oXo

Hi,

I've had a pleco (not sure which kind, can't remember the name) for over a week now and found it dead in the water this morning

My tank is cycled (amm 0, nitrites 0, mitrates +/- 10), I also have 4 glo-fish and 5 glo-light tetras. He seemed ok, was eating the brown algea after my tank cycle was completed. Hiding during the day. Some more info:

Temp: 78F
pH: 7.2
Food: TetraVeggie algea wafers
2 live plants : Gave them Flourish Excell
Fake driftwoon and lots of hiding places.
! air stone

Nothing other than that. I have no idea what happened to him? Yesterday he seemd to spend a lot of daytime close to the surface on the right hand back of the tank close to the heater. (heater rarely comes on - set to 75 but water is 78 due to house temp)

Any ideas ??

oXo

clinton1621

Most likely stress from being new and being moved around, keep an eye on the other fish though for any signs of parasites or infection, if they dont show up with anything in a week or so then I would say it was stress related

oXo

I hope it was stress ... I must say that the guy at the LFS took about 5 minutes to catch one and he had to corner it and force it into the net. I should have said "no thanks" at that time

oXo

Lucy

I'm sorry you lost your pleco, it's possible he was sick when you got him.

It's always a good idea to quarantine new occupants to your tank, if they are sick, you could wipe out your stock.

Barbrella

I've seen petstore employees smashing fish while trying to catch them.
Someone should tell them to be a little more patient.

Since your setup sounds fine, perhaps the pleco suffered injuries from the treatment it got at the store.

Sorry you lost it.

ETA: If you get another, you need to find out exactly what kind it is. Also you need to provide real driftwood and not fake.

COBettaCouple

How long do you leave the algae wafers in the tank?

molly133

Sorry for your loss. If anything happened to my plecos I would be absolutely gutted so I know how you feel.