Later in this guide, well go over the exact symptoms of dropsy. The impaired buoyancy in fish is caused by a malfunction of their swim bladder. Also, algae is starting to grow on the glass so I dont think that hes roaming around much at night either. Over the past couple of days hes stayed in a little cave all day and night. How long have you had the tank? Because of excitement, plecos can also breathe more rapidly after a water change. It is a disease that causes fluid build-up in the eye socket, resulting in the eyes protruding out of the socket. Poor pleco got nudged accidentally with the hose, though, and he's having a -really- hard time swimming. Adding fish without acclimating them causes shock. In order to keep your Pleco happy, you will need to ensure that the tank is heated and supplied with a filter. Also having a water test kit for ammonia and nitrite will help greatly in knowing when to do water changes. To revive a dying pleco, perform a big water change and make sure the water parameters are optimal. In some circumstances, plecos can get really aggressive towards each other. He said that probably it was aged quite a lot. However, a stressed pleco catfish can be recognized by a few things: A stressed pleco is most likely the result of an insufficient tank setup, bad water quality and or conflicts with other fish or plecos. Sorry your pleco is ill. every day I feed the fish in my school aquarium and I've notice the pleco doesn't ever move. Are there females in the tank with him? Use an algae pad to clean the sides of tank, and siphon out the water left inside. If you want fish that are livelier during the day, youd be better off looking for a different type of fish. You can get something called Stress Coat at the pet store, it basically removes any chlorine that may be in your water, it has also been proven to reduce fish stress. Make sure to take notice of this behavior, and to check your water parameters to know whether there might be a cause for this. When a pleco lays motionless at the bottom of the tank it also means they might be getting beat up by other fish inside. Both stress and poor water quality can make it more likely that the fish will get infected. What kind of disease? Even the tiny three-inch long zebra plecos are carnivores. Taking care of baby plecos can be challenging in some ways. Check your water parameters as this is the most likely cause. 3. So I just went to put food in the fish tank. I thought the pH controller was set okay so I wasn't too worried. Pleco males usually fight to assert dominance and defend their territory. Sadly, my pleco died that night. I would be more concerned if I touched him and he didn't swim away. Checking the water levels to ensure there are no harmful ammonia levels and correcting the problem with water changes will help your fish gain its movement back. Sometimes the fish might even be upside down. (Per Species Guide), The 7 Biggest Giant Pleco Species You Didnt Know About, Do Plecos Eat Plants? Just as important is what you put in the tank. Most of them can be caused by poor water conditions in the tank. Fish of the Month, Pet of the Month. Unless you are bying a large (when grown on) species of pleco who is to say that it's a baby, unless this is visualy obvious. #3. He may also fall sick due to anxiousness. you read and agreed to the. Use a fish net or scoop to touch the fish gently to test whether its alive or not. Keeping pleco catfish in an aquarium can be a good. I still don't know for sure what happened, but I'm going to blame the CO2. A fish dying during the night doesnt necessarily indicate that something happened the very night that it died. Full Pleco Breeding Guide (Everything You Need to Know). I think that it is nothing to worry about. It could also mean that the fish is constipated, though. Your pleco may be dying if it appears to have a bloated stomach. It might be normal to see a pleco breathing but not moving. There might not be anything wrong at all. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. Youll also need to fix issues with water quality in the tank while solving stress problems. API Liquid Super Ich Cure is another product you can purchase to treat ich. . Of course, itll be prudent to try to touch the fish to see if it moves. Receive our FREE eBook by filling out the form below. Using a tiny pointed tool, such as a pair of tweezers, slightly open the mouth and slightly loosen the gill covers. If the plecos are in a community fish tank, then itll be important to ensure that they are kept only with compatible tank mates. I don't know what ever happened to him, but he was ONE TOUGH FISH. I have had him in this tank and the fish with him for over a year. I doubt this is the issue, but my pleco was acting odd, curving and swimming like he was intoxicated flying from one side to the other, no CO2, regular parameters, but I checked the temperature, like yours mine was breathing up a storm, but I raised the temp 4 degrees up and he was fine my temp dropped to 72, and he was going bananas, but after about 20 minutes I guess he caught a warm front and hugged the heater damn near. This is constant. This is normal behavior when the fish is just introduced to a fish tank. Resting on the bottom of the tank or hiding in plants or other objects. Vicki, I think it was the CO2 as well. Since plecos are a type of catfish, they feed off of algae. An oxygen deficit can be caused by a nitrite/ammonia spike, high temperatures, or a broken filter. As long as they are damp or wet they can live for probably 20-30 minutes. