Please help, I don't know what to do...I have had a Pleco and a Painted turtle in a 50 gallon tank for over 6 years now and they have always gotten along...In fact when my daughter brought home the turtle it was just the size of a half dollar, so im assuming it was a baby. As the turtle got older,( he is the size of my palm right now) he started doing this weird thing with the Pleco where he would get in front of his face and do this waving motion with his hands, I found out this was a mating ritual they do with the female turtles..At times he would nip at his fins but that is about all he ever did and they have co-existed quite nicely...Up until the other day when I went in there to feed them and noticed both eyes were completely gone on the Pleco. They are just holes now, nothing is there. I called 2 vets (one was my own) and one said to put him down, that he was probably suffering and my vet said, just watch him for a few days, that there a fish that can exist with no eyes, and if hes eating ok and moving around ok he should be fine...She said they really don't know if Fish feel pain. Now i'm no smarty when it comes to these types of creatures...My daughter bought this algae sucker when she was like 16 and is now 28...She has moved out gotten married and the algae sucker has stayed with me..I keep the tank clean, I change it every few weeks, I have a heater in there, plants, gravel, filter. feed him algae wafers, sometimes lettuce, veges. and hes always been ok. But I don't know what to do with him not having any eyes..Im just a newbie with all this and I don't want him to be suffering, but I don't want to put him down if I don't have to either. So please is there anyone here that can help me with this and let me know what on earth I should do. Thank you so much for any help that you can offer. Nikki
Pleco without eyes
- Thread starter nikkistewart
- Start date
So sorry to hear about your poor pleco.
For me the decision is simple, get rid of the turtle. There is a good chance your pleco may be ok so long as he can find food and appears to be well enough but with the turtle still there the potential for more injuries and suffering would be ever present.
For me the decision is simple, get rid of the turtle. There is a good chance your pleco may be ok so long as he can find food and appears to be well enough but with the turtle still there the potential for more injuries and suffering would be ever present.
Keep an eye on them with the mind you may need to get another tank cycling or partition the tank to separate the turtle.
One blind pleco alone should be fine as long as you keep the tank furnishings in roughly the same place all the time.
Highlight of his day will be the smell and location of the food you put in.
The water quality which may improve without a turtle in there.
You may even be able to get the pleco to eat out of your hand if you are patient enough.
One blind pleco alone should be fine as long as you keep the tank furnishings in roughly the same place all the time.
Highlight of his day will be the smell and location of the food you put in.
The water quality which may improve without a turtle in there.
You may even be able to get the pleco to eat out of your hand if you are patient enough.
So far I have partitioned the tank off so the turtle can't get to him..He seems to be doing ok, eating and moving around...I think it's less stress for him not having the turtle bugging him all the time. I really don't know why the turtle did that, they have been together for at least 6 years, I know the turtle would always like to lay on him to sleep...But he always would do that fan dance with his hands in front of the pleco, which I thought was just so comical. Now he still moves is eyelid around like he always did, is that normal? Do u think his eyes are still there but maybe just sunken in? It is so hard to tell..I use to be able to see his little pupils, but I don't see them now...But yet he still moves his eyeball around. I'm such a newbie at this, I mean ive had him for at least 12 years but ive never really done any research on them and neither did my daughter when she got him and he was so little. We never even imagined he would get this large. I do think its better though to eventually get a separate tank for the turtle. I actually have a 16 gallon that I could put the turtle in but I have 2 gold fish in there and I can't put the fish in with the turtle he will eat them...Can the 2 goldfish go in with the algae sucker?
I would put a heater in the goldfish tank and bring the temperature up very slowly over a couple of weeks to get them used to tropical water then transfer them to the plec tank and put the turtle in to their tank which will already have cycled water of the correct temperature. Don't forget to acclimatise the goldfish as you would any new fish going in to the plec tank as the water will have different parameters.
BillyJimbo, thanks so much for your reply, didn't know u could put Goldfish in warmer water...Going to do some research on this but it sounds like the best thing to do versus going out and buying another tank
Big bird, I still have them divided in tank and everything seems to be ok so far. The Pleco seems to be adjusting and is eating..I still am thinking of putting turtle in another tank so the pleco has a lot more room to move around. Going to research the warmer water thing for the goldfish and maybe put them in with the pleco and then the turtle will have that tank and I wont have to buy another.
sounds like a good idea. Maybe put the goldfish in a glass bowl instead as well as a nother option. cheers jk :thumbup:
have been following this post. you said you were not sure if the plec actually lost his eyes, but may be sunken in...can you post a pic ?
also, as jk suggested, can you get a fish bowl to put the goldfish in? Then you could give the plec his own tank and perhaps add a few amazon fish ,some tetras or something you like, just as long as the turtle is out of there. good luck with what you choose
also, as jk suggested, can you get a fish bowl to put the goldfish in? Then you could give the plec his own tank and perhaps add a few amazon fish ,some tetras or something you like, just as long as the turtle is out of there. good luck with what you choose
Sorry but keeping a goldfish in a glass bowl is about as cruel a thing as you can do to a fish. Because it's been done in the past and the goldfish might be able to survive doesn't mean we should be condemning them to a life of suffering. Goldfish as any fish deserve them same type of care as any other fish.
Goldfish are classified as cold water fish but room temperature tanks are perfectly suitable for them as it also for the plec. Something in the mid to low 70s would suffice for both.
Goldfish are classified as cold water fish but room temperature tanks are perfectly suitable for them as it also for the plec. Something in the mid to low 70s would suffice for both.
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:nw: Lorne , sorry to have suggested it. You are right though, always seeing them in fish bowls one could get the idea--and wrongly as I see from your response--I guess the image was more powerful than the thinking aobut the fish itself. :wb:
Zeebo....I really don't see any eyes there like I use to...Now it just looks like a flat surface with a milky white covering over it. I can try to take a picture of it but I would have to get my son or daughter to upload it on here, I am kinda ignorant on those things
He seems to be doing ok, still eating and moving around like normal...I still have them partitioned so the turtle cant get to him. My husband doesn't think the turtle ate his eyes...But I just don't know what on earth could of caused them to be like this after having him over 10 years. I wish I knew more about the plecos but I really don't, this was always my daughters and she took care of the tank until she recently got married and moved out, left everything here, plans on taking it, just wanted to get situated with the house and all before moving it to her home. I don't think its a good idea to put the Goldfish in a bowl, seems kinda cruel to me. They love their tank...Kinda funny story here on the Gold fish....I bought 12 feeder fish for the turtle and had them in a bowl, well overnite they all died except this one, and I thought there must of been a reason for u surviving so im going to let u live and ive had it for like 4 years now, and eventually got him/her a playmate Thanks for all the advice everyone has given me, I truly appreciate it.