Plec Not Doing So Good

[langy]

Over the last week or so I have noticed that my plec isn't as lively as he once was. Normally he is king of the tank, chasing others around and keeping the algae at bay.

However, all he does now is just lie on the bottom or on the side of the tank and not move very much. I have tried to ensure he is getting food (before every thing else gets it) and he has had a wafer or 2. He looks OK, no sign of anything un-toward.

Water stats are:
Amonia 0.1
Nitrate 0
Nitrate 75 (ish)
pH 8
Temp 28 C

Any idea's. as i don't want to loose him.

TIA

 

[rowdyburns21]

How long has the tank been set-up, any other bottom feeders or fish that might give him a hard time?
Sometimes my pleco just has moodswings and I dont see him for a month!! How come you have a trace of ammonia?
A cycled tank should always read zero for ammonia and nitrite.

 

[jollysue]

75 nitrate is also high I believe. What is your tap water stats?

 

[langy]

How long has the tank been set-up, any other bottom feeders or fish that might give him a hard time?
Sometimes my pleco just has moodswings and I dont see him for a month!! How come you have a trace of ammonia?
A cycled tank should always read zero for ammonia and nitrite.

Tank has been set up and running for 18 months The only other bottom dwellers are the 2 clown loaches. As already mentioned, the plec is normally king of the tanka nd no one gives him a hard time.

Don't know why i have traces of Amonia, I did carry out a 25% water change a day or 2 ago and chaged the Blue and white filters.

For all the time i've had the tank, the Nitrate has always been around the 75 to 100.

Don't know what my tap water stats are, will take a look later.

 

[Spooky76]

I dont know what kind of filter you have but in mine I have never changed a blue sponge, I rinse it in the tank water every other month, and just change the white one every week.

If they are you only sponges, you will remove ALL the good bacteria.

My Plec is a bit like that at times, moody

 

[langy]

I dont know what kind of filter you have but in mine I have never changed a blue sponge, I rinse it in the tank water every other month, and just change the white one every week.

If they are you only sponges, you will remove ALL the good bacteria.

My Plec is a bit like that at times, moody

Its the standard Juwel 'black box in the corner' system. The plec was not too happy before the filter was changed.

 

[rowdyburns21]

like somebody said just wash your filter pads in the tank water untill they are literally falling apart before replacing them, have you got any bogwood in the tank?

 

[langy]

One bit of bogwood is in the tank which is normally his second home. Its now slowly getting covered in algae

 

[Spooky76]

Did you replace all the blue sponges ?

 

[langy]

I only changed 1 blue sponge.

I know he's eating as yesterday i managed to drop a plec wafer just in front of his nose, he moved forward a bit and covered it for safe keeping.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I would keep up the water changes as long as you have ammonia showing on the test.
What kind of plec is it?

 

[langy]

Will do another partial water change. The plec is a gold spot

 

[Ilya]

Reach down in there, and give your pleco a nice pet. Maybe he just wants attention.

 

[langy]

Well after a week or so and little change, he finally died yesterday

Just need to get a replacement so my glass is kept clean.

 

[scooterchick]

Whoa! Before adding more fish it would be far better to sort out your tank first. The fish you have already will have adapted to conditions inside your tank, any new fish will not and will probably become sick within a couple of weeks.

Ok, so you have a 180l tank with a high nitrate reading and a LOT of fish. How often do you do water changes? With the amount of fish you have you should be doing water changes at LEAST once a week, ideally twice a week. Your clown loaches are too big for that size of tank, if you rehome them it will reduce the bioload drastically and your tank will be much healthier.

What kind of plec was he? Normal behaviour for a plec is usally just hanging around eating, they're very peaceful and rarely chase any other fish. I wonder if something else was bothering him, and the lethargy at the end was the disease in an advanced stage.

Any chance of pictures of your tank?