Missing Fish!

[Coyote5]

I purchased an Albino BN Pleco about 10 days ago. I did a PWC 3 days ago and afterwards he was fine stuck to the glass like normal. That was the last time I have seen him. Last night I moved the decor and driftwood around in the tank to see if I could find him and hes gone! I have no idea what has happened to him and its really bugging me. I dont think he was killed or anything.. But its really getting to me how he has just disappeared.

Its a 55g tank and my current stock is:
8 Serpae Tetras
4 Bronze Corydoras
6 Kuhli loaches
1 red tailed shark
4 Plattys
3 Mollies.

If anyone has any input or reasoning I would love to know. I figured he would pop up somewhere but like I said I couldnt find him anywhere! I dont want to go back to the lfs and purchase another one if the same thing is going to happen.

thanks

 

[yenner]

Do you have the tank covered well?

 

[HN1]

Any hollow places (in driftwood, resin decor, rocks, etc) accessible?

 

[Coyote5]

yenner, The tank is fully covered, There is a few openings on either side of the HOB filter, I checked the floor all around the the tank and didnt see anything.

Len, I tood all the decor.. driftwood logs... etc. and picked them up looked inside them and put them back. from what I can tell the pleco isnt in any of them. I am going to look again now.

 

[yenner]

Really weird. If you do find him you should name him Houdini.

 

[Coyote5]

Just got done looking again, Didnt find anything.. hes not on the floor anywhere around the tank, not in any decor, I even took the filter media out of the filters to see if he was in there, but no luck.

Its ironic. We have a cat named houdini, He is named that because when he was at the vet when we were adopting him, he would always find a way to exscape out of his cage. I think its just a freak thing, Next time I go to the lfs I will purchase another one. If the same thing happens then I think we will have a murderer on the loose!

 

[yenner]

Houdini cat ate Houdini pleco. That's my theory.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Maybe he is just hiding i didnt see mine for a while when i first bought him
I like that Houdini

 

[cabezon]

if there is a hollow in the wood, he is wedged in there. Leave out some food at night and you will see him.

 

[HN1]

if there is a hollow in the wood, he is wedged in there. Leave out some food at night and you will see him.

I agree. The reason I asked about the hollows, I lost several large loaches for months. Rescaped the tank and pulled out a resin "rock pile". They fell out into the bucket only after all the water was out of it. Try to bait him at night, if that doesn't work houdini may be at fault.

 

[Coyote5]

what type of food should i drop in there to bait him? I have algae wafers and shrimp pellets but those get devoured pretty quickly by the cory's and kuhli loaches, even when i drop them in after dark.

 

[yenner]

Have you tried looking for him late at night? With all the lights off, especially when the tank AND room lights are off, I'll see my pleco sneak around the aquarium. He must think nobody is watching but I know what he's up to in there.

 

[Coyote5]

i havnt but i juts think its wierd i havnt been able to see him at all anywhere for 4 days now.

 

[yenner]

Try that method then. They'll hide until they feel it's safe.

 

[Coyote5]

No luck finding him tonight. My mom and me are going to the lfs tomarrow. I think I will just buy another and if he does re-appear the 2 wont be horrible, or I have another tank to re-locate too. I will keep ya updated if anything changes

 

[Coyote5]

well guys, went to the lfs today and bought 2 more BN pleco's, 1 albino and 1 normal black. Hopefully I got lucky and got a male and female they are still young to tell so I guess time will tell. Hopefully I have better luck keeping these 2 in the tank this time!

 

[yenner]

How are your levels? This is just a guideline but keep watch. I'm not an expert by any means but this seems like a lot of fish. Plecos produce some serious waste. In my 55g I have 2 goldies, 4 panda corys, and 1 pleco.

The BN plecos can grow to 5" I believe. You are probably ok, but just keep up with the water changes and watch your levels.

Good luck with the new fish!

 

[Coyote5]

My levels are good, I have plenty of filtration with 2 Marineland Penguin 350B filters pluse a UGF. I had a stock list on aqadivsor.com done while the tank was cycling a few months ago. Everything has been planned out and done correctly. I do a 20% to 30% water change every week. Everything has been extremly stable so far, I have been adding fish about every other week. 2 to 4 at a time. The tank is just about complete, Im looking to add some bolivian rams as the center piece and then my stocking will be complete.

 

[DragonFish71]

I maybe see our albino chocolate pleco once a month, twice if I'm lucky. She doesn't like to be out in the open except for at night when the day lights go off and the moon lights come on.