Help!

[Wingman-Goose]

Hi,

Was hoping for some advise as over the past two days I have lost one fish and look like I might lose another!

Yesterday I caught 9 Mollies from the tank to give to a LFS to avoids tank being overstocked! When I got home one of my Golden Rams was very pale and then died overnight, it had been fine before this and the other remaining Ram is more colourful since the Mollies were removed!

Today I was watching the tank and the smallest of my two identical plecs was at the front of the tank. As I watched it was knocked byte SAE and just laid on its side / back, it's stomach looked very flat! It is only a third of the other ones size despite them being the same size when they were bought. One just hasn't grown. I have moved it to a hospital tank and placed food in front of it but is hardly moving or eating despite having no competition now!

All water parameters are fine! Is it just the stress of the Mollies being caught and the competition for food for the plec? Could it be anything else and is there anything else I can do to save the plec?

 

[LyndaB]

What size tank is this?

What are your readings? (not just "fine", please)

Any possibility that a foreign substance got into the tank when you were netting the mollies?

 

[Wingman-Goose]

The tank is 180 litres, plecs are orange spots which only grow to about 6-7 inches!

Nitrites are <0.3, Nitrates 25/50 mg/l, Ammonia 0!

No foreign substance has got in the water as I used a net that is only used in that tank and hands washed etc before doing so!

 

[LyndaB]

If your pleco has a concave belly, that's usually a sign that it has not been getting enough food on a regular basis. You might try soaking his food in garlic juice, this will help attract him to the food and also boost his immune system.

What are you feeding the plecos? Do you have driftwood for them?

If you've got two plecos plus an algae eater in that size tank, there more than likely is not enough algae to go around.

 

[Wingman-Goose]

I have been feeding Hikari Algae Eaters, occasionally de-skinned peas and there is plenty of wood in the tank it was in!

The other has grown well but has its own place in a big piece of wood and has grown a lot! The other has 3 other pieces of wood to choose from and I have never seen it being chased / bullied but hasn't grown! What kind of garlic juice do you use?

 

[LyndaB]

I use "Garlic Guard", however, rumor has it you can use kitchen garlic juice as long as it's pure and not full of chemicals.

Maybe the difference in size is due to their sexes? I have two BN plecos and one has gotten much larger than the other. I don't know if they are male or female as the bristles haven't started growing yet, but it could be a possibility with yours....

 

[Wingman-Goose]

The big one eats all day on its wood and hardly ever comes out from the hole in the wood. The small one just never seemed to settle in one place.

Hopefully I can save the small one! He is now in a small tank and I will crush a garlic clove tonight and dip a wafer in the juice to see what happens.

Thanks for the help!