Worried about pl*co...

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Worried about pl*co...

Postby Vaulen on Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:14 pm

My pl*co is rather young, only about 3 inches long, and usually throughout the entire day it's cleaning the tank. It works for a few minutes then stops for one or two; however, today I noticed that it wasn't moving, just thinking it was it's break time. I came back a half an hour later and it hadn't moved. I left for about 2 hours and when I came back, it had moved to a different place but still unmoving. It's breathing. Is it just getting into the normal pl*co cycle of day rest and night work? Is it having growing pains? Did my driftwood give it diahrrea? Thanks for your help.
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Worried about pl*co...

Postby DanRad on Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:55 pm

If I recall correctly, this is a fairly new tank. What are your current ammonia/nitrite/pH levels? Always good to watch closely on new setups.
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Worried about pl*co...

Postby Vaulen on Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:32 am

I went to a friend's house last night, and when I came back and looked into my fish tank, my pleco was belly up. I noticed when he was sitting around yesterday that his fins were really tattered. Looking at his body today, his fins are extremely damaged, almost like like a couple of strings of cloth. Some factors I am suspicious of:
1. I put a log of driftwood in there about a week ago. I got it out of my backyard, and I boiled it for twenty minutes. I had looked up other pleco information beforehand, and most said they let their drfitwood soak in bleach, but a lot of them said their pleco would avoid the log. Somebody suggested boiling the log, which sounded perfectly good to me. I thought it would take a few months for the log to become waterlogged, but after I was done boiling it, it sank. I let it sit for a day then put it in there.
2. A couple of days ago I did a minor gravel cleaning. It was so small though, I don't see how it could have led to a death.
3. pH level too high/too low, I don't know. My tank is well cycled and has been running for about 2 months, 1 month with the fish I have now. I must admit, I never thought of buying test strips for ammonia or pH levels. I was going to buy some when I got the bigger tank set up.
4. I don't know if food is a factor. It survived for more than a month, so I doubt it was underfed.

Overall its behavior was normal the days leading up to this. Only yesterday did I notice that he wsa not moving much and his fins were rather tattered. Aggressiveness can't be an option. All the fish got along with the pleco. I've only seen the oscar be aggressive toward it once, and the pleco just sat there.

I'm sure this is something you all would know. This is definitely a learning experience for me, and I appreciate all of your help.
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Worried about pl*co...

Postby DanRad on Sat Jun 11, 2005 3:22 pm

Priority one is getting good test equipment. You really do need to know what's going on in there, or else everything is guessing. The torn fins don't really tell you much, as the other fish would tend to pick at him after he died. Get the test stuff, esp ammonia, nitrite, & pH.
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