# Depressed pleco?



## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

Maybe he is depressed, maybe old and tired? I got my setup used and came with 2 common plecos and a giant danio, so I have no ideas of how old anything was. Plecos were 4" & 6", and the smaller one was traded to LFS due to overcrowding. The giant danio committed suicide by jumping out through a 2"x6" opening in the back of the hood about a month ago. Multiple smaller fish have been added in last few months, including an oto and black finned cat who occupy the bottom level with the pleco.

The remaining pleco just sits around. Before he lost his best friends, he was fairly active, at least changing spots 4-6 times a day, active at night, and fins up occassionally. Now he will stay put for a day or 2 at a time, no obvious night time activity, and dorsal fin is never up. He has never eaten veggies from day 1 (I offered them for several weeks), only a couple algae wafers a week. Never seems to suck algae off any glass or decorations anymore. Skin looks fine, no ich right now, but 2 previous bouts of it and pleco was relatively unaffected due to early treatment. Early after I set everything up, he would hide inside a decoration, but has outgrown it and was still active after it was removed, until the giant danio ended it all.

Water parameters
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 6.0
temp day 80ish
temp night 75ish

All parameters have remained stable since day 1. I have seen my dogs in the past be depressed over the loss of their canine housemates. Maybe he is mourning the loss of his buddies or maybe is just old and tired *old dude? Who knows...


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## werebat (Jan 27, 2012)

Hmmm, maybe its just me but 6.0 seems low for pH. Fish can survive in it but not necessarily thrive in it. I would try to raise it to about 7.0 (but not too quickly). My tanks are about 7.2 each and the fish are very active (and some are breeding!). 

Another thing I did was find a nice piece of driftwood from a local river (the Ohio river to be exact), rinsed it very thoroughly and let it sit outside in a water bucket for about to week to leech out the tannins. I then placed it in the tank and my pleco has been going to town on it like a beaver, they love natural driftwood. If you try this, just make sure you dont bleach or use chemicals. Just rinse with water and let it sit for about a week in the open in a bucket or container full of water.


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## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

Driftwood is coming, see this thread http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/driftwood-help-pics-27905.html


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

You never mentioned how big your tank is, and either way, I think a common pleco will outgrow almost any tank (they can grow up to 2 feet long). He may be sedentary because he's running out of swimming room. If you don't re-home him or get a MUCH bigger tank for him, eventually his skeleton will become stunted. However, his organs will still develop, so the result will be a slow and painful death.

They should really stop selling common plecos at pet stores altogether, if you ask me.

Pond stores often times take common plecos because they make great pond cleaners, especially when big.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It's a 35 gizmo, but I agree, it needs at least a 100 gal now. Also one of the things that is probably bothering it is the fluctuation in temp. 80 is basically to warm for plecos and then drops 5 degrees and probably stressing him out.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

Sounds like the big guy would love a bigger home.


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## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

I have been watching craigslist for a 55g or larger but so far nothing has been in the right price range (I missed a free 55 last weekend by mere hours). I know he needs a bigger home but find it difficult to understand that in the span of a couple months he just decides that not moving around is the way to protest the size of his house. But then again I don't live in a glass box with no doors.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I have a common that is 18 inches right now, he went from 12 to 18 in just a few months.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Susan is the pleco queen, though I am no expert, I'd say he needs something bigger than a 55. I have seen plecos that get big enough to have outgrown a 75 gal. Just something to consider, eventually it will start to suffer(if it already isn't)


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