Why is my Pleco trying to attach itself to the side of my fish ? (Updated 12-21)

[Steve]

I don't stop them they grab them as well, but enough gets past the cichlids and falls into the rock work, and with all the nooks and crannies some ends up in places the cichlids can't get to but the pleco and cats are able to get too. Plus once or so a week I'll toss 4-5 wafers in right before I hit the sack just to be sure the cats and plec are getting enough. I only do that once a week though because usually the clown loaches will keep me awake with their clicking for the next hour when I do that lol

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

I don't stop them they grab them as well, but enough gets past the cichlids and falls into the rock work, and with all the nooks and crannies some ends up in places the cichlids can't get to but the pleco and cats are able to get too. Plus once or so a week I'll toss 4-5 wafers in right before I hit the sack just to be sure the cats and plec are getting enough. I only do that once a week though because usually the clown loaches will keep me awake with their clicking for the next hour when I do that lol

I've done this too and woke up the next morning with a dead fish,  I am not sure but I suspect the fish eats a too big piece of wafer and it clogs up its intestine to the point where it cannot process food and then it dies...  This has occurred more than once with the pellets and wafers, but has not occurred with the flakes. So I had to cut way back the amount of pellets and wafers I put into the tank.

Without actually seeing what is going on I just interpret the cause of the dead fish to eating too much too quickly....Am I mis-interpreting this ? 

It only seems to occur when I feed the fish to many pellets or wafers.  When I feed them flakes it haven't lost any fish... 

Now, I have been told that if you have a murdering fish he usually attacks at night...But the only times I have lost any fish is after feeding them the pellets or wafers and NOT with flakes.  Is this just a coincidence or what ?

[Steve]

I think it's just a coincidence and it most likely happened for a different reason. When I feed wafers I see even the smaller fish take a big piece and they will simply hold it in their mouth and chew on it, spit it out and pick it back up and chew on it, spit it out pick it back up etc etc. It's a natural ingrained thing for them to not try to swallow something they can't fit down the chute (there are slight exceptions with fish in the wild but it's not too common). I really doubt that they are choking on the wafers.

[four_by_ken]

It's not that they are choking... it could be that the wafers don't dissolve fast enough and it block them up.

Once they get blocked... it's all down hill.  Buy this usually takes a little time.  Few days at least

[Regalblue]

Cichlids aren't gonna choke on a wafer... I'm sure their pharyngeal bones will get the wafer ground up.

Now maybe they are ingesting too much,  grinding it up & the wafer particles are swelling in their stomachs.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Cichlids aren't gonna choke on a wafer... I'm sure their pharyngeal bones will get the wafer ground up.

Now maybe they are ingesting too much,  grinding it up & the wafer particles are swelling in their stomachs.

Something is not right, that is why I have cut down the amount of food I am putting in the tank.

So I got some sweet potatoes and forked it and dropped it in the tank, the plecos should be happy now, thank for the suggestion !

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

So it has been a couple of days since I started feeding my plecos sweet potatoes and can gladly say that he has stopped attacking my fish....

I also added in some Stress Coat and Salt and everyone seems to be doing much better now....

[LoveTheFishies]

My LDA 33's love the sweet potato.

[four_by_ken]

I always forget to save some of a sweet potato when we have them.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Wow what a great suggestion, my plecos love the Sweet potato and this is so much more cleaner for the tank.  What a GREAT suggestion Thanks...