Plecos dieing

[steve]

I have had 3 Plecos die in the past 2 weeks. One was about 12", one was 6" the other I had in there for about 4 days. My water is good all of my other fish are thriving. I do 30% water changes every week vacume twice a month. I dont know what going on.

[AndrewH]

What's the tank size?

[poel_19]

what kind of plecos, size of tank, and where did you pick these guys up at? add anything new to the tank??

[arnold]

What kind are/were they, do or did they have symptoms or just roll over dead one day? How did their bellies look?

[steve]

They looked fine, I just found them dead. No spots, no discoloation, Arnold one was the Royal I got from you the other day. I checked him everyday especially and i got home one afternoon and he was dead. I don't know whats happening.

[poel_19]

what did the stomach look like?? fat belly, sunken belly? what temp are you keeping them in??

[steve]

Forgot to answer a few of you questions. The big one came with the tank when I bought it 6 months ago. The other 2 I bought from local breeders. I have a 55g african tank. Emperior 450 and a cheapo walmart 55-75 filter. My temp is at 80 degrees. Ph is around 7.8 nitrate is about 40 ppm nitrites 0. I recently changed to a sand substrate but the big one was dead a few days before I did this.

[steve]

I did not look at the belly. I did not know to do that.

[kewlkatdady]

are they getting enough to eat?

Africans are very aggressive eaters and usually do not much food go to waste, you shouldn't over feed but make sure that they are eating or that there is a enough algea to provide the pleco enough to eat.

[lellison]

from what I understand a lot of people, myself included, have lost royals to parasites. As far your other plecos, stumps me. I would say there is a correlation between that and the new fish you added 4 days ago. I'm sure someone else can aid you more...

[steve]

Hell I really don't know if they are getting enough food. I feed dianichi floating and sinking at the same time. I really hope I dont make an a** out of myself and should have been feeding the pleco something different and I caused all of this but I would not think the royal would have died that quickly because of lack of food. The larger one lasted 6 months being fed that way. Who knows all of ya'll help is appreciated.

[AndrewH]

Well don't think we haven't all made mistakes that cause a fish or two to die. I know I have.

Well that many deaths sounds related. The first one might have been old age in a small tank (if you keep a common in a small tank their body will stop growing while their internals don't). His death might have thrown off the chems or added something that killed the other plecos that didnt' necessarily effect the cichlids.

Kinna hard to tell, but I would recommend a thorough cleaning (of course not all of the media at once) of the tank, decor, etc. before adding anything else.

Also, some substrate can cause ammoina spikes when they're first introduced. What type of sand was it (ADA or like play sand)?

[arnold]

Of the 6 royals I had, one died from what I think was parasites, hollow belly, the others as far as I know did ok, I still have one and he is doing fine. I hope it wasn't the royal that caused the problem, but the only way to be really safe is to QT the new fish 4 to 8 weeks, I never do that, I have had a few problems using the "treat em if a problem arises" method but not many. If you want to be sure your tank is ok pp it, but you have to be careful, and I haven't tried it on plecos yet.

[steve]

It was not your fish Paul I must have something up with my tank. The other 2 died before I got yours.

[Guppy]

I am not really into freshwater stuff, but my wife has a 160 gallon tank in our bedroom. She has a 12" pleco and she feeds him a slice of cucumber everynight. She has one of them suction cup / clips that she sticks the slice of cucmber in, the pleco loves them. The suction cup/clip is what I use in my saltwater tank to feed my herbivores seaweed. You can pick them up at any pet store for a couple bucks. By doing this, I would think you can rule out starvation. Just my 2 cents, good luck.

[Guppy]

Also your nitrates are a little high, I know you probably already know this, but it kinda concerns me as to why it would be that high if you are doing all the water changes and vacuuming. Just something else to think about.

Nitrate is being produced constantly as the end product of the nitrogen cycle. Detritus and other organic matter increase nitrate levels. Dirty filters, over-feeding, over-population, dying or decaying plants are also contributing factors. Tap water may be another source of nitrate introduction to the aquarium. Nitrate levels should be below 10 ppm in fish only and planted tanks.