barrettd
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
About five weeks ago, my 2 1/2 old tank was starting to show a little brown algae. I thought it was time to get some kind of algae eater, and opted for a Pleco. The first week or so, he did a terrific job eating the algae from the leaves, glass, etc. and I was also dropping him wafers once the algae started getting less and less. After about 2 weeks, my wife and I left town for four days. When we got back, brown algae was all over my tank, but all the fish seemed fine. All except the Pleco. He was just hanging out at the front of the tank near the bottom. He stayed in that kind of mood for about a week, when I decided maybe I needed to add another to get his spirits up? I went back to the LFS, told him about what had happened to the pleco I bought from him (also got an Opaline Gourami, which is still doing great, and a clown loach, which actually didn't survive my vacation, I just remembered). He basically said, "Yeah, plecos are lazy." I don't get a good vibe from him anyway, but I buy another pleco.
I take this pleco home and eventually add him to my tank (no, I don't have a QT, and am sure I will get one soon). He does fine for a day or so, over which time the older pleco finally dies. After I have the new pleco for about a week, I notice he starts to get really pale and isn't moving around much. One day I come home from work, check him out and he's moving, and about an hour later he's dead.
2 plecos in a week have now died. I've been doing my water changes, my levels don't seem to be affecting the other fish (I'll list all info at the end), so I don't know what's wrong. That was about 2 weeks ago. Today, I decided to give it another try. I thought I'd try a different store since my LFS's plecos had both died, so I went to Petsmart, despite the horror stories I've read/heard. I picked out a pleco, brought him home, introduced him to the tank, and now, 5 hours later, he's turning pale and moving erratically in a very small area. He's getting really still, I can't tell if he's breathing, and my 2 gouramis are hovering like vultures, waiting for him to die. I'm pretty certain he'll be dead in the morning.
My big question is why are they dying, and my small question is what other good options are there to control my brown algae? The LFS owner's first suggestion was "I've got some great chemicals..." and I didn't want to go there yet.
My levels:
Hardness - 15 drops or 268.5 (if I've done the math right?!)
Nitrates - 5.0
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - .25
pH - 8
My fish:
30 gallon tank
10 neon tetras I've had from the beginning
1 gold gourami
1 opaline gourami
1 dying pleco
I do 25% water changes every two weeks, change my filter every month and my lights are on approximately 6 hours each day. I feed them flakes and dried worms. My other fish are doing great, it's just the plecos that are dying.
I'm desperate to figure out this problem, and I haven't found much help searching the archives.
Thanks, sincerely, to any help in advance!
BD
I take this pleco home and eventually add him to my tank (no, I don't have a QT, and am sure I will get one soon). He does fine for a day or so, over which time the older pleco finally dies. After I have the new pleco for about a week, I notice he starts to get really pale and isn't moving around much. One day I come home from work, check him out and he's moving, and about an hour later he's dead.
2 plecos in a week have now died. I've been doing my water changes, my levels don't seem to be affecting the other fish (I'll list all info at the end), so I don't know what's wrong. That was about 2 weeks ago. Today, I decided to give it another try. I thought I'd try a different store since my LFS's plecos had both died, so I went to Petsmart, despite the horror stories I've read/heard. I picked out a pleco, brought him home, introduced him to the tank, and now, 5 hours later, he's turning pale and moving erratically in a very small area. He's getting really still, I can't tell if he's breathing, and my 2 gouramis are hovering like vultures, waiting for him to die. I'm pretty certain he'll be dead in the morning.
My big question is why are they dying, and my small question is what other good options are there to control my brown algae? The LFS owner's first suggestion was "I've got some great chemicals..." and I didn't want to go there yet.
My levels:
Hardness - 15 drops or 268.5 (if I've done the math right?!)
Nitrates - 5.0
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - .25
pH - 8
My fish:
30 gallon tank
10 neon tetras I've had from the beginning
1 gold gourami
1 opaline gourami
1 dying pleco
I do 25% water changes every two weeks, change my filter every month and my lights are on approximately 6 hours each day. I feed them flakes and dried worms. My other fish are doing great, it's just the plecos that are dying.
I'm desperate to figure out this problem, and I haven't found much help searching the archives.
Thanks, sincerely, to any help in advance!
BD