Starlight pleco help please

[Oohitsae]

Over the past 4-6 months I've got really into buying BN plecos. I've got just about every color of the common, so I decided to work on Starlights next.

Here's where the problem comes into play. I've got 2 sets from different sellers, and have had them die on me each time.

The first set was around 1/2-3/4" and the second wasn't any larger than 3/4-1" long.
I'm wondering if it was their size that made them so fragile because all my others have come in at atleast 1.25", or if maybe starlights in general are just that fragile.

I'd really like to get another set of them eventually, but not until I have figured out what the problem is with the ones that have passed since they are so darn expensive.

 

[reefdiver]

Do you have an established tank. I have the same problem with the rubber lip Pleco. Maybe you can try putting it in a breeder tank for a week or two.

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, they've all been in established tanks. Both tanks were up and running for atleast 6 months. So that's why I'm so confused.
These last 3 died while I was out of town, but was only gone for 4 days, I did a 75% w/c before I left and when I got back did another 50%
The first 6 died while I was home, 1 at a time over a weeks period. I think that They may have had ich, but since they were so spotty it was hard to tell?

It's just frustrating to pay $25+ a piece only to have them die. I keep my water pristine, 0, 0, and <20. Water changes every 3-5 days. I don't know what I could be doing wrong

 

[reefdiver]

What kind of test kit do you have?

 

[dragonfisher33]

Oohitsae, i've seen you giving advice to others before so i know that you're very knowledgeable when it comes to establish a proper tank. the problem you're facing is very common. plecos are very prone to this issue of dying upon arrival. This is what normally happened (assuming the seller is selling you a good healthy pleco): plecos rely on certain bacteria in their digestive systems to break down food. during the transportation, these bacteria, due to the lack of nutrient, die. even when the pleco arrives to your doorsteps alive and seems to eat "properly", there's no bacteria to break down the food. the pleco doesn't eat or eat very little. So eventually (within days) the pleco dies without apparent physical damage or other stress. an obvious sign to an unhealthy pleco is the sunken stomach/belly. this is different from internal parasite. i've gone through 4-5plecos before and eventually find myself a keeper. i think i read that you live in a rural area(i might have gotten it confused with someone else)? the best way to pick up a pleco is to NOT get the new shipment of plecos for a week and watch them eat before you buy them. starlight pleco is rare, therefore not carried in every pet store. therefore it's really luck in this case.

 

[Oohitsae]

Reefdiver: I use API generally, I have test strips and take the water. To my LFS which uses a different liquid kit occasionally to make sure my results stay accurate since I know API isn't the best with the nitrate part, but it's always been accurate for me.

Huizheng: thank you! I haven't heard of that, but you're probably right with that being what is happening. The first time I shipped them to me and the second time I drove almost 2 hours to meet a guy halfway. He had used fresh water rather than old tank water to transport, so is it possible that only a 4 hour trip could have done that to them?
I don't live in a VERY rural area, more like a small city but there is only 1 LFS, a petsmart, and pet supplies plus within a 30 minute drive and nobody in the area, but even within an hours drive has starlights which is starting to drive me nuts. I've had tons of other plecos shipped to me, I have 12-14 calicos, 4 mixes, 4 green dragons, 10 albinos, 3 super reds, and even an adult albino pair that were all shipped. Total I've had maybe 6 before the starlights die and it was 3 super reds and 2 green dragons. They were all under and inch in length so I just assumed they were too young to travel, which is what made me think that might have been the problem with the starlights.
I'm starting to understand why they are so rare now lol
I'm not a fan of luck, I don't have any, you should see me at the casinos! Lol I think I'll start a search for something a bit more hardy till I find starlights locally.

Any suggestions? I really like the inspectors and green phantoms

 

[dragonfisher33]

read this

Why do ALL my Pleco's KEEP DYING!? - Yahoo! Answers

 

[reefdiver]

Next time I would try and do the drip acclimation and keep him in a smaller tank. I have a small breeder tank I put inside my tank and leave the fish there for a week just to make sure they eat and get use to the food I have.

 

[bud29]

read this

Why do ALL my Pleco's KEEP DYING!? - Yahoo! Answers

Just curious, is there any other information about this on the web? I'm not finding any, and I'm wondering because yahoo answers is typically not the best place for advice on fishkeeping. The way they made it sound was that the bacteria was permanently dead due to shipping stress, and that's why plecos die so often. Since plecos are so commonly shipped, I find this hard to believe. I have had bad experiences with plecos dying shortly after transit, however if this was the case with everyone I would think that they wouldn't be shipped as often as they are.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Just curious, is there any other information about this on the web? I'm not finding any, and I'm wondering because yahoo answers is typically not the best place for advice on fishkeeping. The way they made it sound was that the bacteria was permanently dead due to shipping stress, and that's why plecos die so often. Since plecos are so commonly shipped, I find this hard to believe. I have had bad experiences with plecos dying shortly after transit, however if this was the case with everyone I would think that they wouldn't be shipped as often as they are.

i just give it the benefit of the doubt. your logic sounds reasonable. but it could also be the other way around as well. since common plecos are so common, they can take the loss for the dead plecos whereas other plecos are so uncommon in the first place, not many survive the transportation to have any sort of profit to be made on these particular plecos.

 

[dragonfisher33]

also that for some plecos (i think it was the zebra pleco or some sort), they don't reach sexual maturity until years later. these plecos are not as prolific as common plecos, therefore the usual high premium price for them. if you couple this reason with the logic previously mentioned in the last post, then it makes sense for the vendors/breeders always short on supplies when it comes to specialty plecos.

the same is particularly true for the real "blue eye pleco", which has its habitat destroyed due to contamination. it's hard to find one and then you have to worry about transcontinental transportation. chances are the pleco won't make it to the hands of experienced hobbyists.

 

[Surfer]

I've had almost no deaths after receiving shipped pl*cos. If I were the one ordering, I'd leave the pl*cos in a tank with nice aged driftwood with plenty of aufwuchs coating the surface.

This seems to better their chances of survival tremendously. This is the way I do it, so I'm fairly sure it should work for you as well. I believe it's highly digestible for them so as long as you have enough aufwuchs to sustain them until they regain the bacteria in their gut, you should be fine.

All of my ancistrus have black droppings from the wood, so I'm sure your starlight should benefit from it as well, since mine do.

 

[Oohitsae]

I do drip acclimate, well not exactly drip, but pretty much the same thing, a tsp of new water every 20 minutes. So, that's not the problem.

And all my plecos have cholla cactus in their tanks, so that's not the problem either.

I supposed I could put them in a breeder, but IME they cause more stress than they do good, so I prefer to stay away from them when possible.

 

[reefdiver]

I just do it to make sure they take to my food. I feed omega one flakes and NLS

 

[Oohitsae]

I just do it to make sure they take to my food. I feed omega one flakes and NLS

Ooh, gotcha!
Well, even if they wouldn't take my food, the tanks were established and have high light so they would have had plenty of algea and wood.

 

[Surfer]

Is this in the main tank? If so, your other plecs might be cleaning out your wood. You might need to give them cholla wood in their own tank where there is still plenty of micro-organism.

If you keep them in a separate tank with their own wood, then I really don't see what the problem is. All I can say is good luck. It sucks wanting a pleco you can't keep alive.

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, there's atleast one piece of cholla in every tank that I have plecos in. It's insane.

Thanks, I need all the luck I can get lol