sgould

Well, I woke up to find "Spot", the bristlenose pleco, dead this morning for no apparant reason. Concerned, I check the water parameters and all looked good...0, 0, and 20. The only thing I can figure is that I recently soaked some of the decor in some diluted vinegar and perhaps didn't get it rinsed off well enough afterwards? I had a small algae outbreak and did a blackout and food restriction for 3 days. Then I took out the fake plants and decor and soaked/scrubbed them in vinegar water, rinsed them off, and put them back in the tank. This was a few days ago. Since then, everyone else in the tank has been normal, but the pleco had been more reclusive. Then I found him this morning, just sitting on the bottom in plain sight, dead. The other fish are not that involved in the decor pieces, but the pleco hangs out on that stuff all the time.

Tom

Sorry to hear about your loss. The thing about vinegar is that it is safe, when diluted, for the aquarium, that is why so many people use it to clean out used and new tanks. Where did you wash the things in? If it was an ice cream pale, or something you usually don't use, it could have had some chemicals in it that you didn't know that were in it.
Tom

Stradius011

Sorry to hear you're loss.

Fish Fry

when i clean my fake plants i use a cap ful of bleach to 5 gallons of water then i rinse well then soak then in 5 gallons of heavely treated water ( i use stress coat or top fins water conditioner) the i rinse again and soak in plain water for a bit. i do this like once every couple of months. never had a fish die from it and my fake plants look great.

COBettaCouple

we're sorry you lost spot and really find it kind of a mystery why he died.. was he old? did he have any signs of damage, sores, anything that would give a clue to why he died? i'd be surprised if it was the vinegar, but i wouldn't totally rule it out.. maybe give it 1% chance as it's so unlikely.

did you rinse the decor with tap water? if so, did you treat the tank with a conditioner after putting the decor back in?

Bonochick

Aww, so sorry about Spot.

sgould

He was pretty young...not yet full grown. I hadn't thought about residue from where the decor was cleaned...which was in the bathroom sink. Only things that should be in there are soap and toothpaste, but I suppose either could do the trick. It's too bad...he was my wife's favorite fish, and her support of the money I spend on the hobby is lukewarm as it is! :

I'll keep an eye on the tank for awhile, and if all is well, perhaps pick up Spot II.