Plecos Dying

[adamwab130]

My Plecos keep dying mysteriously! Help! They are all common plecs. the last one that died mystersiuoly was a common plec. He wasn't shy at all and never hid. he'd swim with my 5 pepper corys. Every second day out give him an algae walfer. He'd thrash when sucking on it. It was very amusing. Then one day he didn't eat at all and he'd stay on the front glass all day. Then I woke up the next morning and saw him on the bottom motionless. I came up to him and lightly tapped on the galss. He didn't move. He was dead! He wasn't sick at all. I hate it when a fish dies. Could you tell why they keep dying.

The PH was: 7.4 and there was no nitrite. There never is. He lived in a cycled tank for 6 months and the other fish were doing fine. Please tell me!

 

[dgwebster]

What are the dimensions of the tank?

I met a guy keeping a Plec in a 60 gallon tank tonight - only problem is that it was 6 foot long and only 10" wide - which isn't enough turning room in my opinion. a fish that can grow to 18" should not be given 10" to turn in. Im new, but surely this would not be ideal for the fish?

 

[adamwab130]

The dimensions are:

Height: 12"

Width: 23"

Depth: 9"

He also died when he was 2 1/2" long.

 

[dgwebster]

hmm could be a number of possibilities - unknow infection, stress, the fish just didnt acclimatise and gave it up for dead one day. the fact it stopped eating could suggest issues with surroundings from everything ive read. maybe someone here with lots of pleco experience could offer further help?

 

[adamwab130]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I'll wait for a more experienced person with plecos.


Oh ya and the pleco would act really funny and do neat stuff. This didn't seem to be desease related but i'll mention it anyway. He would actually swim to the top and go upside down. (This is a common plec remember)! And he would eat the flakes off the surface! OH and these are the fish I had with him:

2 albino & 1 normal Buenos Aires Tetras,
4 Black Skirt Tetras,
5 Glo-Light Tetras,
4 Peppered and 1 Bronze Corys, &
3 Kuhli Loaches.

I have an average outside filter 20 for 20 gallons (which is the size of my tank) that had those cartridges that filtered the cuk and wastes through a nylon bag that was filled with carbon.

I have no idea how he died. He looked perfectly fine fine the day I went for the night, then when I came back he didn't eat and stayed on the front of the glass all day.

Remember. THe other fish acted normal and there was no nitrite. Man I should get more test kits for myself.

Tell me soon!

 

[Tolak]

Could be lack of food, or constipation from eating flakes, without water test results, it's hard to tell. Sounds food related to me though, especially if he is eating off the top of the tank, and the other fish are doing fine.

Plecs have a very long digestive tract, need food almost constantly. Veggies are a big part of their diet. Mine love zuccini, I always have some in the freezer. Flakes often contain too much protein for common plecs, causing problems with digestion.

My commons get algae tabs or sinking veggie pellets daily, and zuccini once a week. The smaller ones need that zuke, older ones get by with it less often.

Get some veggies in there. Besides zuccini I've fed cucumber, carrots, broccolli stems, and pumpkin. Blanching in a container of water in the microwave helps to soften it, making it easier to eat. Most any fresh veggie will work, avoid canned though, sometimes suger or salt is added during processing.

Tolak

 

[adamwab130]

Thanks for the help! Though I had a rubber lipped pleco that died a month before. He never ate he flakes. Just hung out in the back behind my rocks eating algae off the window. Then one day he sat under a log which was in front of the aquarium. Then he died the next morning. My curosity arised so I didected my poor fish to maybe sewe if he had gotten internal parasites. When I opened him up all I found was this gray waterish blood and two orangy brown organs stuck on a tube. Problably the kidneys. This was shocking. But do all rubber lips have jsut two measely organs and gray water.

He died at 2 1/2" and with the smae fish with a PH of 7.4 and no nitrite. Why do my plecs keep dying!!

 

[Tolak]

When the uneaten flakes settle to the bottom, plecs will eat them as well. I would start with the diet, besides needing a larger tank for comon plecs. A tank that size would be fine for bristlenose plecs, which eat algae as good as a common, but only get to somewhere around 5".

I've never done a fish autopsy, but know you need a decent microscope & staining equipment for slides to make any sort of diagnosis when a fish has died. Internal parasites are microscopic.

Common plecs need veggies more than anything else. They are probably the cheapest fish food you will find.

Tolak

 

[adamwab130]

Thanks. I think i'll buy one today when i'm out. A whiptail. But do they also have the digestive problems that the common plec has?

 

[Tolak]

Whiptails have the same dietary requirements as a common. Commons don't have digestive problems any more than any other animal. They do have dietary requirements like any other animal though.

Imagine keeping a dog & a rabbit, and trying to feed them the same food. The dog wouldn't survive long on veggies, but the rabbit would thrive. The rabbit would die soon if fed only dog food, while the dog would be fine. They are both mammals, but with different dietary requirements. Fish work the same way.

Tolak

 

[scott67892002]

i think i'm right in thinking that plecs need bog wood in the tank it helps with their digestion. i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong!

 

[adamwab130]

Well that is true but I have 6 six big pieces. And I definately saw the last one that died on it. And the last one that died, died a month later after he ate the flakes upside down. So I'm really confuse.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

At a guess I'd say he was starving. Coupled with feeding from the surface he would have sucked in air and if that got into his gut that would have caused all sorts of problems. Fish can't expell gas like we do. Make sure your remaing plecs have alot more veggies to graze on. It's best to make sure they have too much then not enough. Uneaten food can be removed after a day whereas a starving desperately hungry fish will simply die eventually.
Hugs,
P.