# Pelco help



## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

I am at wits end and I am going back and forth back and forth on what to do. All I do know is I do not want to knock my little pelco's brains out. 

First things first I have approx. a two and a half inch pelco and growing fast. He used to be a tiny little bugger. It loves to hide in the dragon I got from petsmart and already has killed one minnow. Circle of life thing because when I came back said fish was gone and never seen from again. 0_o

For nearly a week now I have not seen heads or tails of my pelco. Which is odd since he's usually harassing the other fish. I did a full clean of my tank and even knocked over my dragon. No pelco. I refilled the tank no pelco. Then my dumb butt dropped the hood into the tank and well needless to say caused havoc in my tank (thank god not plugged in). 

I picked up my dragon out of the tank nothing fell out. I turned it to the side and herd a thunk. concerned I returned the dragon to the water on it's side then tipped it up right. I carefully repeated in the water to see if anything came out. Nothing did. But like I said above I have no desire to knock my pelco's brains out if he is still alive.

It's been a week and I put a algae pellet under the dragon. Even put in check the goldfish that tried to steal it. Should I just leave it a bit longer or try harder to see if I have a dead pelco in the dragon. I tried to reach up in it but couldn't feel anything... Maybe he got himself stuck?

Oh what to do.


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

That happened to my guppy. He was lost at sea. Could one of your fish possibly eaten him?


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## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

Pretty certain no; especially personally seeing how fast he took down a minnow. And the dragon decoration usually does not go thunk when tipped so literally that's the option open. Though I do have one remaining minnow and one goldfish even with a corpse the pelco would be to big for them to make him quickly disappear. As for jumping out of the tank; never saw a pelco jump but both my minnow and my goldfish have proved it's pretty anti-jump proof.

So now I am caught between:
Is he in the dragon?
If he is in the dragon how can I see if he's alive or not without giving him brain damage?
If he's not alive how long can I leave him in the tank before ew?
If he's not in the dragon where in blue tarnations is he? Did he just pulled a magic trick?


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## Sokkasmom (Jul 24, 2013)

Ole is can and will jump. They do it if water conditions are bad, but I don't think this happened. Sad to say I think he died in the dragon. Propyl got stuck in it. I would pull the dragon out and try to make the hole bigger, and try to get him out.


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

Can you see inside the dragon with a flashlight? I assume you mean pleco, as in plecostomus. 

There's no way for us to know if he is in the dragon, you just have to find a way to look. Maybe poke around in it with a q tip or something.

If he's alive, he will move....if he's anything like my plecos (crazy).

If he is dead, you cannot leave him in the tank for any amount of time.


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## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

Well I never thought about a Q-Tip and reaching in there. I carefully took out my dragon tipped it on it's side and reached in the mouth with a Q tip and my dragon gave birth to a POed pelco. 0_o Even completely out of the water it manage to move quite fast out of the dragons behind and launch into the tank.

Welp now I know how to check if the pelco's still alive.

Thank you everyone-pelco's I swear.


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

LOL! Glad he is still alive!


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## Sokkasmom (Jul 24, 2013)

Glad he is alive and doing ok. Silly plecos, they are some of the weirdest fish I have ever owned.


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## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

Now if he remains this reclusive it might be useful when I have to move the whole tank when they fumigate. Be nice if all I have to do is take the dragon out and put it in a bucket. Guess he's not as tiny as he used to be and is slowing down, but sure some grip he has there.

I'll never get the little guy.


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

My plecos are the same way. I have two in my 1200 gal pond....it's starting to get colder out and I need to bring them inside...but I can't catch them! They hide under the waterfall rocks where I can't get to them without diving under the water with goggles, a flashlight and a net lol. Mine are around 7 inches now, I think. And they are FAST!!


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## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

My illusive Pelco came out durning the day. I didn't recognize it as my pelco at first. Something happened to him and it absolutely terrifies me. He came to me just over and inch about two months ago and now he stretches from the tip of the underside of the large petco dragon jaw to the back of the neck. Right now I am to startled to comprehend how many inches that was but the petshop owner told me he'd grow slowly and this isn't slowly. XD He's also gotten blacker but his top fin is the same dark brown with spots.


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## Canis (Apr 15, 2013)

PLEco, not PELco ;D


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## Sokkasmom (Jul 24, 2013)

Plecos grown fast. Each and every one. Never came across on that didn't grow at least 1/2 an inch a month.


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## RoMayApple (Sep 28, 2013)

0_o I'm going to need a bigger tank before I have the room for a bigger tank. You know I have no idea what kind of pelco-er pleco he is the store never said. I just liked him because he was the only one not albino or brown (he's so black when he attaches to the filter he's camouflaged). He's been more active lately and today I woke up to see him under the dragon with his fins spread out. Tried to get a picture but he bolted before I could get one. Maybe just maybe he was stuck in that dragon and needed a little nudge to freedom. -sigh- time to look for a large flat rock to put between the PVC pipes for him to hide in.



He was trying to run but managed to catch him on the phone before he vanished. He looks so small on that image but this is right before he sips behind the dragons head and out of site.


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## MorganC2010 (Jul 7, 2011)

I'm guessing he is just a common pleco. And they at fun cool little fish. But I shouldn't say little lol. I had one, named Bear, who lived for 18 years and was over 2 feet long when he died. So if you decide to upgrade and I hope you do I suggest at least a 55 gallon tank so he will fit comfortably


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

Yes common plecos get huge! And they do grow fast. I've got two in my 1200 gal pond, and I still feel like that won't be enough room for them to live happily...lol.


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