Pleco upside down Please Help!

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Kpatrick

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 9, 2013
Messages
23
Location
Sydney, Australia
Hi guys,

Well after thoroughly fish less cycling my tank for 6 weeks, I added my first fish- 2 bristlenose plecos 4 days ago. One of them is very healthy hiding during the day and swimming and feeding at night, the other however is lying on his back on the substrate not moving at all. Yesterday when this happened I assumed he was dead but when I put the net near him he moved away, eventually resting on his belly. I placed a piece of cucumber in front of him in case he was hungry, although there are small amounts of algae on the plants etc

In the morning he was in exactly the same position unmoved (cucumber untouched)..

Since returning home from work today I noticed that he was on the other side of the tank upside down in that same position.

Is he getting sick/dying or just sleeping?

My tank is an aqua one ar510 20 gallon(75 litre). I have live plants including driftwood. I have no other fish. Waters parameters (pretty much same as when I introduced the fish 3-4 days ago) ammo: 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10ppm, ph 6.8, water temp 26-27 degrees Celsius.

As these as my first fish I've waited so long I would really appreciate any help. Thanks so much.

image-1065960797.jpg
 
He's dead :-(

The other guy looks well though and I've noticed is much fatter. Should I add an air stone? I had already lowered the water level slightly to create more ripples in case that was it. I've also just completed a 50% water change. I was thinking of adding some cardinal tetras on the weekend, is this a bad idea?
 
Oh man that stinks. Sorry to hear about that. I'd wait a little while and test again before adding anything. What's left in the tank again?
 
Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah one pleco dead but one left. I just did a 50% water change and also lowered the temperature to 24 degrees Celsius.

I've been scouring the net trying to figure out if I did anything wrong cause I don't want the last fish (the other bristle nose pleco) to die! I read that it could be oxygen in the water so I've lowered the temperature and also lowered the water level to create more agitation.

I will recheck the water parameters tomorrow. Ill also add an air stone to the tank to see if that helps. The lfs told me I don't need to feed it as it will live off the algae alone, should I add start adding food?

Appreciate all your helps, thanks!
 
Sorry you lost one. You should feed them, though. I wouldn't count on your tank always having enough algae to keep them fed. Mine love blanched zucchini and cucumber along with sinking shrimp pellets and algae wafers. They like the frozen bloodworms I feed the other fish in my tank, too.
 
Thanks alyxx. Bad news though, my other pleco just died:-(

Took the first one back to the lfs and they said they might have an issue cause the fish travelled far. They've given me a store credit. I've checked and rechecked the water again and again and everything is perfect. I'm going to pick up some tetras and give the plecos a miss for now.
 
Check your gh and kh. Your ph might be swinging at night time if there is no kh. Do you have any plants?
 
Hi spiketooth I do have some live plants and also some driftwood, I've attached a pic. I hadn't checked those before, the ph had been stable at 6.8. But I'll definitely check that out, I had been testing for everything in the api master test kit daily. I've attached a pic of the current set up.

I definitely don't want to add more fish if there's any risk to them. Thanks for your help :)

image-4058510911.jpg
 
If there is not enough co2 in the water the plants will use kh which is your buffe,r kh also help keeping your ph stable. Just a past issue i had and a thought for you to look into
 
I think I found the problem and sadly it's my fault. I had added more than the recommended dosage of prime. As my tank is only 20 gallons, even just the bottom of the cap would be too much for a water change, this in turn had depleted the oxygen. I feel terrible.

I've just completed a large 60% water change and only added a few tiny drops of prime to dechlorinate the water. I will also add an airstone to try to increase the agitation and oxygen available.

Thanks for all your help
 
I doubt that was the problem. Prime is safe at over 5x dosage. All a slight overdose like that would do is bind ammonia and nitrites. Perhaps you just picked up some unhealthy fish. How did you acclimate them?
 
I had the same problem a couple months ago. I got a pleco, it died within a couple days. Parameters were right on target, plenty of driftwood, and we were feeding them and my tank had plenty of algae. I went back and got 2 more. One died in a couple days, the other in a week. None of my other fish showed any signs of stress. I will try again soon, but I'm going to purchase from a different source.
 
Yeah I wouldn't think it could be the prime either but I've read a lot of other posts online saying its what happens especially in a small tank. Although they don't die of the chemical but the reaction the water has to it. As its only a small tank and I was doing regular water changes I've added an air stone as well and completed a very large water change as a precaution.

And true it could very well be stock too. I'm going to recheck everything and trial a slightly larger and stronger pleco, will let u know how I go.

Thanks guys :)
 
Yeah I wouldn't think it could be the prime either but I've read a lot of other posts online saying its what happens especially in a small tank. Although they don't die of the chemical but the reaction the water has to it. As its only a small tank and I was doing regular water changes I've added an air stone as well and completed a very large water change as a precaution.

And true it could very well be stock too. I'm going to recheck everything and trial a slightly larger and stronger pleco, will let u know how I go.

Thanks guys :)

Yeah, keep us posted
 
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