Help!! My Pleco is sick!

[J-T-T]

Hi to all!!
My pleco is really lethargic and I dint think he is eating. Seemed until acouple days ago. Noticed him on the rocks the other night and just thought he was eating, nothing else was odd.
This am he was was just standing in the water. I thought I had lost him but when I went to get him he swam away....sickly... He isn't moving mutch at all. I did a 25% h20 change and he moved around while I was in his space but that was @ 10am and he hasn't moved since. He is not sucking on anything just laying on the rocks. I can see him blink but no other movement. His body looks fine, no visible signs of distress or ailments. But I can tell by his lack of actions that SOMETHING is wrong.
Going to do a 75% water change and clean up the filters pretty good to see if it helps at all.
Any ideas out there?

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

What are your readings? How long has your tank been set up?

 

[J-T-T]

Very sad to say the "Haps" passed away.
Two months ago we moved from a VERY drafty apt into a very NOT drafty house. While good for us I didn't realize how hard our 55g tank would take it.
Got it all set back up and everyone moved in. Was very careful with the filters and substrate ti keep them in the same h20 of the tank before we did the transfer ( the move was only about 10 minutes away ) so most of my concern was the movement of the fish.
I am so disappointed that I couldn't help him more..
Everything seemed to go as smooth as you could expect. All readings were great...
Not even 5 days later the tank crashed and my PH was non existent.
Added alittle coral rock to get the PH back to where it was and began to moniter things even more closely. Of course in the mean time the whole cycle crashed aswell. Ever since the tank had been crashing almost every other week. Try to moniter as much as I can and change the water weekly but can't get it stable.... I get the ammonia in check and the nitrites are off the chart. Got the nitrites to a relative reading and ammonia comes back. Finally get those in line and the nitrates go through the roof and I can't get enough water out to change it.
I feel like I am to blame.
We will miss Haps dearly. I am so sorry you suffered....


I Would LOVE some advice as this is now the 3rd fish lost to this what is now a disaster.
Lost 2 tetras prior to this.

 

[monkey471]

are the fish swimming weird. if they are if might be swim bladder diese. i don`t know if it can spead though?

How to Fix Swim Bladder Disease in Goldfish | eHow.com

 

[J-T-T]

They don't seem to show signs until they are fatal ones and rapid deaths. Have (left)
4 "checkered tailed tetras" 4 neons; a Borneo sucker and about 2 dozen cherry barbs ( they had babies and I can't count them accurately any more)

 

[jlk]

I think the primary issue here stems to your water source. Do you have public or well water? Any type of water softener or filtration system? What are your levels for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate in your tap? Have you tested the tap ph after it has gassed off? If not, set aside a container of tap with an airstone or bubbler and test the ph after it sits for 24hrs. Let us know what this reads as well as what your ph is straight from the tap. Let's try to get to the bottom of your water problems so your tank can get back to a healthy state.

 

[monkey471]

do te fish appear to be stuck at the bottom

 

[J-T-T]

Monkey...no none are stuck at the bottom

 

[J-T-T]

Jlk publics water... No softener etc
Just tested my tank (it has been 24 hrs since my last pwc 80%)
current readings. Ph is gone again and the cycle is crashed no readings across the board. Even tried it twice with two different sets of API test kits
Tap h2o reading
Ph 7.4 with high ph test
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5


Holy crap. At this point my tap is healthier for my fish

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Ok, I want you to do two things here. First, check your water supplier online (you should find reports) and see if you can find an average/daily chlorine level. Or call them and ask. I just want to make sure your water conditioner can handle the amount in your tap.

Second, do you have a decent lfs (not chain store) near you? Please go have the GH and KH tested in both your tap water & tank water. I suspect this may where your issue lies. Let us know how things look!

 

[J-T-T]

K will look around the Internet for the chlorine levels. Can't get to my lfs until this weekend as local is relative... But always worth the trip!!
Will let you know.