MissMTS

I never clean my driftwood. If it gets algae, the fish usually eat it off.

capekate

thats the problem.. lol... none ever ate the algae. So I bought 2 Pleco's for the job... seems that the survivor isnt really interested in the algae yet..

With t he algae growth on the driftwood, it contaminated the whole tank, so I cleaned it off as well as what I could get up out of the gravel, the result was my mini cycle that Im dealing with now.(which I will not do again) And the reason for the Pleco addition.

Bonochick

Oh, Kate, don't feel bad. You have a caring heart and truly try to do well for your fish. You got that pleco with good intentions and did nothing wrong. It's okay to be sad over the loss, but don't beat yourself up over it. I think it would be sad if you stopped buying fish because there are a lot of fish who would be missing out on having a good home.

capekate

thanks Bonochick...
I think that I really feel bad for my husband.. he went with me to the fish store and wanted to be a part of it all. He was the one that bought two instead of just one that I wanted. They were expensive at 11.99 each, and we have been pretty broke lately with a very large mortgage and knowing this, he thought he was making me happy by buying the two. A day later and 'gargole' as he called him was dead. I think he felt really bad about it, and said no more fish! He does hate to loose fish, even tho he wont admit it, he does have his favorites.
So now its working on getting the tank back up and running the way it should be. But for now.. I will take care of the fish that I have left and maybe some day .... more fish when I get my confidence in the tank back.

COBettaCouple

Yea, it's discouraging to lose one so fast, but 999 times out of 1000 it means the fish came home sick. I know you did the best possible for them.

Do you still want the Endlers?

capekate

Thanks for the vote of confidence Newbeefishlover.. I really appreciate the support from my friends in the forum during these times. Im sorry to hear of your loss as well, we all can relate to what it feels like. The forum is full of caring folks that lend support when we feel so discouraged.Its this type of caring, support and a helping hand given freely that makes this forum so special and above the rest.
The ammonia very well could have elevated with adding the Pleco's, but I do believe I was going thru a mini cycle before adding them and didnt realize it til it was too late. the dead Pleco was probably in the tank for less than a few hours at the most before I noticed it. I was around the tank since its in the living room and I usually keep an eye on it while watching tv. Your right about the Pleco producing more waste, one of the original reasons I didnt want to add any in the first place, but thought that as a good algae eater, was just what I needed.

capekate

Hi Barbrella
Its so sad to loose a fish to the filter... I do remember your post about that awhile ago. poor lil thing...

I actually did test the water out of the tap, while trying to figure out what was wrong. we are on a well here, so at times I guess it could change? But the test was fine, bright yellow, no ammonia.
I always use Prime, with every water change even when suggested that its not really necessary with well water, which is probably correct But I add it anyway to be on the safe side of things. Ive added a little extra to help bind up the ammonia as an emergency tactic. I dont think it was just rinsing the filters out, but a long with that, I cleaned off the driftwood, vacuumed the gravel... cleaned off the inside of the glass etc etc..
The little one, my husband named Mordred (of Arthurian Legend) is still doing fine, I guess. Hard to tell with these prehistoric looking critters lol.. even hard to tell where their eyes are! Since I am not familiar with them, like my other fish where you can pretty well tell if something is wrong with them, its hard to tell with the pleco's.

FishnFry

So sorry to hear about your loss Kate.

I also know how it feels to loss a fishy friend. I for 1 had lost 2 King Tigers last month. I was so shocked to see them both dead within a week. And like you, I also said, that's it no more buying new fish.

It just gets very frustrating when you try to bring home something new not knowing it would not do well in their new tank.

Hope everything will be back to normal pretty soon.

MissMTS

Kate,
I know that you are not wanting to buy any more fish right now; however, I have a possible solution for you in the future. I have been having a really bad algae problem in one of my tanks. Yesterday at the LFS I picked up two American Flag Fish. They are supposed to be awesome algae eaters and one or two would probably eat any remaining algae in your tank and keep it clean in the future. They only get to be 3.5 inches and don't produce nearly as much waste as the plecos do. I'll let you know if mine do a good job on my tank. Again, I am sorry for your loss. Don't get discouraged.
Kate

voiceless_kat

Dear Kate...I am sooooo sorry to hear about you losing the large pleco. ( I haven't been on the forum, sorry I just read it this afternoon). Please don't blame yourself - as all your other friends said, you are a great fish mom...it was nothing you did.

These tanks with their sudden changes - surely all of these things are sent to test us! Someone already said - some of these things are out of our control. You will feel better soon, and you will be back to buying a new fish. For now, know how much support you have, we know how sad you are, and just enjoy those big beauties that you have nurtured along!

All will be well! Sending hugs!!

Val

Barbrella

Dark coloured plecos might turn very pale when stressed or sick, so if yours is nice and dark, he might be fine!

I recently moved a tiny albino (my 3rd - other two died ) into my 10 gal tank, and was so paranoid I was checking him ever half hour to make sure he was alive. I also didn't see him eat for a few days, like yours, and panicked but then he started on the algae and is just fine now.

Hopefully the same will be true of yours. I"m sure we've all had catastrophes during the course of our fishkeeping. I know I have, and nearly gave it all up, but am glad I didn't. I'm sure you won't either!

capekate

Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for your support. Im very interested in the flag fish you have. i have heard of them, but do not remember much about them. Please do keep me posted on how yours are doing and if they are eating the algae in your tank.



Hello my friend..
Thanks Val, Im working on repairing the damage in the tank every day, and every day the ammonia readings go down, but still not yellow yet. Hopefully in a few days it will be back to normal. No more fish for awhile! ... just cant go through this again. At the end of the month I may be able to go off cape up near boston where there is supposed to be a good fish store there. I may look for the GBRs there. Im just so afraid of getting new fish for fear of loosing anymore. So I will continue to take care of those that are healthy and still alive. At least my Betta's are all doing well... and bring me comfort there.

I wont give it up.. but hope that my confidence on taking care of them will come back soon....

Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement... It means so much to me and has helped me a lot in getting over this let down...

capekate

thank you FishnFry
Im sorry to hear about your two king tigers, we all have had loss of fish that just gets to us and can bring us down when its the last thing we expected. I know what you must have gone through loosing them both within a week.
Having the fish forum and our friends here, can and has really helped to get over the hard times like this.
thank you for your support and kind words..

Sabi

Hi Kate

Aww, I'm so sorry to read this! I know exactly how you feel! Its really sad when a fish dies suddenly. And the bigger it is the more you feel the loss. I lost my last cory yesterday, i found him upside down in the bottom of the tank.

Remember you did your best for him, after that its not in your hands.
I'm really sorry for you and hope that you get rewarded thru your fish to make you happy again

capekate

Thank you Sabi,
Im so sorry for your loss as well. I remember when I lost my last cory too, they are such little cutie pies, full of personality.. it is so hard to loose them. Im sending 's your way too!

Sabi

Thank you Kate! Plus, i think they are the best at cleaning up any left overs in the tank.

slakey

Sorry about your loss. I lost one of my two black peru corys 2days ago

So now im thinking the other may feel lonely as he doesnt hang around with my trio of three-lined corys.

capekate

Sorry to hear you lost your cories Slakey...
They are pretty sensitive lil guys..
Its been ten days now that I have been doing about 30% water changes in the 55 and the 29g tank that for some reason is STILL showing ammonia!
I dont understand why its taking so long for the mini cycle to complete itself.
But.. will keep testing the ammonia levels and keep doing the wc's everyday til I see a nice bright yellow in the test tube.