Thoughts on puzzling pl*co death?

scottracy

scottracy

Got Roy?
Jan 3, 2004
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My common pl*co that I had a little over a year died this afternoon. Over the last two days I noticed it hanging out at the top of the tank and frequently (more than usual) breaking the surface of the water. When it was on the bottom it seemed to have difficulty keeping its tailfin flat. In addition to these behaviors it had what looked like a bloated and blanched abdomen. In the picture I have included you may notice the blanched pattern on the abdomen. It was always missing a fin.
pleco.jpg

Prior to its death I regularly included zucchini and algae wafers in its diet. The water parameters were all normal but I still did a large water change yesterday in hopes that it might help. The only thing I changed in the tank over the past week was the addition of a half coconut shell to serve as a cave shelter. I prepared the shell by boiling it for 30 minutes and removing the hair like material on it. I removed it today just to be on the safe side because I still have another pl*co in the tank which seems to be healthy. Just when you think you are doing the right thing in this hobby, a fish dies unexpectedly without a clear reason!

Scott
 
When applied to water parameters what does 'normal' mean? What are you testing for? What are the results?

If you look carefully at the sides of the belly the scales appear to be sticking out, along with the signs you describe of being unable to keep the tail flat this looks like it probably is bloat. Unfortunately there are so many causes of bloat that you will never be sure why it happened :(

I'm sure that you're aware that plecs actually need the lignin in wood to aid in their digestion - not sure if coconut shell would provide this or poison the fish. I keep mopani wood and similar in my tanks and have never had a problem with these fish.
By the way I have never observed the plecs or brislenose that I keep going to the surface of the water, perhaps there is a problem in the tank which you are unaware of? Gulping air or feeding at the surface is not normal for these fish and I would take it as a sign that something is amiss in the tank ;) but rather than medicate try to find out what the problem is first. If in doubt do more water changes, but I would get a printout of the tapwater parameters from the water company - just to be safe ;)
 
Thanks for your reply. This tank has been cycled for a little over a year. Normal water parameters for this tank: pH 7.8, Temp 79, ammonia 0.0, nitrite 0.0, nitrates 10. I do a 50% water change once a week. The report from the water company is fairly benign. I can't recall the specifics but nothing jumps out in my mind. Again the pH is 7.8 and the water is hard. The only thing that shows up on my Hagen test kit from the tap is phosphates at .25 ppm or less which helps me in my planted tank.

I have two good sized pieces of african root driftwood in the tank.

Until this illnes it never ate at the surface or gulped air at the surface. On rare ocassions I would notice him dash up to the surface and back similar to the way Corys do from time to time.

My thoughts are possibly something strange with the coconut or overcrowding. Another pleco of about 4" and three 3" clown loaches inhabit the tank and compete for food at times. I was reading today that a 55g for long term is not ideal for even 1 pleco much less 2. Live and learn. I'm still new at this.

Scott
 
I'm leaning towards the coconut shell, scott.... maybe there was something with it that the pleco just didn't agree with.... but what puzzles me is the other pleco is fine..... I dunno..... do fish get allergies?

I think he'd be able to protect himself from the loaches so I would'nt think they have anything to do with hurting him.....

Long term, you're right... a 55 is probably too small for a pleco.... I had a common in a 55 gallon that I gave to a friend who had a 75 gallon because I couldn't believe how cramped he looked at about 15 inches.... he's still alive and at the max common pleco size of 18 inches.... not sure if he's any bigger, that's the last I checked.

Sorry I couldn't help any but if thoughts count, those are mine ;)
 
This is why I wont buy commons anymore. I had one grow to 15 inches in a 10 gallon community tank! It didn't seem to have any complaints;I got tired of it uprooting all the plants everytime it tried to move a little.

I stick to the specialty plecos now just because the size comes nowhere near that of the Hypostomus. This too, however, has risks. In fact, I lost two gold nuggets in ONE WEEK, and all of them presented exactly as you described yours. There were no changes in the tank at the time this happened...they just died. Shortly after that, a candy stripe went the same way. Along with the scales sticking out, the tail and fins of every one of them was erect long after death even. The appeared alive shortly after death. However, I did witness the death of one of the goldies. He just let go of the tank wall, the fins went stiff, and he went into a sort of seizure, which slowly died out in a wave from nose to tail, until only the tip of the tail was twitching. When that stopped, so did his time in my tank.

Dunno if I helped, but anyway...
 
I think this is one of the most frustrating things about fish keeping - sometimes they get sick and die despite the best care and you never find out why, so there's no way to learn from it or prevent it :(
 
I had a pleco and it was doing great. I eventually moved it to a 33G tank where it stayed for weeks with another (larger) pleco. My boyfriend got home and saw that the poor guy had jumped out of the tank and taken a pretty long fall down to the carpet. He was still alive though, so he put him back and he lived for a few more days and acted fine, then suddenly he died! I'm assuming it had a lot to do with the fall though..
 
i use coconut shells with my commons and L91 with no problems. i have heard and experienced that sometimes cocunuts can have bateria inside. was it a whole coconut you cut open or a half that was precut and cleaned of meat for reptiles and the like? perhaps yours had a bacterina and although killed by boilng it left behind a toxin.
 
Hanging out at the top of the tank sounds like oxgen problems. Hows your aeration? Also, do you feed your fish shrimp pellets, or other high protein foods? Alot of protein can cause severe constipation and death. Just trying to help you nail it down.
 
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