Is my plec dead?

[Soph96]

Hey, I’m new to this forum so I don’t know if I’m posting to the right section, if not I’m sorry...

I’m new to fish as in only had them for 2 months, we have mollys and neon in a tropical water tank, temperature is at 26C and we’ve had the water tested and all is fine.

Today I’ve bought a pleco, he’s approx only 4cm and he is an albino, he was really enjoying himself as first exploring the whole tank, however I’ve gone to feed the fish and noticed he was upside down on the bottom of the tank, I’ve called the aquatic shop I bought him from and I’ve been told that this is normal for pleco?

Has anyone else experienced this because I am convinced he is dead, however I’ve been advices to leave him in the tank as he could just be resting

 

[Autumnsky]

Not just if they are upside down, not attached to wood or glass, etc. Belly up? Means belly up for this type fish. They do not lay on their backs. Gently touch the sand or rocks next to him. See if there is movement, if not try a little closer. You can use the edge of a net. He may be very ill and might righr himself temporarily, and you may find him, once again upside down or later dead.

Do you know about the nitrification cycle. The article link below in my signature will explain, and you may need to do some goid water changes.

 

[Soph96]

Thank you, unfortunately he was dead, poor little guy! I’ve contacted the shop that we bought him from and they seemed to not really care so hopefully it wasn’t a disease or anything in their tank as they haven’t took any notice of me...

I tried touching the rocks near him and touching him with a net but he didn’t flicker, I put some food in right next to him and he didn’t budge for that, he then started to change colour and one of our shrimp was trying to eat him, I asked my dad to come and check him as he’s had plec before and he confirmed that he had passed!

Just to be on the safe side before getting another we are getting our water checked today to make sure everything is okay, thank you for your really

 

[Mr. Overfilter]

I had the same experience with an albino. We bought two at once from a great old-style LFS, clean, well-stocked and pre-QT'd. This fact made me confident that the fish would be fine as long as I kept my end of the bargain. After about a year, one of them simply froze. I nudged it around a bit, no response. No movement at all. After about 2-days of hoping I decided to fish it out for a smell. Wow, for a fish that small the smell was truly awful, stick-to-your-mustache awful. The only upside of the situation is that the second fish is doing better than fine. It's so industrious and active that I'm going to supply a mate for it then watch things closely.

 

[Soph96]

Yes the one we bought was albino, he was only small aswell, I’ve been told he was either too small to be moved yet & the stress has caused the death or he already had an illness. We’ve had the water tested and been told the tank will be done for another one. So we are going for another one tomorrow from a different shop with a better reputation and fingers crossed this one survives longer... we had only had him for 5 hours, we bought him at 12pm yesterday and by 5pm he had passed! I suppose these things can happen though

 

[Gallonmilk]

Did you acclimate it?

 

[Soph96]

Yes he was introduced slowly into the tank over approx 1hour 3mins - 2 hours which was the guidance from the store where I bought him

 

[Aiken Drum]

How long a journey did the fish have in a bag before you started acclimating?

 

[Soph96]

10-15 mins, and started introducing to the tank as soon as we got home

 

[Autumnsky]

Sometimes they aren't in ideal shape and just can't handle any additional stress. I actually saw a fish store worker capture the fish pinched against the glass pretty hard and when I said something they said it would be fine but by the time I got to the cashier, maybe 20 min. later it was sideways, and had to get a new one .