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. When affected by Swim Bladder Disorder fish will often lose the ability to properly swim. A pleco dying is often the result of bad information and lack of knowhow about the species. Fish laying on its side in the bottom of the tank. if he is acting strange i would try to get him in a small treatment tank with lots of oxygen, dose a general med and salt would be a good start till you can figure out what is wrong with the little fella. I know Elbert, that handsome fellow over there in my avatar really loves shrimp pellets and occasionally freeze dried blood or tubifex worms. Plecos that like to eat algae such as bristlenose plecos will need to be fed as well. They like to eat shrimp and bloodworms. My guppy is laying on its side at the bottom of the tank and still moving. My pleco is not sucking anything please help!!! To test if your pleco is dead or not, you can try to touch it and see whether it reacts. I have seen bottom dwelling loaches just get very pale and colorless when there is too much CO2 in the water. Quarantining fish is putting them in a closed-off environment for a couple of weeks, before putting them in your main tank. Feed your pleco a varied diet, that meets the species needs. Breeding bristlenose plecos is certainly an exciting thing to do. Also, does he have any places to hide? The main pressure on the regulator has been dropping so I raised the main pressure in the regulator and then increased the bubble flow. Any animal needs some time to get used to a new home and small lizards are often prey for bigger things. just keep an eye on him. It isnt uncommon for some baby plecos to die even if youre doing your best to care for them. Hello guys, thx for your answer and sry for my late reply. If you discover one of your fish has popeye, check the water levels to determine if that is the cause. Poor water conditions, bacterial infections, and even injuries have been known to make this happen. You want to do the best job that you can while caring for plecos. Sometimes I will catch him moving about. If your pleco is stressed, it may exhibit some of the following behaviors: Hiding is a natural defensive response for many fish. Im experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. It might help you to figure out how to help the fish by doing some troubleshooting. How To Know whether your pleco is dying, and the solutions for it. A pleco might choose to remain very still and stay in the same spot all day. Problems can occur when caring for plecos. Small anekdote: I have a tank of zebra plecos (L46) (the fish that costs $200+ a piece). Plecos dying: its a sad sight and one of the questions I get asked most frequently. If the pleco doesnt respond to you moving it around but still breathes, you have to provide it will clean water as soon as possible and test your water. If your pleco's fins start to rot or decay, it is important to act quickly as this can spread to the fish's body. If the temperature of the water gets too low, then that could kill them. There are some cases where the pleco might have been injured by another pet in the tank, but most of the time they will recover on their own. Quite often bottom dwellers do just sit and not move. Turned out, that fish wasn't a female but the male had trapped the less dominant male and choked him (though there were plenty of caves). Its also possible that nothing is wrong at all. Click here. When done cleaning he put them back in, minus the pleco that had jumped out of the bucket. It's a common pleco and it' Why is my betta sitting by the heater not moving. You may also notice your pleco laying at the bottom of the tank or chasing the other fish around. Fish Lore is an amazon affiliate and some pages may contain links to aquarium related products on amazon: Affiliate Disclosure. Juts curious - as I was doing a water change today and about 10 minutes into it I noted my true Albino Bristlenose Ancistrus wedged in between my rock wall - and my overflow box at the top of the tank. Foods that sink to the bottom where the plecos can eat them. As long as nothing appears to be wrong with the fish, its not necessary to worry. Do your best to determine what is wrong with the fish. Checking temperature and pH levels is also essential because the water needs to be at a pH of 7.0 to 8.0. i know hes alive because if i try and move him he will swim away, What do i do? You might even be concerned that the plecos are dying if things are going particularly bad. Does the fish appear to be gasping for air? I had a pleco who lived out of water for 12 mins! Plecos are freshwater fish that need to live in water that is between 22 and 28 degrees Celsius (72-82F). Acclimation is floating the bag and slowly adding tank water to the bag to adjust the fish to your tank water. The cause of most of these symptoms stems from the water conditions. Also having a water test kit for ammonia and nitrite will help greatly in knowing when to do water changes. However, if you tap the fish tank, itll likely spring up and start swimming. I have never seen any fish go through as much as this guy did for about 10 years and live. Rotting fins is a sign that your fish have some type of bacterial infection. Also, theyre nocturnal fish that rest during the day. Rapid temperature changes, irregular feeding schedules, and poor water conditions also contribute to stress in fish. You might need to do a better job of doing regular water changes. He is still breathing, but he doesn't move when I approach him, only if I touch him. If your plecos dont seem to be doing so well, then youre probably disheartened. Did you just get him? These fish simply arent active during the day. Disease can make fish sluggish and it can also cause them to stop eating. These fish enjoy hiding and they often stay in the same place at the bottom of the aquarium. Quarantining fish is one of the most forgotten things in the hobby. Look at the fish closely and try to see if its gills are moving. