I woke up to find that my sunshine (l-14) pleco had died today. It has been a very sad day. I had him for over a year, and he was about 9-10" long. He had been acting a little sluggish for about two weeks, but his stomach was still round and he hadn't lost any color. This morning when I found him, he was just laying there and looked just as good as ever, only he was dead 
I checked my water conditions, and everything is great. There have been no changes in the tank for about the last 9 months (no new fish, feeders, etc.) I also make sure that all my fish get a varied diet ( I make my own food in addtion to cichlid gold pellets that my Oscar gets). I also feed frozen bloodworms, which was my sunshine's favorite. He would usually start eating them out of my hand before I could even get them in his little cave under the driftwood.
I want to get a new bottom feeder (since it is an Oscar tank, I like having something that will eat some of the food he spits out + I really like plecos). I would like to get another pleco that will stay in the 8-12" range and be able to put up with my Oscar. Any suggestions??? I really want something that is nice looking, but I am afraid to get another sunshine because of this incident. I was thinking about maybe a royal or sailfin pleco (how big do they get in a aquarium)? I want something hardy too.
Here is a pic of him, I miss him
I checked my water conditions, and everything is great. There have been no changes in the tank for about the last 9 months (no new fish, feeders, etc.) I also make sure that all my fish get a varied diet ( I make my own food in addtion to cichlid gold pellets that my Oscar gets). I also feed frozen bloodworms, which was my sunshine's favorite. He would usually start eating them out of my hand before I could even get them in his little cave under the driftwood. I want to get a new bottom feeder (since it is an Oscar tank, I like having something that will eat some of the food he spits out + I really like plecos). I would like to get another pleco that will stay in the 8-12" range and be able to put up with my Oscar. Any suggestions??? I really want something that is nice looking, but I am afraid to get another sunshine because of this incident. I was thinking about maybe a royal or sailfin pleco (how big do they get in a aquarium)? I want something hardy too.
Here is a pic of him, I miss him
