Whats wrong with my Pleco

[leongreenway]

Hi,

I have just come back from a friends house and thought i would say hi to my fish, turned on light and my BN Pleco is a really light colour, in fact almost white.

I am worried about him. I have recently bought a Black calus. When they first met, he didnt like the calvus, reared his dorsal fin and started hitting the calvus. Calvus just sat there took it for a bit then drove my little RTBshark out of his hiding place. It has been there ever since.

since i have been writing this, the plec rushed the Calvus hiding place and the calvus chased him out.

The Calus is lighter than usual in ciolour as well.

A couple of seconds after the Calvus came out, my RTBS has gone half white, he was normal before the Calvus came out. Is this normal or is there something more sinister a foot. I dont think theres a water problem as i did 45% water change today and stress coated the water. (tell me if you think this is the problem!!!


The Pleco's colour has come back in the last minute or so, the Calvus keeps chaning colour and the RTBshark is tentatively following him around....any suggestions. By the way RTBsharks has turned Black again, his tail isnt as red as usual still though. Oh no hes back to half pale half black again!!??!

 

[charmd2]

Color changes are normally due to sleep or stress. Sounds to me like your fish are a little stressed out.

You didn't say how big the tank is, Are they overcrowded? Do they have lots of hiding spots?

How recently is recently bought?

 

[leongreenway]

Hi Darthannihl8or.

Ok, I will be getting a bigger tank in 6 months, hower at the moment...

25USGal tank 25inch X 15inch X 13inch

1 * Redtail Black shark 2 1/2 Inches
1 * Black Calvus 2 1/2 Inches
1 * Bristle Nosed Pleco 4 Inches

5 plants, different varieties
1 * 12 Inch piece tropical hardwood
1 * Clay plant pot

 

[leongreenway]

sorry i meant charmd2

 

[pahansen]

I'd try throwing a couple more clay pots in there as soon as possible. It sounds like you've got three fish who want hiding places/their own territory and only one good place to hide. The clay pots are cheap, so if this doesn't solve the problem you haven't lost much. The pleco needs the hardwood to rasp upon, but unless the wood has a cave or tunnel-like area, it's not a good hiding place for him. I'd try putting one pot near the wood, so the pleco can have a quick rasp and get back "home". I'd put the other pots as far from each other as possible, so that each fish can have a "zone". You might also want to try more than three pots, although -- let's face it -- you're dealing with a limited amount of space on the floor of your tank. (I have a 20 gallon, and it's amazing how quickly the floor fills up with plants, wood, etc.)

I bet that once you have a few more hiding places, you'll have less stress in your tank. Of course, moving to a bigger tank will naturally help as well, but I don't think you'll want to wait six month wait to give them a little more security. The extra pots may be a good stop gap measure.

Good luck,
Pamela

 

[Blue Lobster]

Add some stress coat to the tank, it will calm them down. More hiding spots will help too.

Put a piece of Cucumber in there too, plecos go nuts for the seedy centers.

 

[leongreenway]

pahansen, Thanks I will do this, I have one clay pot but I will split in two to provide to extra places, thank you.

Blue Lobster, Thanks, I know Stress coat is a dechlorinator but does this work to calm fish down as well, cool if it does.

Hmmmm Cucumber eh, e will give it ago, does it sink OK, I have noticed, pees and lettice dont !!

 

[gale]

Cucumber doesn't really sink (I've heard of some people nuking it first and it sinks but I've never tried that). Anyway, I use a plant weight to weigh it down. Or else I'll use a feeding clip and suction it to the side.

 

[Bloo]

pahansen, Thanks I will do this, I have one clay pot but I will split in two to provide to extra places, thank you.

Blue Lobster, Thanks, I know Stress coat is a dechlorinator but does this work to calm fish down as well, cool if it does.

Hmmmm Cucumber eh, e will give it ago, does it sink OK, I have noticed, pees and lettice dont !!

get one of these http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...4373480572&rd=1 worth every penny and they are great ! better than nuking them and taking out some of the goodness. Fresh veg is better anyway B)

 

[leongreenway]

great Idea,

I think i can make one (I know Cheap skate) out of a cheap bottle opener.

 

[Erised]

Umm ... you said you just turned the lights on. Its normal for fish to have pretty much no colour when you just turn the light on. Their colours fade at night and come back when the lights go on ... specially seeing as you say the colours started coming back already, I'd say there's absolutely nothing wrong with your fish.

 

[Bloo]

great Idea,

I think i can make one (I know Cheap skate) out of a cheap bottle opener.

You are a cheapskate lol
Just be very careful as cork screws have sharp edges whereas these nifty little inventions they sell on ebay has nice rounded edges and made of proper marine grade stainless steel..... you don't want a fish with a cut lip and infected mouth

 

[leongreenway]

Fair enough, no cut mouths, I boiled the cucumber a bit till it sank.

Pleco loves it !!! , so did my Red Tailed Black shark

Also tried lettice, went down a treat

all doing well

Thanks