ricktavious

My BN pleco has been acting odd the last few days. Very inactive, but he was eating a bit of an apple the other day so I figured he was just being relaxed. A couple days ago, I put in a cucumber (his favorite) but he did not eat it at all. Found this very odd. Did a water change today, he was laying in the tank upside down. I thought for sure he was dead, but when I was scooping him out, he started moving around quite a bit. Did a large water change, vitamins, etc in the tank. No clue what to do. Poor guy is just a year old and I feel horrible....what can I do to help him

ricktavious

He's dead I feel awful.

Shawnie

oh my im so sorry rip lil guy!

have you tested your tank for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates lately? if so , what are they?

ricktavious

Last time I checked (week ago?) it was 0 and 0. I've done a small water change (10%) since then plus a larger one this morning. It was so sudden and he was so young. I feel horrible.

Shawnie

aww we have all been there before and again im sorry...young babies are very easily taken over by a mini cycle or any water parimeters that might be out of wack..and they actually need daily partial water changes for some time....the prestine water is what helps them grow and thrive ....id do a quick test to find out whats going on as it seems it wasnt his diet..good luck and I hope you figure it all out!!!

ricktavious

I can't even find the test kit right now, I'm out of sorts. I've had him for 9 months, but suppose a mini cycle could have done something which would make me feel like .

Aldric

im so sorry rick to hear of your lose

ricktavious

Thanks....and actually, once my mind started working again, had him since Feb of 08, so had him a bit longer than I remembered. He was a really fun little guy, I hope I'm able to figure out what went wrong so I don't make any mistake I may have made again.

Question....his face area was a bit slimy unlike the rest of his body when I took him out. Is this normal, or could he have perhaps been sick and i didn't know?

Shawnie

that sounds like normal decay when a fish passes
until you have a test kit to know the parimeters, it could be hundreds of different guesses and water parimeters is always the first to rule out

aquarist48

So sorry to hear you lost your Pleco.
Best wishes!
Ken

Lucy

I'm so sorry
It's really tough to lose a finned friend.

ricktavious

nitrate 5-10, the rest 0s....this was after a 50% change though. Not sure what to think