My pleco died. is this what i did wrong?

my pleco died a couple of days ago. (I found the remains.) I looked on the pleco profile and it said that you should feed it algae wafers when you turn the lights out but I did the complete oppisite! I would feed it first thing when I turn the lights on! it seemed healthy and happy but would this be what I did wrong. I want to get another one but I want to know if this was the likely cause of its death.

 

Unlikely, unless the other fish in the tank were eating the algae wafer before your pleco could get to it.

What size tank do you have? How big was your pleco? How old was your pleco? What other fish (if any) were in the tank? What are your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite readings?

 

And what type of pleco was it?

 

it was a bristlenose pleco. the tank is 216 litres (about 55 gallons I think). the other fish I have are dwarf gouramis, bala sharks, cory cats and neon tetras. I brought another bristlenose today along with some swords. the lady at the pet store said these fish were fine to put together. the pleco that died and the one I brought now are both about 5cm long

 

do u have any drift wood in there they can surivive without feeding if u have driftwood because they feed of it mine do I don't feed them anything haven't had anydeaths

Rock On Callum!

 

no I don't have driftwood. don't have any room to put any in and its quite expensive where I live. I am just going to try what the profile says and feed it algae wafers when I turn the light off and see how that goes I guess

 

What are the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite readings in the tank? I'm not positive because I don't know the numbers and sizes of the fish you have, but with the types you have, you've got the potential to have gone beyond a safe bioload for the tank. Plecos can sometimes suffer most from this, because they sit at the bottom, soaking it up.

 

I check the readings weekly and they are all always fine. maybe just an unhealthy fish. I only had it for about a month before it died

 

no I don't have driftwood. don't have any room to put any in and its quite expensive where I live. I am just going to try what the profile says and feed it algae wafers when I turn the light off and see how that goes I guess

Driftwood is highly recommended when housing BNs as vegetable roughage keeps their gut in working order thus a bogwood is a valuable addition to this. You can feed them some zucchini, cukes, canned beans to male sure they get lots of vegetable matter.

Also you can find driftwood on rivers, lakes and beaches (just make sure it's safe to put in your tank). You don't have to pay high-priced driftwood.

 

...Also you can find driftwood on rivers, lakes and beaches (just make sure it's safe to put in your tank). You don't have to pay high-priced driftwood.

Yup, just plop it in a bucket of tap water to rinse it to pull any chemicals or critters it may have picked up in the river or lake before you found it. Just swap the water in the bucket every few days for two or three weeks, and it should be fine.

I need to worry about zebra mussel spawn on stuff I find locally, as well as any old contaminants from the steel mills (they all closed down when I was a kid 2 or three decades ago, but I don't want their leftovers in my tank) on any driftwood I find on the Youghiogheny or Monongahela rivers) So I hit the first bucket hard with chlorine to kill any parasites and invertebrates, and the subsequent water changes are to basically get rid of the bulk of the chlorine.

My Pleco Has taken my large piece of driftwood almost in half over the three years I've had him. I never knew about the cucumber bit until I found this board last week, I'm going to have to give that a shot...

 

I get my wood from the farms!

 

unfortunatly I don't get to see the beach very often but I have access to a few rivers. we are in heavy drought at the moment. would this have any effect on the driftwood?

 

Hello everyone,

Once again looking for experts to give their feedback and advises

I had this pleco for a while now and it went quite big. He was always hiding under my driftwood and I see him twice a week maybe.
Just lately I started feeding my fish blood worms for the 1st time and he started showing up more and more and he was like outside all day. I noticed that ph went down from 7.7 to 7.4 without water change which is weird but thought was it acceptable
All other reading are normal.
Any idea if that was the cause of death ?
Also all the rest of the tank seem normal
Thanks alot

 

What exactly were your other readings?

What size tank do you have?

What kind of filter and media?

Is your tank cycled?

How big is "quite big"? Was he a Common Pleco? Can you post a picture for ID if you're not sure?

 

I'm sorry for your loss

PH swings ( either up or down ) can most certainly cause death. Think of it as "altitude" sickness.
I know quite a few people that this has happened to although your ph didn't swing too much????? But still may be a contributing factor, especially if the cause is unknown ( no signs of illness, etc )

I would monitor your ph as maybe the water from the faucet ( municipal water changes? ) could be a factor.

 

What were you feeding him and how much? Sorry you lost him. How long did you have him? Alison

 

What exactly were your other readings?

What size tank do you have?

What kind of filter and media?

Is your tank cycled?

How big is "quite big"? Was he a Common Pleco? Can you post a picture for ID if you're not sure?

