Is my NEW Clown Pleco Sick?

S

swimfast

AC Members
Mar 3, 2005
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I got a clown pleco yesterday to help combat some algae, and i noticed that he seems slow. Upon further examination, i noticed something "growing" from his mouth. See the picture below. Is something wrong? Should i remove him immediately?



(click for a larger image)
 
while i appreciate you calling me a troll, i woke up this morning to find that the green substance had grown completely over his mouth and he was dead. I put him in a container and i will take him back to the fish store for a diagnosis.
 
Swimfast,
Poor baby... Wonder what was wrong? Clown plecos are not the best for algae. In fact, they eat very little algae. You'd be much better off with a young bristlenose. Clown plecos need lots and lots of driftwood in their diet, they are very reclusive and you really don't see them out much at all if they have the proper living conditions, i.e. a nice big chunk of driftwood. Also, keep in mind that all plecos need some driftwood for their digestive system, but it is absolutely critical in clowns.
Take care,
Mary.
 
mduros is correct.
clowns are wood eaters and need wood in their diet..however, as long as they get wood they will consume a lot of algae too..but wood is an essential part of their diet.
 
Im interested to know what the store will say is wrong with it.

I learned the hard way by losing a pleco before learning about the driftwood. I had a peppermint pleco in a 30 with small driftwood and LOTS of algae, he didnt touch the algae and just hid in a cave until he died 3 weeks later. I tried dropping him cucumber, potatoes, algae wafers, he didnt take anything.

I then got a Gold Nugget from the same store and put it in my 55 with a HUGE piece of wood he couldnt be doing better. He is mostly on the driftwood but now cleans the algae off the glass and gladly accepts cucumbers. Its been almost 4 months now and he's great!
 
star_rider said:
mduros is correct.
clowns are wood eaters and need wood in their diet..however, as long as they get wood they will consume a lot of algae too..but wood is an essential part of their diet.
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Okay, let me rephrase that. If you want a pleco for the benefit of cleaning algae from your tank there are better choices than a clown. I have seen on a number of sites that it is not a good algae eater if that's what you're after, and mine definitely is not. I haven't seen him do anything with the algae yet, and I've had him months now. He's lucky I didn't expect him to earn his keep... ;) My bristlenose are much, much better than that. Another really fun difference beween the two is when I throw zucchini or cucumber into the tank with the bristlenose they devour the meaty insides. The clown in the other tank doesn't touch the tender stuff, but actually eats the skin off, so I reserve the ends for him now. He loves them! Hmmm... Wonder if I could train him to peel potatoes...? :D
Take care,
Mary.
 
mduros said:
Hmmm... Wonder if I could train him to peel potatoes...? :D
Take care,
Mary.
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Sorry, this is off topic, but wouldn't that be great. I think I have found something I want even more than rock with purple string. A pleco potato peeler! :D I can imagine the commercials now...
 
SwimminglyFishy said:
Sorry, this is off topic, but wouldn't that be great. I think I have found something I want even more than rock with purple string. A pleco potato peeler! :D I can imagine the commercials now...
Click to expand...
LMAOF!!! I actually was laughing out loud at that one. My co-workers probably think I'm nuts... Know I'm nuts...? Ah, who cares...!? :D
Take care,
Mary.
 
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quick and final update: regardless of his ability to eat algae (clearly the wrong choice), he had some disease on him as I have lost four of my 6 tetra's in the past day and a half, I'm assuming that the other's won't make it through to tomorrow, i did a water change, but they are still dropping off. next time i'll stick to oto's.
 
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