Help!! is my pleco pregnant?

Question

My plecos live in a tank with 6 common goldfish. i have never had any problem with them fighting or anything, they all get along well. But i noticed today that one of my plecos is fat, like it has a huge belly. is it pregnant? she is swimming around and stuff but i'm worried it might be prego. what do i do? how can i know? and if she isnt pregnant then what's wrong with her belly cus the other pleco and goldfish are all fine

Answer 1

she is probably filled with eggs

Answer 2

Does look bloated.

Often caused by an incorrect diet. Common plecos need a high fibre diet that contains a lot of vegetable matter. Zuchini, squash, peas, green beans, things like that. If they eat normal fishf ood all the time they can get constipated, bloat up and die.

You can try changing their diet, sink chunks of vege into the tank with a stainless fork. It may be too late for that fish, but it may may help your other plecos long term.

Ian

Answer 3

Look for the gravid spot which is right before their tail in their stomach. If its black then that's a gravid spot. Keep an eye on it. They should be fine though,

Hope This Helps

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Answer 4

Sometimes a female will fill up with eggs and be ready to spawn but there is no male around to accomodate her.  In that case, she will usually reabsorb the eggs back into her body.  Sometimes, though, she can become "egg bound" and it causes many problems up to and including death.

Answer 5

i think it might be do some reserch and google pics and stuff good luck

Answer 6

Plecos are egg layers, they don't get pregnant.

Plecos shouldn't be kept with goldfish, they're known for sucking on the slimecoat of goldfish and are tropical fish.

The big belly could either be due to eggs, over-eating or an internal disorder, it's hard to say without a photo.

edit: looking at that photo it's either severely egg-bound or has a massive internal infection/parasites. the only time i've had an obese suckermouth fish was an Otocinclus (same family as plecos), I believe she was egg bound and ultimately she died because of it.