Help with dying Pleco.

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Jenna162

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 22, 2017
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Hello! I have what I believe to be a common pleco in a large tank with one goldfish. I got him to replace my last pleco who died as well but I had him for many years. Anyways I have had "Big Bob" for about 3 months now. We bought him when he was already quite large. He has been healthy and happy the past 3 months and this morning I noticed his eyes were sunken in. I feed him algae wafers and he eats the goldfish food as well...he is not in his usual hiding spit during the day he is lying right out in the rocks and looking lethargic. I offered him a wafer and cucumber but he is not interested. He tried to suck on the glass and kind of fell down like he couldn't get a good grip. Tested water which is freshwater with air bubbler and 24/7 filter, partial water changes done monthly using cycle, Aquarian salt and aqua plus. test came back as such: GH- 180. KH - lightest colour..0? pH - 6.0/6.5, nitrites - 0.5, and nitrates VERY dark 200. Very bad!! I am cycling some water for a water change as we speak. Goldfish is doing just fine. Added some more cycle as well...not sure what else to do at this point any advice is appreciated.
 

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Is there driftwood in the tank? Definitely get the nitrate down. Do more frequent water changes until it's at a better level.
 
Jenna162, by your description it sounds like you probably have a cycle crash. Your Pleco does look to be a "common". I don't know any other aquarium fish that produces more waste than the common pleco. I like Plecos and keep several different varieties, but not the common. Too big and dirty. I think your best course of action would be to start a once weekly 25% WC instead of a monthly WC. To get your water chemistry balanced again I suggest you do 20-30% WC every day for a week. If thats too much, WC's every other day for 10 days will probably do. Keep checking your water parameters. When the BB crashes and the ammonia spikes most fish become lethargic and start to suffocate. At this point your Pleco might be too far gone. Might consider a bristlenose or clown Pleco next time. Hope he makes it.
 
Thanks I will follow the weekly water change schedule and see how that goes. Don't want my goldfish to start going downhill I've had him for upwards of 10 years. I do not have any driftwood in the tank right now.
 
Dying pleco

Mimiheart, mentioned driftwood because some varieties of pleco actually graze on wood and need it to survive. There are several small varieties of Plecos available if you decide to replace
Yours. Here is my favorite Pleco. He is six y.o. and only four inches long. You can buy a small piece of Malaysian or mopani driftwood at most LFS. Keep AA updated.
 

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Stop adding salt, and I'd do a 75% water change ASAP. What are your ammonia levels at? How big is this tank? Are any of the things you add to the new water treating the water for chlorine?
 
Ok. We are doing a change tonight. The test only showed GH, kh, ph, nitrite and nitrates. Do i need another test for ammonia? Tank is 10 gallons. And yes I have a treatment for chlorine to add to the new water as well as cycle. Left the salts out.
 
I think my tank is 10 gallons but I'm not sure? It's large
 

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http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/f...tml&utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/#2701

You can input the measurements into this and find out for sure. Ammonia is a major thing to test for, as it can kill your fish quickly. Do you have test strips, or a liquid test kit? Liquid is supposed to be much better.

If it is a ten gallon, you are massively overstocked, common plecos and goldfish get huge and need big tanks. What kind of filter do you have?
 
Hello. My tank is approx 30 according to the website, not ten haha. I only have one goldfish but it's a long story. He is happy non the less. We also had a pleco which we had for many years...just recently he passed away suddenly and so we replaced him with big bob. I'm starting to think a common pleco is not good for a goldfish tank despite the other ones getting along fine for years. We are doing a water change now, just over 50% and will recheck levels tomorrow. We are using test strips and I will have to get another test tomorrow for ammonia. Goldfish is acting normal. He is hardy...but the pleco has deteriorated to the point he is now turning and lying on his back. I don't think he will make the night �� the filter is aqueon quiet flow. I rarely change cartridge just rinse and reuse.
 
Can you tell me the best products to use for the tank? I use nutrafin cycle and nutrafin aqua plus.
 
Hello. My tank is approx 30 according to the website, not ten haha. I only have one goldfish but it's a long story. He is happy non the less. We also had a pleco which we had for many years...just recently he passed away suddenly and so we replaced him with big bob. I'm starting to think a common pleco is not good for a goldfish tank despite the other ones getting along fine for years. We are doing a water change now, just over 50% and will recheck levels tomorrow. We are using test strips and I will have to get another test tomorrow for ammonia. Goldfish is acting normal. He is hardy...but the pleco has deteriorated to the point he is now turning and lying on his back. I don't think he will make the night �� the filter is aqueon quiet flow. I rarely change cartridge just rinse and reuse.

You definitely need to test for ammonia, surprised your test kit didn't come with that.

How often have you been doing your water changes? From the photos of your pleco, the water looks fairly cloudy.

Pretty sure you're supposed to change those filter cartridges, you're not supposed to rinse and re-use them. You rinse them when they're brand new out of the pack to rinse out the carbon dust and then you should discard them monthly.

There is also a sponge in them, a biological cartridge that goes in a holder. You clean that when you replace the filter by rinsing it in water taken from the aquarium during a water change. If you rinse in tap water, you're killing the good bacteria that keep the tank healthy.

Not sure on your exact model, but if you have two carbon filter cartridges, you replace them monthly but 2 weeks apart. So you change one and then two weeks later replace the other and so forth.

