Pleco fistycuffs

[ridout]

After having my L203(5inches) in quarantine for 6 weeks or so (fattening him up), i decided to put him into my 4ft main tank yesterday. In the main tank is my 7inch L310. All i can say is they did not get on. Within ten minutes or so the 310 came out of his cave and persued the L203 untill he had nowhere else to go. Things got rough between the two fish. After keeping an eye on the fight i took the L203 out of the tank. There is plenty of space and hiding places's for the both of them in the tank. Thought they would sort it out and then be the best of mates.
Did i do the right thing by taking him out or should i of left them to it to sort out who's boss?

Ridout

[megacat]

Hi

I think you did the right thing. No need in letting it get injured or stressed.

I have had a similar experience with my l-137's. They are very aggressive fish from what I have experienced with mine. I had my largest l-137 with my smaller Group of l-330 and after a few months I had to move the l-137 to another tank. That tank it was moved into holds a few Panaque over the 12" mark. The l-137 is around 9" and it still seems to be the dominant fish in the tank. It does not bother the others but you can tell it makes it's presence known to them.

My smaller l-137 is starting to show signs of aggression towards the other fish as well. It is not as bad as the other one was/is but I don't see it calming down. It will have to be moved as well.

We can't control who will like who lol ;)

[ColumbianChocolate]

I have an 8" L137 and 2 x 5" L191 in a 5ft tank and they all keep out of each others way but I do have a 15" Gibby who is the boss man. The Gibby is like the top dog and all the other smaller plecs are the underdogs.
In a smaller tank a had a 4" L203 and a 3" male bristlenose and I had to put the bristlenose in with my large plecs because it continually chased the L203. I think the larger Panaques are so chilled out they are easily bullied so seperating them is the best idea.
I would love to see a picture of your L203 to compare its patterns with my pleco

[ridout]

I am considering putting the L310 up for swap. Got a L418 and an L90 coming soon can't have those been beaten about. I was thinking it would be ok to put them together but how wrong i was.

This is a pic of the 203 for you ColumbianChocolate
i took these photos a couple of weeks ago. He has a fantastic orange colour to his tail.

[ColumbianChocolate]

Thanks for the pics, hope my L203 looks like that in months to come. I love the tail extensions!

[andywoolloo]

when I add a new fish to a tank, I re arrange the furniture, it works even better to remove, if possible, the existing fish, temporarily, re arrange furniture, make sure enough hides for each one, and add in the new one first, wait about 15 mins add an existing one, wait, add,wait add etc.

Unknown if this will work for you. I have had luck with it.

[emsquared19]

Hey ridout, what is the pleco hiding in that cave? (black and yellow)

[ridout]

hi emsquared19, the pleco in the cave is a L134. The L203 is keeping my breeding group of L134's company while he recuperates.

Ridout