HELP!!!!!!!!! My Pleco is in trouble!!!

V

Vicentismybetta

AC Members
Oct 21, 2009
84
0
0
34
Hey all. I have a serious pleco problem. I have a leporad sail fin pleco and shes (Idk if she is but is call her that) been with me for almost a year. She is currently in a cold water tank that stays around 73-74 degrees and has a ph around 6 or 7. It is a 15 or 18 gal and she is the only pleco in the tank. today after school i went in to check on them annd she was belly up. Fighting tears i grabbed the net to fish her out when she swam away and started suckiing on the se ofthe tank, sorta. I went and checked on her again half an hour later to find her spinning instead of swimming. shortly after this i found her sucked up against the filter trying to swim away.

PLEASE HELP!!!!
 
Sorry to say but its best to get ready for the inevitable. Ive never seen a pleco recover once it reaches that stage. Sorry
 
You need to give us some more info. Water parameters any new additions to the tank. Any changes made to the tank recently. When was your last water change? Are there any obvious (apart from what has already been described) physical changes to the pleco?
 
DLV082 said:
You need to give us some more info. Water parameters any new additions to the tank. Any changes made to the tank recently. When was your last water change? Are there any obvious (apart from what has already been described) physical changes to the pleco?
Click to expand...

No new additions. in fact ive removed fish. Oh ya! I had 3 fish die in that tank from unknown reasons and the didnt float and 2 of them exploded out their sstomachs and rears. My last water change was sunday and the only visible physical changes is that she's got a a few scrapes and her fins are kinda tore up.
 
There are so many problems here I do not know where to begin. First, your pleco isl likely a Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps and here are some basic facts about this fish:

1. It grows to be about 18 inches and needs to be in a tank of at least 6 ft. in length and 18 inches wide. Bigger is more suitable.
2. It should be in water temps a bit warmer than you have it.
3. Its diet should be primarily vegetarian with occasional meat.
4. It needs very heavy filtration as it produces a lot of waste.

As noted above I highly doubt it can survive much longer. There is very little you can do with it in a 15 gal tank to save it. The kindest thing you could do is euthanize it.

It is very important to research thoroughly any fish before you buy/acquire it. This will insure that you have the proper environment for it.

You can read about this fish at:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=148

and http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Pterygoplichthys_gibbiceps.html

and http://www.scotcat.com/loricariidae/pterygoplichthys_gibbiceps.htm
 
Fish stores should really tell you these things when you buy fish. I was told that this particular fish would do fine with alge disks and in my 15 gall tank. Oh and you guys were right she was dead the next morning and had the green gooey stuff on her.
 
Yup, pet stores are mostly to blame, but most of them have never seem an adult Sailfin pleco.

My guy was rescued from a 15gal tank where he had survived on algae and left-overs for 3 years, and was only about 4". Since then he's grown to about 12" and chases my young Oscar around the tank.

They are a big, hardy and long lived fish, in the right conditions.

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom