Sudden Strange Plecostomus Behavior.

[NiRo]

Hi everybody. I'm new here.
My freshwater tank houses a pleco, about ten inches long now, and recently lost two fancy goldfish and a rainbow shark from unknown reasons.

The pleco is now exhibiting unusual behavior. He normally lies at the bottom of the tank under a cave. Recently he has been violently jumping (for lack of a better word) to the top of the tank. He does it with such force I'm sure he's hitting the tank cover.

Before all this happened, about ten rosy barbs were put into the tank.

What is the cause of this sudden behavior from the pleco and why did I lose three fish almost at the same time.

Any help you can give will be so much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[SlyPolak]

I have seen plecos "jump" to the top of some tanks to get a quick breath of freash air.. what size tank and what are your stats??

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, this is quite common behaviour for plecs; they get some of their oxygen through the wall of their gut, so they do take mouthfuls of air sometimes.

But as you've also lost some fish recently, to elimanate any other problems that might be happening, we do need some more info as SlyPolak says.

Tank size, filtration, the results of water tests, how long the tank's been running and what your water change regime is.

 

[NiRo]

Thanks for the replies. It's a 36 gallon tank and the ammonia levels were a little high but nothing out of the ordinary for having two large goldfish in it. The filter is working fine and the water is changed every week. The tank is not new. It's been running for at least four years now and the pleco is roughly three years old.
The rainbow shark that died was four years old as well as the goldfish. The remaining fish seem to be doing fine.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for the replies. It's a 36 gallon tank and the ammonia levels were a little high but nothing out of the ordinary for having two large goldfish in it.

It is out of the ordinary to let ammonia or nitrite levels to be anything but ZERO!

If you get readings from a liquid test kit showing anything but zero, you should be doing a large (think 80% or more, leaving just enough water in the tank for fish to swim in) water change.

Your fish depend on you (and anyone with an active intrest in this tank) to provide a healthy environment for them. From what you have written in this thread so far, it sounds like "devine intervention" has kept fish alive in this tank for anything like three years.

 

[storm45]

a 10inch pleco in 36gallon doesnt sound too good to me... what type of aeration do you have in the tank?