# death of my plecos



## bones95 (Oct 15, 2012)

So my 55 gallon started growing algae on the acrylic so this is when i decide to get a common black pleco. At the store i notice a tank brimming with these little suckers but their fins were looking a little raggedy. The rest of him looked good though so i bought him and decided i would nurture him back to prime condition. So after a week of tank life at home his fins looked 200 percent better. Ok im in the clear. Another week goes by and thenhe dies. No sign of sickness at all. I would like to add that algae was gone the first 4 days. So what happend. I decided to by another when fish shipment came in thinking that maybe pleco had been sick. A week later that one died. Other fish look great. My feeding style has been flake in the morning bloodworm at night. So did plecos die from hunger. I do say that my fish never let a morsel go uneaten. Water peramitters check out normal


----------



## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

Plecos are great fish and I am sorry to hear that two have died on you. 

My guess is he died of hunger. Plecos need a diet just like every other fish in your tank. You should have been providing them with algae wafers as well as have driftwood in your tank (they munch on it and it helps their digestive system if I remember correctly.

My best guess is that they had eaten the algae in your tank really quickly and then once it was gone had nothing left to eat.


----------



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I think so. Get some of those sinking algae wafers and drop one in every week or so. Also, when you change your water, do you vacuum your gravel? Depending on if there's any nitrate or ammonia sequestered in the gravel, and the type of gravel, you could be cutting their bellies up and giving them septic infections. They don't have scales like other fish do.


----------



## bones95 (Oct 15, 2012)

Wafers it is. Can iof asume that thei other fish willnever leave somethe wafer for pleco?And yes when i do my weekly water change i vacuum half of the bedding and then the otherside the next week. The bedding is small to medium polished round rock so bellies should be ok.


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Not just wafers. They must have driftwood to rasp on for digestion, and will benefit from having fresh veggies offered weekly. I slice a zuchinni and a yam.


----------



## bones95 (Oct 15, 2012)

Just cut it up and drop it in? They eat the whole thing? Have to do some shopping after work.


----------



## dog_bones (Apr 30, 2011)

Give your plecos zucchini or yellow squash. Cut about two slices of zucchini and then cut the slices in half which will give you 4 slices total which is plenty for a 55 gallon tank that contains 4 or 5 medium size plecos.

Place the slices in a small bowl and water and microwave it for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. The idea is to get the slices in boiling water for about 30 seconds and the time specified will usually get the job done. The zucchini is boiled because that will make the pieces sink to the bottom. Cool under running tap water first and simply drop in the tank.

Feed this once a day to your plecos along with any other regular food that you feed your fish through out the day. Your other fish will love you for doing this too! 

Check out my you tube video that pertains to this subject.  In the video I am feeding them 4 whole slices. I now only feed two slices cut in half because I felt that 4 wholes slices was a little too much. Just experiment and find out what works best for your fish. I could never keep plecos alive until I started feeding zucchini to them. Even the algae wafers wouldn't work and keep them alive.

Feeding zucchini and a look at the 20 gallon - YouTube


----------



## bones95 (Oct 15, 2012)

So i got another pleco and some algae wafers along with a nice looking piece of drift wood. I climitized the pleco for about 2 hours during which time i decided to do a partial water change. Ten of 55. Makes it easier for tank rearangement. After refilling and letting the fish calm down i dropped in bloodworm and a wafer for the pleco. It sat there for a little do to the pleco checkin out the tank. Once i saw that he found the wafer i decided to go lights out on the tank. In the morning i couldnt find the wafer. So do i still only drop one a week. And then maybe do a slice of zuc. every other day? Along with my regular feeding of course. Oh and i have noticed some green moss growing on the tank which has me concerned do to the fact that other pleco died 2 nights ago. Maybe he didnt starve and just mal nurished?
The fish i have right now are 5 danison barbs/3 silver dollars/pleco/rock shrimp


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I offer wafers every other day and the veggies weekly, but Im sure you can offer the veggies more often.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Your pleco has serious and fast competition from another plant eater in your tank - the silver dollar. He/she is going to have a hard time outrunning the tetras when it comes to food, so watch closely to be sure he is getting food...

The silver dollar is going to be in a hurry to get big- anywhere form 4-6 inches across and up and down - a hefty fish. They have strong plant based appetites.


----------

