Warning that Plecos do eat other fish

My Pleco has grown to over a foot and a half (my pet store told me he was the type that stays small -- hah!) and I thought just a gentle giant. That is, until my Chinese golden algae eaters (over 8 inches in length) started disappearing from my tank. Further research on the Internet has me believing that my Pleco, Spot, is the culprit. Altho' they apparently don't eat live fish, they will eat dead fish. And some love the slime of other live fish so they go after slow-moving larger fish that they can grip their "lips" onto and suck the slime. That action, in turn, kills the fish and then the Pleco has a dead fish to eat! I was horrified. Have been following the growth of my Chinese golden algae eaters (Porthos, Athos and Aramis) from little tykes to a good size and were fond of them so was mystified when Porthos completely disappeared from my 75-gal. covered tank from one day to the next. Not a trace. Then the same thing happened to Athos. I don't have the time, money nor the space to separate my fish so now I look at my serene tank with apprehension and worry and have no idea how to stop the carnage before Aramis becomes Spot's next meal.

Funny, under a separate message string, I am complaining about my 2 catfish breeding like crazy and I now have over 3 dozen catfish -- it would be OK with me if Spot would go after their eggs but he apparently has no interest in them.

Let this be a warning to others. And please, any suggestions on what is happening here and how to fix it would certainly help! Thanks!

I would get rid of the common pleco and look for bristle nose plecos

Do you know for sure that the Bristlenose does not have the propensity for sucking on other fish? How big do they get? And by "get rid of," what exactly do you mean? I know I could not kill a fish so what are the other alternatives?

the bristlenose like any other pleco will eat weak fish. however they only get around 4-5" long. they are great at cleanign the tank and come in all sorts of colors.

I just meant offer it up so someone with a bigger tank to accommodate it.

I have had different kind of Plecos big and small. I have never had one eat other fish in the tanks or in our outdoor pond. My thinking on this topic is that they will only do that if they are not getting enough other foods.

If anything, he is overfed so I really don't think he ate the others out of hunger. I was giving occasional bloodworms and shrimp-type foods in addition to the algae wafers but I have increased them to more frequently now, just in case there was a protein deficiency! But I still feel the eating was a direct consequence from them being dead and my Pleco Spot wanting to clean up the debris. Of course, the dead fish were only dead because Spot sucked on the slime from their bodies but I don't think he was trying to kill them.

You mention an outdoor pond...is it because you are in Texas that you can have a Pleco in an outside pond? I have an outside pond (Pennsylvania) in which I keep goldfish and Koi...it is small but deep enough to have them survive the winters here. Could I put Spot out in the outside pond (to stay year-round) or would that not be a good idea since he was raised in a tank?

Although it is warmer here in Texas we do get freezng weather in the winter. I bring him in in the fall and put him back out in the spring when it gets warm. I did this for three years. I also put my Angelfish, guppies and Platys out there during the summer.