The Plecostamus did it???

[koimom]

Well, so far only the one koi has passed away, everyone else is acting healthy! My husband has wondered if the plecostamus' spines may have poisoned the one koi? When the big ogon gets the "herd" moving, they often bump into each other in the tank. Aren't plecostamus spines supposed to have a little poison in them, or am I wrong here?
Still wondering about this unexplained fish death??? :

 

[ryan]

That will not have caused the Kois death, what are the water parameters, what size tank, what fish are in there?

 

[crimsontsavo]

I'm placing my bets on an overstocked aquarium.

 

[ste2k3]

plecs are not a coldwater fish and should be kept it tropical tanks!. as for the death of the koi it could be anything, we need more info.

ste

 

[Opcn]

It could be a hill stream loach they are often sold as some kind of pleco. Do pleco spines really have poison in them That sounds wrong to me seeing as how black pirahnas can eat them and be fine. A plecos big defense is the combination of thick rought scales and its bad taste (always wearing that blue green t-shirt with those red shorts that leave Way too much to the imagination)

Opcn

 

[plecoguy]

plecos spines dont have poison. Plecos can be kept in ponds as long as the water doesnt get below about 65 degrees, otherwise they die.

 

[koimom]

well...so far so good; checked with members of local koi clubs; most likely the death was to something internal like a fluke or something which would have been difficult to discover before the mishap. My other koi has apparently made it through a small spring outbreak of koipox, and everyone else is doing well. We've borrowed an emergency 100 gallon and bought a filter so we can move the big girl/guy? outside asap and we are still working on getting a new pond built outside, hopefully in the next month or two. Glad the plecostamus are off the hook as they are fairly tame and eating from our hands too! The only shy member of the tank is our Synodontis, who hides up near the filter.
Our tank is 85 gallons with an Emperor double wheel bio filter, a mechanical filter for 500 gallons, and a skimmer. With frequent water changes the levels seem to be doing okay in the safe zone according to the tests. So far, so good. Just will be glad when the new pond is built and this is over! Thanks for all of the imput, we appreciate it greatly!

 

[ryan]

Sounds good Koimom, what size is the outdoor pond going to be and what varities of Koi do you have?

 

[koimom]

B) If possible, we would like it to be 4,500-5,000 gallons, but we may have to settle for around 3,000. Our yard is large but funny shaped as we are on a pie shaped or open purse style lot with the back yard much larger than the front. Part of it extends behind the garage. In the middle is a large wooden play area w/swings, trapeze, tower, slide, etc. for the kids, which takes up a bit of room. We can move it sideways a little, but not much. In the corner behind the garage is the telephone pole (fortunately in the neighbor's yard) but still accessible to possums, squirrels, roof rats, etc. We are near a nature center with herons, raccoons, and we have a large crow/jay/songbird/finch contingency as well. Our dilema is if we put the pond next to the garage and around the corner to the back of it, what happens when we go to paint/stucco/repair it? Also, city ordinance requires a 5 foot set back from all property lines for access for the fire dept. The pond needs to be raised due to special needs children and advanced aged dogs. We probably want too much, but we're still going to try and work it out. We also want the area to be covered with an overhang, possibly shadecloth, lighted, and with a seating area where we can enjoy the koi children. Will post when we go from fantasy land to reality!

 

[ryan]

Sounds like you have some porblems to iron out. 3000 gallons would be fine for some Koi providing a good filtration sytem is used, but a 4500 gallon pond would be even better.

Good Luck

 

[vantgE]

what type of syno cause most are schooling so if it is not a eupterus or nirita then that would explain it's shyness they do much better in schools