my platys seem to eat my plec

Question
Hi, i recently purchased 10 micky mouse platies, all are still small fry . I also have a bigplec in my tank ( for over 4 years already) and to my horror i discovered that the platy seem to eat the plec alive. They are constantly nibbling on him and he just lays there. What can I do? Does it harm the plec or are they just cleaning him? The plec does have some growths on him , already had them when we got him, but they dont bother him at all, but the platies seem to nibble on them till it bleeds. Please advice. Thank you for your time. Kind Regards Mo

Answer
Hi Mo;

That's not good. You may have to isolate him or move the platies so he can heal. An aquarium divider would work too. He may have excess slime from whatever caused the growths and other fish tend to like to nibble that stuff. (Yuck.)

You could also try distracting them with tasty veggies to nibble on. I feed my fish cooked green beans, raw cucumber slices, romaine lettuce, cooked peeled green peas, and cooked or raw squash slices. It's good for them and they don't rot like regular foods so they can be left in the tank for hours at a time. The pleco would really like them too.

I hope things get better soon.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins