capekate

I was shocked to find him on his side at the bottom of the tank last night. He lasted about 24 hrs in the tank. The smaller one is still alive. I did a ammonia test and found my test to be bright green! ugggh...
I have been doing about 40% water changes every other day. I just dont know why the ammonia is so high. Im very frustrated and discouraged at this point in fish keeping... and do not plan on buying any more fish.
Now Im doing water changes every day to get rid of the ammonia. Strange that my Discus, Angel and cardinal tetras along with the rams are all doing fine. But Im afraid with that kind of reading that they can get stressed and sick. that tank is almost a year old. I have never had ammonia readings since cycling the tank. I did rinse out the filter media a few weeks back and may have caused a mini cycle. Only saving grace is the fact that my PH level is 6.4 and being low has turned the ammonia to ammonium which is less toxic, but still toxic. For that reason alone Im sure is why I have not seen any other deaths in that tank.
Im very sad about loosing that 5 inch Pleco and causing its death and feel so responsible..
For now I am done buying fish.. and pray that the others will be ok.

Shawnie

awww kate im so sorry !!! frustration is something I can relate too...I hope the others are ok and I hope even more you take a deep breath, and know that it happens to us all ~

Lucy

I'm so sorry you lost him kate. Don't be discouraged. Sometimes these things happen despite our best efforts.

capekate

Thanks Shawnie
I just feel so bad for that Pleco. Alive and well in the store, have no idea how old it is, at 5 inches.. and then I bring it home and kill it! ugghhh....
Im the kind of person that doesnt even kill bugs! lol.. I will scoop them up an take them outside and feel guilty if i kill one by mistake. Killing something is playing God.. and I just cant do that. Ok.. I know that may be a bit over board.. but thats how Ive felt since I was a kid. Everything has a life.. and if i take that life.. it really depresses me. Now here was a perfectly happy Pleco in the store... probably about 5- 6-7 months old at that size? And comes to this end...
I know it happens to us all.. and happens to me quite often over the last 1.5 years....
discouraging for sure... frustrating for sure... and makes me feel that I really do not want to see any more fish die.
So going to do what I can to save the rest... and thats it! Im not going out and buying anymore fish.
I should stick with Betta's... and Angel fish, seeing as they are the only one's that have never died on me since bringing them home. Ive had some of them for over a year.. and they are doing great.
ok... enough of my rant... I will get over it.. just feel so dang responsible for our little fishys and hate to see myself mess up and loose them.

Shawnie

knowing how u are kate, that pleco coulda had a rough rough life and his last 24 were great im sure!! dont blame yourself for things that mite not have been in your control...your help and knowledge that you have given many here, is something that alll fish thank you for...you know u are a great fish mommy and sometimes this just happens!!!you are human remember maybe its time for a girls nite out!!!

capekate

Thank you Lucy, for your kind words...
I am discouraged.. but will get over it like we all do and now to work at fixing the problem in that tank.

Martinismommy

Awwwwwwwww I'm sorry to hear this.....I hope things in the tank get better soon...

Barbrella

Oh no...I"m so sorry to hear this. I know just how you feel. I think I lost one of my baby BNs in my filter, and I still feel just sick about it.

You're not the only one. I"m the same way - overboard!

The bigger pleco may have had something wrong with it and the shock of moving into a new tank finished it off, if the little one is still alive. Usually the small ones are very sensitive and will succumb first.

Have you tested your water right out of the tap? Do you use Prime when doing water changes? I very much doubt that rinsing your filter caused this.

COBettaCouple

It's also possible that there was something wrong with the pleco at the store and maybe the ammonia was just part of what happened? We felt like that when we bought 4 angels last year and 3 of them just died right off, even though they seemed fine when we bought them.

We're sorry that you lost him.

Shawnie

thinking of ya kate...biggggggggggg hugggles!

capekate

Thanks everyone..
did another daily water change early this evening with my husbands help. We are changing one of the 29g daily as well. I just do not understand how both of these tanks that never had any ammonia showing after they cycled which is over a year for one and almost a year for the other. But I do know that I have gone through mini cycles due to over cleaning the tanks. I did take out the big driftwood out of the 55 a few weeks ago, cuz it was such a mess. So that most likely had something to do with this mini cycle Im going thru. I will not be happy til the ammonia readings are back to yellow, but glad to see that they are now on a very light green and not so dark green anymore.
We noticed that the big Pleco was going up and down the sides at times like it was an air breather. Up to the top of the tank and splash and then back down again. The smaller Pleco does not do this and pretty much just hangs out attached to the driftwood or the jug I have in there. I lost a cardinal tetra today tho, and have had them for about a year. So that was pretty sad..poor lil thing.
So just going to keep up the daily water changes, no vacuuming or cleaning and keep my fingers crossed that the worse is over.
Ohh btw.. I notice that the plecos were not eating any algae. Should I be feeding the survivor anything? I was hoping that with all the algae in there it would be eating ok.. but since I havent noticed any gone, I have to assume hes not eating? I have bottom feeder wafers that I had for the cat fish I had a long time ago, should I drop one of those in the tank tonight for him? I just dont want to add any debris while trying to get the ammonia down.
Thanks again for all your support!

Shawnie

drop in maybe a peice of cucumber or some other veggie thats a good size....then take it out in the am..that takes a lil llonger to disolve then your lil guy can nibble throughout the nite ...

capekate

thanks Shawnie
I will do that... just have to go and get some cukes tomorrow morning.
Well... now its off the pc and go watch the end of the baseball game!
have a good evening...
and thanks so much for your support and help!

Allie

Sorry about your pleco.
Sometimes stress from changes can kill fish. Not you fault at all.

Barbrella

Give your little pleco a chance to settle down. If he's a BN, he'll eat the algae in your tank. All the water changes and ammonia spike are probably stressing him. I'm sure he's eaten some algae already!

MissMTS

Hi Kate,
I am so sorry to hear about your pleco. You are such a wonderful aquarist and should not blame yourself for the death. You are always so careful and you take such good care of your fish. I had something similar happen to me last week. I bought a red dragon peacock cichlid and at the LFS he was the most active dominant fish in the tank. When I got him home, I acclimated him, then had to go to work. When I got home he was laying at the bottom of the tank letting the other fish peck at him. I moved him to an empty 10 gallon that I keep cycled to try to nurse him back to health, but he died the next day. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, there are circumstances beyond our control. Do you think that the ammonia reading came from adding fish to the tank (plecos produce a lot of waste) or from the dead pleco after he died? Please don't let this discourage you from buying fish. This was not your fault. I understand and empathize with your sadness, but don't make yourself feel guilty. Hugs!

COBettaCouple

Hmm.. does the tank have aeration?

capekate

It has quite a bit from the two HOB filters, plus a very strong flow from the long bubble wand in the tank.
It has to be that I did too big a cleaning, but strange that it has happend in two tanks at the same time. Very frustrating for sure.
Does any one really clean their driftwood? Or do they just leave it alone and let it collect all that black algae? Im hoping to get some java moss soon and add it to the driftwood.
I found the remaining smaller pleco on top of a rock that has algae on it this morning, but still see no signs of it eating any yet. I sure hope he starts soon!