Can gouramis kill a pleco?

I had recently bought 5 gouramis and 1 pleco for my 55 gal tank. I had bought them on October 14. Since then I cannot seem to find my pleco in my tank anywhere! He was there for the first few days and now it's been about 4 days since. There is one bully gourami that keeps chasing the other ones (whole other story) but two nights ago my husband noticed a fish tail at the bottom of the tank. We weren't sure where it came from. I since then moved a few things around and still have not found him. Could my gouramis have killed him? Picture below of the fish tail.





I should also note everything in my tank was new and was cycled for 4 months (took a while) with the exception of a few things that were well cleaned and rinsed.

 

What kind of gouramis? Gouramis can be aggressive, and if you have more than one male in there, there can be aggression issues.

 

It is possible that the pleco died in which case the fish would consume the body. It would be hard to tell which came first without seeing it happen. Did he have caves to hide in or ornaments that he could hide in like a cave? Alison

 

A three spot one (he gets picked on and nipped at a lot)
A powder blue one (does its own thing but likes to hang with the flame)
A gold one (gets chased by the opaline a lot)
A flame dwarf (stays toward bottom because of opaline)
An opaline (the bully of the tank)

I had no idea that gouramis were that aggressive til I brought them home. Three of them were in a tank together and two were in another together (don't remember which) and my pleco was in a totally different tank when I bought them.

It is possible that the pleco died in which case the fish would consume the body. It would be hard to tell which came first without seeing it happen. Did he have caves to hide in or ornaments that he could hide in like a cave? Alison

There are a lot of hiding spots for him but the first few days he was always seen at least once a day. I did move around the log and the cave and other ornaments to see if he was in there but he wasn't.

 

If a Pleco had died in your tank, if you've been moving things around, you would likely have found the hardened outer exo-skeleton like remains - and it wouldn't be a site you'd likely forget in a hurry.

Gouramis are of the Anabantoid Genus - which is the same as Betta Splendens. And we all know what happens when you house them together.

 

If a Pleco had died in your tank, if you've been moving things around, you would likely have found the hardened outer exo-skeleton like remains - and it wouldn't be a site you'd likely forget in a hurry.

Gouramis are of the Anabantoid Genus - which is the same as Betta Splendens. And we all know what happens when you house them together.

Yeah. I was wondering if I should remove the bully fish. Do you think another one would try be the dominant one though?

 

If he is bulling and hurting the others than I would because fish that are getting bullied are going to be stressed which can lead to illness just from the stress. There is also a difference from one being dominant to bullying the other fish. How big was the pleco in comparison to the grouramis? Alison

 

Indeed - dominance and bullying are two different things.

 

They were roughly the same size. The pleco was a tad smaller. I'm so upset because I love plecos.

 

If they were roughly the same size than my guess would be that the pleco died and the other fish just took advantage of a free meal. I just wondered if he was really tiny in comparison. . Alison . ..............I understand how you feel as they are now my favorite of all my fish. Maybe try it again.

 

Yeah maybe I'll separate the bully fish and get another pleco next week. See how that goes.

 

Before you get anything else, make sure everything that should be in check is in check -

Temperature, water parameters, no obvious signs of disease, everyone is eating, etc...

Rule everything out that you can before committing to another fish.

 

Before you get anything else, make sure everything that should be in check is in check -

Temperature, water parameters, no obvious signs of disease, everyone is eating, etc...

Rule everything out that you can before committing to another fish.

Yep for sure I will. The 5 are eating great so far. They seem pretty happy and I will test the water before just to make sure.

 

The three spot, Gold, and Opaline are all color varieties of the Blue Gourami, Trichopodus trichopterus. This is a fairly aggressive Gourami that tends to be very territorial and often harasses other fish of all kinds. The Powder Blue and the Flame are variants of the Dwarf Gourami, Trichogaster lalia, the adult size of which is less than half that of the other species. While not totally peaceful, they are nowhere near as aggressive as the Blue Gourami variants. Your future with this tank is not likely to be great.

Assuming that the Pleco was a common variety, it likely was dying from starvation before you ever got it. More small common Plecos die of a lack of nutrition than any other reason. This happens more than people realize. Algae and wood eating Plecos have very long guts, because it takes a long time to extract any nutrition from plant matter. If the gut is not kept full, say during the long shipping and holding tank periods, the fish can starve to death before it gets the gut filled again. I learned this from Ingo Seidel, a German hobbyist and author who has collected and bred many species of Loricariid Catfish.

 

I sincerely hope he was not a Common, considering this is a 55gal.

 

The three spot, Gold, and Opaline are all color varieties of the Blue Gourami, Trichopodus trichopterus. This is a fairly aggressive Gourami that tends to be very territorial and often harasses other fish of all kinds. The Powder Blue and the Flame are variants of the Dwarf Gourami, Trichogaster lalia, the adult size of which is less than half that of the other species. While not totally peaceful, they are nowhere near as aggressive as the Blue Gourami variants. Your future with this tank is not likely to be great.

Assuming that the Pleco was a common variety, it likely was dying from starvation before you ever got it. More small common Plecos die of a lack of nutrition than any other reason. This happens more than people realize. Algae and wood eating Plecos have very long guts, because it takes a long time to extract any nutrition from plant matter. If the gut is not kept full, say during the long shipping and holding tank periods, the fish can starve to death before it gets the gut filled again. I learned this from Ingo Seidel, a German hobbyist and author who has collected and bred many species of Loricariid Catfish.

Thanks for the info. Now I am willing to do pretty much anything to have these fish be happy and healthy. I would love to get another pleco but I'm not sure what I should do. What do you suggest? If I have to give some away then that's fine with me too. Breaks my heart as I thought I was all set but I'd rather not have them die on me one by one.

 

You might be okay keeping the Flame and Powder Blue in a 55g, but the possibility is still there that they will fight (possibly kill) each other at some point.

As for the larger Gouramis, you could keep 1 (assuming its a male) but not more than 1 male, if you get a female of the same kind, that would be okay, 2 female is much better.

NOTE: Its either the dwarfs or the larger one, not both.

 

I would opt for a bn pleco of what ever type you like because they won't outgrow your tank. This is just my prejudis but I vote for the yellow blue eyed ancistrus type or the albino bristle nose. They both seen to be out and about all day rather than hiding , and with their color they stick out like a sore thumb rather than blending in with the background... Alison