that exchanges the water at least 5 times per hour. Larger gph will help the water clearity a great deal.

[untsmurf]

Have you found someone to take them yet? Make sure the new owners know that they have to get a bigger tank for the little guys.