Hey man
Reading ( CI 0 , pH 7.4 , kH 6 , NO3 0.25 mg/l )
Tank is 65 gallon
sera fil bioactive 250
Yes it was common pleco and about 10"

 

I'm sorry for your loss

PH swings ( either up or down ) can most certainly cause death. Think of it as "altitude" sickness.
I know quite a few people that this has happened to although your ph didn't swing too much????? But still may be a contributing factor, especially if the cause is unknown ( no signs of illness, etc )

I would monitor your ph as maybe the water from the faucet ( municipal water changes? ) could be a factor.

Hey Junne
Yea I also thought the change wasn't although it was un expected

Planning to clean filter and do a water change and ill keep testing water and see what is happening. I had some illness outbreak almost a month ago and got it all treated ( added some mollys and it brought white dots which made my gold fish go stressed which lead to fin rot) but all was managed and all were happy and clean

Since then all things were stable till now

 

What were you feeding him and how much? Sorry you lost him. How long did you have him? Alison

Its been almost 2 years now and one of my favorites used to to give him tablets from tetra as well as weekly zucchini

 

What are your ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (NO2) readings? Do you have plants in the tank?

Your filter is on the small side. Recommended gph for canister filters is 5x the aquarium volume.

 

What are your ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (NO2) readings? Do you have plants in the tank?

Your filter is on the small side. Recommended gph for canister filters is 5x the aquarium volume.

Sorry I mean NH3/4 0.25 mg/l
I do not have NO2 testing kit
Well this filter is 1000 l/hr which is 4 times I wanted higher one but couldn't find one back then

 

If and when you get another one, make sure they have real driftwood and a variety of veggies available 24/7 as well as some protein food and algae wafers. I wrote a post on feeding BN plecos on page 3 of the thread Pleco!! Share Yours, The same would apply to the common pleco just in larger amounts. When a pleco eats food his digestive system is made to get the most out of it in a short amount of time as they are grazers. What they consume comes out in 45 minutes to make room for more grazing and napping. As they get bigger their food requirements also increase and they also do a lot of eating during the night. ..Alison

 

Sorry I mean NH3/4 0.25 mg/l
I do not have NO2 testing kit
Well this filter is 1000 l/hr which is 4 times I wanted higher one but couldn't find one back then

Do you have the NO3 test?

According to Sera's website, the 250 model only has 750 lph.

 

If and when you get another one, make sure they have real driftwood and a variety of veggies available 24/7 as well as some protein food and algae wafers. I wrote a post on feeding BN plecos on page 3 of the thread Pleco!! Share Yours, The same would apply to the common pleco just in larger amounts. When a pleco eats food his digestive system is made to get the most out of it in a short amount of time as they are grazers. What they consume comes out in 45 minutes to make room for more grazing and napping. As they get bigger their food requirements also increase and they also do a lot of eating during the night. ..Alison

Hey Alison,
Thanks a lot for your post I will definitely get one. Here is a pic of the piece I got for it

 

Is that a goldfish in the tank? You really need another filter. Between the pleco and the goldfish (not temperature compatible btw) you have a huge bioload in there. My guess is that the pleco died of poor water quality.

 

Beautiful piece of driftwood. I don't see a speck of algae anywhere. How do you do that?..Alison

 

Is that a goldfish in the tank? You really need another filter. Between the pleco and the goldfish (not temperature compatible btw) you have a huge bioload in there. My guess is that the pleco died of poor water quality.

You are actually right I just checked it and its 750 l/hr :/ although its written on it for 250l tanks but I agree to look for higher than needed.

Yes 1 goldfish and 1 pleco but these two are at the same age they have been living together since day one

 

Beautiful piece of driftwood. I don't see a speck of algae anywhere. How do you do that?..Alison

Hehehe it was to control but I found the answer 5x siamese algae eater is making me way too happy

 

Just one thought for you, a common pleco or sailfin pleco with a good diet can and will grow 18 to 24 inches as adults and also increasing in bulk considerably. They will outgrow all but the biggest tanks meaning 150 to 200 gallons. Their are hndreds of different pleco varieties that don't get that big and will max out at 10 inches or smaller and some just a little larger. Planet Catfish is a site with tons of info, they don't sell them but will tell you their mature size , any special requirements, where they come from and diet. I bought two of mine from sellers on Ebay. One is my male Albino Bristle Nose and the other is a female blue eyed, yellow ancistrus. My third one came from a member of a different forum that I bought her from. She is an L144 Blue eyed lemon BN pleco, her name is Buttercup and she is responsible for my obsession with plecos....Alison. I think every tank with enough room should have one. ..Alison