Dead(?) Pleco

[strychix]

I bought a common pleco several days ago and he died today. Cycled tank with the following perams.

Temp: 75 degrees F
pH: 7.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Alkaline: 4
Hardness: 8

Used question mark at first because his mouth moved but yeah he's a goner.

He has like... red under his skin in various areas. He was fine yesterday, today acting a little funny (sleeping upside down on a plant, woke up when prodded, didn't have red streaks at the time.

What the heck just happened?

 

[twiddlemuffin]

It's very common for Plecos from unreliable sources (petsmart, petco, any chains really) to have some sort of illness. Last time I bought a pleco from petsmart, I noticed one of the Plecos on the glass had really weird markings on his tummy. I just thought he was a sick one out of the batch and proceeded to get a pleco out of that tank and avoided that specific one. Well, a day later he turned VERY pale. Like a very very light tan and he started getting red markings on his tummy and he was very lethargic. Moral of the story, I returned him and learned to only buy Plecos (well pretty much all fish, at that) from a LFS.

 

[Mebbid]

I bought a common pleco several days ago and he died today. Cycled tank with the following perams.

Temp: 75 degrees F
pH: 7.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Alkaline: 4
Hardness: 8

Used question mark at first because his mouth moved but yeah he's a goner.

He has like... red under his skin in various areas. He was fine yesterday, today acting a little funny (sleeping upside down on a plant, woke up when prodded, didn't have red streaks at the time.

What the heck just happened?

Firstly, How exactly did you cycle your tank? A properly cycled tank should almost never have a 0 nitrate reading. I would also like to point out that common plecos grow to be over 1ft long and need a very large tank to be happy.

How did you acclimate him to your tank?

I am in agreement with Twiddle that you probably just bought a sick pleco.

 

[strychix]

He was bought at Petco. Impulse buy.

I cycled the tank using pure ammonia and have had fish be in there during quarantine before with no issues. It's a 30 gallon and he was about 5"? He was going to be moved to a 55 gallon until summer when I was going to start a pond.

Acclimate to temperature in bag, one cup of water at a time every 2 hours, taking out half a cup at a time and tossing it into the sink. Petco water never meeting mine. Filled bag (which was a 5 gallon of my own, no leaks) with an air pump meant for air stones before closing it each time. Started at 10 am, put him in at about 11:30 pm. I'm a fan of slow acclimating and it's a good thing I quarantine.

 

[strychix]

Spoke with petco representative. The store is out of the way but I can go with a sample of my water and get a replacement if my water is deemed appropriate in 60 days without a receipt since I have a reward card. May just cause me more trouble if it keeps happening but it's at least an option.

 

[Mebbid]

What test kit are you using to test for nitrates?

Plecos are one of those fish that I generally would avoid buying from big chain stores. I would check to see if there are any privately owned LFS in the area that you could visit. k

 

[strychix]

LFS only has very small common plecos (like 1-3") for like $25 which is kind of ridiculous for a common pleco that size and they've been really bad lately. They're usually pretty good but every time I go in there there's dead fish in at least 3 of the tanks. Which I get it that FS don't have the best luck but... The simple fact that I always have to tell them about the dead fish when I'm there for like 15 minutes and they're there for 10 hours is not a good sign, especially since it's not the busy season here in our tourist town.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

The price of large growing fish goes up because shops keep getting returns on stock that have outgrown the tank. Some dead fish are feeders although this is not always the case.

Virtually all wild fish have some sort of disease.
Plecs are massive waste producers. ID plec BEFORE purchase see its adult size. They need above average care.

My baby plec grew to 18inch/46cms

What other stock is in tank?

 

[strychix]

He was in a 30 gal for quarantine by himself, the 55 gal he was going to be in only has skirt tetras in it for now, and he was going to be moved to a pond next summer.

I know how large plecos get.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I know how large plecos get.

All 700 odd species? That's good going!

 

[strychix]

All 700 odd species? That's good going!

Lol. No need to be snarky, I meant common pleco, which is what I was dealing with. Also clown plecos, bristlenose, zebra, green phantoms and some others I'm not thinking of at the moment.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Sorry I'm cheeky!
Really really cheeky!
Still, that would be good.

You should know this;-

As this is the common plec profile it needs to be said that each river in South America has a common plec associated with it, there are numerous species that fall under the category "common" as they are common to that river system. Each common grows to a different size, with possibly some quite different care requirements to the common plec in the river next door. There are hundreds of river systems throughout South America.

This was copied directly from the common plecostomus profile. This is the fish? In question. It is also more than relevant here.

Edit-further to the above, the L system was devised as a way of mapping where each plecostomus comes from as similar looking species can be found in river systems of different parameters regarding mean Temperature and pH. This should also include turbidity and flow in order to be accurate.

I copied this from plecostomus has a bloated stomach, another plec thread I got involved in. Both posts can be found in common plecostomus profile.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Lol. No need to be snarky.

It's like you know me already! If I could use a word to describe me, snarky probably covers it!

Have we ever met?

 

[strychix]

I don't think so, but as they say - it takes one to know one.

And as far as the L-system, like I said it came from Petco on an impulse buy. It was just such a strange death to see. It didn't seem bloated, just had red streaks under it's skin.

And I as far as how large it gets, I had a decent expectation of being very large but not for quite awhile, as every pleco I have encountered in my time has grown at a moderate rate. Plenty of time to move it from 5" in November to a largish pond in July or so.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

My hypostomus grew very big very quick as did my xingu gibbiceps.

See YouTube 4tanks2day my fish house and fish tank stills videos.

The growth rate of these fish is not to be underestimated in my opinion.
Like I said, try to ID first, I ended up building a ridiculous tank to cater for my pair of plecs.
See new acquisitions, new fish house for an idea! It isn't a pond, the weather is too cold here in the UK.

I have 8 years experience with a few different plecs of different subfamilies.

Do you use test strips?

 

[strychix]

I will look up your youtube videos.

I do use test strips, I want to move on to the higher quality stuff but I keep thinking oh the LFS will restock. I swear they buy one at a time because they always say they just sold the last one.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Strips are inaccurate to be polite. If you are careful they make good toilet paper.
I have some, they are worthless. I bought them in an emergency, I could have saved some money!

Both fish on you tube were labelled common plecs, both different, size, feeding and coloration. Even food preference was different to a point it was worth noting.

Edit-get a special order test kit. Just for you.

 

[Surfer]

Strips are inaccurate to be polite. If you are careful they make good toilet paper.

I'm dying that was hilarious XD
Sorry about your loss OP, hope you can get started on a more suitable pleco soon.