If your Pleco is starting to turn over, the internal damage may be too great at this point. Good luck either way, I hope he recovers.

Dan
 
Hello I've been doing water changes once monthly. It used to be enough to keep things good. The water is definitely cloudy since the last change it has been like that. Big Bobs breathing has slowed and he is going to likely pass tonight unfortunately. I will post a photo of my filter. So I should he changing the filter once/month?
 

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Hello I've been doing water changes once monthly. It used to be enough to keep things good. The water is definitely cloudy since the last change it has been like that. Big Bobs breathing has slowed and he is going to likely pass tonight unfortunately. I will post a photo of my filter. So I should he changing the filter once/month?

You need to do those water changes weekly, or at least once every 2 weeks minimum... and make sure you are vacuuming the gravel, not just siphoning off some water without cleaning up the bottom. For the filter, yes you need to throw it out after using it for a month. Basically after a month, the filter cartridge becomes saturated and no longer does anything. I've heard in can release toxins back in to the water but I think that's a myth, it just becomes ineffective after 3 or 4 weeks.

If your filtration and water changes are done properly on a regular basis, your water should be crystal clear... even after a water change / gravel vacuuming, which does kick up some sediment, it should back to being clear in a couple of hours.

Hope that helps!
Dan
 
If you go on YouTube and look up SolidGold Aquatics she has great GF vids and info.

Just FYI, most GF people do large weekly water changes. Like 90%.

Carbon ? I don't replace my cartridges unless they fall apart. Fresh Carbon is only needed if you need to clear out medications.

A lot of your BB grows on your filter media. Depending on design, you could add Purigen and filter floss/sponge and skip the cartridge.

But I just rinse and reuse my cartridges.

I would not suggest another Pleco of any type for a 30g Goldfish tank. Most are tropical.

I can't see your Goldfish. Is it a Fancy or Comet ?

You may want to add a second filter. The filter ratings are not accurate. They use clean filters for flow rate.

Most fish you want 4x tank volume per hour. GF you want 10x volume as long as fish isn't pushed around.

Sorry about your Pleco.
I hope your GF thrives.
 
If you go on YouTube and look up SolidGold Aquatics she has great GF vids and info.

Just FYI, most GF people do large weekly water changes. Like 90%.

Carbon ? I don't replace my cartridges unless they fall apart. Fresh Carbon is only needed if you need to clear out medications.

A lot of your BB grows on your filter media. Depending on design, you could add Purigen and filter floss/sponge and skip the cartridge.

But I just rinse and reuse my cartridges.

I would not suggest another Pleco of any type for a 30g Goldfish tank. Most are tropical.

I can't see your Goldfish. Is it a Fancy or Comet ?

You may want to add a second filter. The filter ratings are not accurate. They use clean filters for flow rate.

Most fish you want 4x tank volume per hour. GF you want 10x volume as long as fish isn't pushed around.

Sorry about your Pleco.
I hope your GF thrives.

I've always used canister filters, the cartridges on these are both the filter and bio in one piece? I remember when I got my hospital tank it came with a fluval unit like this and it had carbon filters and a separate bio sponge and you could add the media as well. Never used it but remember taking it apart and cleaning it before storing it in a box somewhere.
 
If you go on YouTube and look up SolidGold Aquatics she has great GF vids and info.

Just FYI, most GF people do large weekly water changes. Like 90%.

Carbon ? I don't replace my cartridges unless they fall apart. Fresh Carbon is only needed if you need to clear out medications.

A lot of your BB grows on your filter media. Depending on design, you could add Purigen and filter floss/sponge and skip the cartridge.

But I just rinse and reuse my cartridges.

I would not suggest another Pleco of any type for a 30g Goldfish tank. Most are tropical.

I can't see your Goldfish. Is it a Fancy or Comet ?

You may want to add a second filter. The filter ratings are not accurate. They use clean filters for flow rate.

Most fish you want 4x tank volume per hour. GF you want 10x volume as long as fish isn't pushed around.

Sorry about your Pleco.
I hope your GF thrives.
Oh wow so I am way behind on how often I should be changing the water. I will definitely do it more often now. My pleco died last night and I do not plan to get another. Heartbreaking. I feel so bad. Was it the water that killed him? He was showing signs of starvation (sunken eyes, sunken belly) yet I watched him eat his wafers every morning and fish food and there is algae in the tank. Not enough to keep him satisfied??? He went downhill quickly too. He was absolutely fine and healthy just two days ago til I noticed his eyes yesterday morning and he got worse as the day went on.
And yes the aqueous has carbon cartridge so it's ok to rinse and re use? I did change it out for a new one with the water change last night. The tank is still very dirty though.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone. My pleco Big Bob was dead this morning as expected... My goal is to get the tank at a better state for the remaining lone goldfish resident. I have a 30g tank and one big big goldfish. I honestly don't know what kind of fish he is. I got him at wal mart about eight years ago or so and he has grown a lot. He used to be orange but started turning white and after he beat a bout of ich has stayed white no matter what I feed him he is old and doesn't get a lot of natural light either though. Should I get him abother goldfish friend? He is so used to being alone after his goldfish friend died many years ago. We tried putting two new ones in about a year ago and they wreaked havoc, they picked on my older fish and he got ich so we removed the other fish and returned them. Here's a photo of vinny maybe you can tell me what kind of goldfish he is.
 

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