# i cant keep plecos alive



## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

is it just me or is it really hard to keep a pleco alive? my second one died today, i dont know why, it was fine yesterday, swimming around and suckin on things like my first one and the next day its just dead, for no apparent reason, do they not adapt to PH and temperature like my other fish do? do they need strict levels of ph and temperature or what?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Some do need specific parameters, but those are mostly exotic ones and are not found to often in petstores.

What are your parameters exactly on the tank?

size
ph
ammonia
nitrite
nitrates

Is there wood in the tank? What have you been feeding it?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

You definitely need wood in your tank for them to rasp away at, and they do need to be supplementally fed (zucchini, algae wafers, frozen peas, etc.).


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

ill try to get some wood for one next time i get a pleco, the parameters dont change much

i never test pH since people say pH will balance itself out and fish can adapt
nitrites are at 0
nitrate is between 0-5 ppm
ammonia is at 0-0.25 ppm

using the API master test kit
its a 50 gallon tank

can you recommend some wood for this then? i talked tot he guy at the pet store and he said dont buy it there because its expensive, just go to the water and find some drifwood and boil it in salt water and leave it out to dry, i couldnt find any drifwood at my lake anyway

ive been feeding it algae wafers, my first pleco lasted about 3 or 4 months and this one only a coupole weeks


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

You should always know what your pH is. It doesn't just naturally balance itself out. It's true that fish are adaptable, and so long as it's not outside of a small range they can adapt to it rather well, but you should still always know what it's at. Same for your hardness and alkalinity.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

From my experience plecos are one of the hardiest fish. I couldn't kill one if I tried...but I believe they do indeed like soft water (5.5-6.5 range) and need to be acclimated for a long time if the pH is elevated (7.5 or higher I'd assume). I'd think they could adapt to nearly any pH as long as they were acclimated properly, which could be the reason it died since it was only a day after you purchased it. 

As someone else mentioned it's almost always necessary to feed them wafers/certain vegetables as well.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

Scuff said:


> You should always know what your pH is. It doesn't just naturally balance itself out. It's true that fish are adaptable, and so long as it's not outside of a small range they can adapt to it rather well, but you should still always know what it's at. Same for your hardness and alkalinity.


what are some ways to change pH levels without the use of chemicals? just by doing water changes? i do about 35-50% water change about every 3 weeks


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

It all really depends on what the pH levels are at. I have very, very few people come into my store with water that has a pH that's less than 6.5 or greater than 7.5 out of the tap. Water with this pH is typically fine to use as-is, provided that fish are acclimated slowly and carefully (using a drip system, preferably). If your pH is above or below that range, then you'll need to either adjust it with chemicals (which can be a tricky and dangerous process), or cut it with other sources of water. I doubt you're going to run into that issue, however.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

Scuff said:


> It all really depends on what the pH levels are at. I have very, very few people come into my store with water that has a pH that's less than 6.5 or greater than 7.5 out of the tap. Water with this pH is typically fine to use as-is, provided that fish are acclimated slowly and carefully (using a drip system, preferably). If your pH is above or below that range, then you'll need to either adjust it with chemicals (which can be a tricky and dangerous process), or cut it with other sources of water. I doubt you're going to run into that issue, however.


i do have to say that keeping out of my old fish keeping habits my fish have lasted a ton longer than they used to when i was little, ive had 4 rafael striped catifsh in the tank since the tank was set up 7 months ago and all 4 are still alive, and grew about 3 times bigger than when i got them, same with the angel fish i have in there, he grew about 3 times his size when i got him


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## Sasquatch (May 29, 2011)

I have two rubber lipped plecos that I have had for 3 months now. My PH averages 8.4 and I rarely feed them anything extra. I have tried Zuchini but they ignore it,,My snail eats it though! I dont have an answer for you but giving you an idea what Ive experienced might help some way.


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## RobertTheFish (May 30, 2011)

Maybe test your pH and then test the pH they're kept in at your LFS or wherever you're getting the plecos.

We're assuming it's a pH swing that did them in, but without knowing the range, it's still just a best guess at this point.


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