New pleco dead in 3 days?

[TexasBrett]

So I just finished fishless cycling my tank, and after all was said and done, I added 2 african cichlids and a pleco. Waited a day and added 2 more cichlids. Cichlids are fine and happy but mysteriously the pleco is dead..

It's a 30 gal Hex, with a Rena xP2.

The readings are:

pH: 7.4
ammo: 0 ppm
nitrIte: 0 ppm
nitrAte: ~20ppm
temp: 78-83 (depending on light off or on)

Livestock:

Hypostomus plecostomus *Deceased*
Labidochromis caeruleus
Metriaclima estherae
Metriaclima lombardoi
Pseudotropheus crabro

I have been feeding it algae wafers and it was fine this morning when i left for work and 10 hrs later it was dead. The only thing I can think of is the fluctuation in temp from light off to light on..

any thoughts?

[Esoteric Backbone]

I don't think it had to with the temp fluctuation, more likely he died from starvation

[Mr. Limpet]

Did you notice anything strange about the pleco when you found it? A quick search indicates the cichlids could have killed it.

Question about Pleco and Cichlid compatibility... :: cichlids.com

As for it starving in 3 days time? Highly doubtful. IMO/E with the one I had (got rid of it because they're so dirty) is that it could go for a couple weeks without and algae/algae wafers to feed off.

[Esoteric Backbone]

I was thinking more along the lines of the pleco was not taken care of when it was at the lfs.

[WendiDell]

If all a Pleco gets to eat is algae wafers they will die of malnutrition. Most Plecos are pretty hardy except when very young. But they need more than Algae to eat.Just because they eat algae doesn't mean it's all they need.
New Life Spectrum makes a very good well balanced wafer that Plecos can live on. In fact you'll find that your African Cichlids will like them too. My Mbunas steal the wafers from each other all the time. So I put in two for the Pleco and two for the Mbunas, every ones happy and healthy.

[Esoteric Backbone]

I feed mine blanched zuchinni, and summer squash.

[TexasBrett]

it could be from malnutrition at the lfs. i was feeding it hikari algae wafers before lights off. i hadnt had it long enough to feed it any vegetables i was waiting for all the new fish to calm down before i did that.

[TexasBrett]

or maybe the cichlids killed him?

[Ashes2ashes]

My opinion is that the cichs killed him. You have some aggressive ones there, so it's very likely that is what happened, but malnutrition is also a possibility, as is the idea that it could have been sick when you bought it since 3 days is a quick death. There is also the chance that the shock of the difference in water params got to it and killed it depending on how fast you acclimated and how different your water params were compared to the place you bought him.

[WendiDell]

Originally Posted by TexasBrett

or maybe the cichlids killed him?

I have 2 Plecos in a tank with Mbunas and they completely ignore each other. It's unlikely that the Cichlids killed the Pleco.
It's more likely that the Pleco was starved and stressed during shipping to the LFS and was sold to soon afterward and never had time to recuperate. The second transfer was more stress than it could handle.
Before Plecos are shipped to the FS, they stop feeding them so that they don't have to deal with the large output if waste during shipping, nothing in, nothing out.
It's highly stressful on the Pleco. Then if the FS sells the Pleco soon after receiving them it only increases the stress. To much stress kills a lot of fish, even hardy Plecos.
By the way, what kind of Pleco was it?

[Ashes2ashes]

Originally Posted by WendiDell

By the way, what kind of Pleco was it?

He said it was a Hypostomus plecostomus in the original post..so a common pleco.

[siva]

The tank is way too small for a common pleco. The smaller species that would work in your tank wouldn't be compatible with your other stock, I don't think. A pleco might not be the best option for you in this scenario.