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH? If your plecos seem to be losing color rapidly, then its a sign that theyre dying or getting very sick. Take action by doing water changes and adding an air pump. Mine doesn't get active til well after 10pm at night. How big of a tank do they need? A fish that doesnt react to being touched is probably dead. Does he look as tough he's thin or sick? He also has a white spot on his eye. If the fish is not moving, then there are no signs of life, such as breathing or eating, then it has likely died. Although a cloudy eye most likely isnt deadly, it is an indicator that something is wrong and should at least be examined. But what they carry and what will work I couldn't say. Feed food before lights out and he is likely to come out when it is dark to feed. Add an airstone if your filter doesnt create enough surface movement. If you arent regularly testing the water using a pH balance testing kit, then youre going to have a harder time keeping the fish alive. Most of the time, a pleco laying on its back or side is normal as they sometimes rest in this position. Ich is a condition that involves the fish being infected by parasites. Lastly, before or during spawning, plecos can breathe more rapidly since this is energy-consuming. There are even plecos that are considered to be carnivorous. I know that this thread was posted in 2003 but I just wanted to revive it as we had an accident with 2 of our pleco's today, a bristlenose and a dwarf clown pleco. When you dont treat this disease, it can cause the fish to lose vision or even lose the eye. As weve discussed briefly, starvation is a very common death cause of plecos. It's just another misleading thing that pet stores advertise. Fin rot is caused by underlying conditions such as bacterial infection. pleco During a water change, I also removed a decoration containing a 2" common pleco and placed all the decorations in an igloo cooler overnight[was installing an ugj system] to my amazement the next day while I was replacing the decor, low and behold there was my pleco in the bottom of the cooler, he had been in there for over 20 hrs. Monitoring your water levels and performing weekly water changes will prevent this from happening to your fish. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Another result of starvation might be aggression, or your pleco sucking on the slime coat of fish like we sometimes see with goldfish. Water parameters are good. Poor conditions in the tank can contribute to infections. Checking the tank conditions and monitoring the fishs behavior are things you can do to determine the cause of the swelling. He is just sitting on the bottom of the tank not moving or trying to eat anything. Like fin rot, Ich may appear due to poor tank conditions. The average life expectancy of plecos is between 10 and 15 years. This gave me false readings that my water had hardly any co2 in it. What kind of pleco is he? There are various products that might treat it but as for your best option on products I don't know. Baby plecos have been known to die when the water temperature fluctuates too much. Sometimes fish will get like this when theyre sick. If this is not taken care of, it will cause your fish to die. They won't necessarily be dead yet, but they'll be struggling to try to breathe. They can also take advantage of other opportunities that come with darkness, like avoiding predators. Or can he be savedlaying on side at bottom of tank, Betta laying at bottom of tank, not eating, pale, barely breathing. Plecostomus is a type of suckermouth catfish that excretes massive amounts of waste. I don't have a picture but he looks kind of like this: Since he is a common pleco he is going to grow too big even for a 90 gallon (plus the waste he produces), if you would like we can help you pick out a medium sized pleco that will fit in with your other fish if you are willing to rehome your current pleco. Unlike cory catfish, which breathe air and for whom its normal to gulp air, plecos dont normally do this. He could still be in shock from the move. I came over to his house about 4 hours later and noticed the plec was missing. The tank is now highly planted, and he's very fast. As you can tell, its important to treat things as soon as you can. If your pleco is losing its color and slowly turning white, this might be an indication that it's either sick or dying. Today, I found him lying on his back on the floor of the tank but he is still alive. Infections can be treated by isolating the sick fish and consulting your vet to determine the proper treatment. !My betta fish isnt moving but he is alive. Being able to maintain a small ecosystem and observe the behaviors and interactions in the underwater world peaked his interest early on and has kept him hooked until this day. Keeping an eye on the water parameters and cleaning the tank regularly will help to prevent things like this from happening. Silly fish. Also, you should make sure that he has a heater, filter, oxygen and all the basics. 2 comments. I've haven't tried touching him by hand but when I touched him with a net it seemed like he tried to run away but couldn't. When my pleco went nuts, the pH had dropped to 6.8 and the drop checker was very yellow. Regular water changes are an important part of fish tank maintenance. Read on to learn about the signs and symptoms, the causes, and treatment options for your pleco. Since plecos dont have scales, it can be hard to know whether its dropsy or not. Its a sign that something is wrong, and you might need to make some changes. (his color blends in real well with the wall - and where he wedged himself in is hard to see unless you are looking for it. It is the most common disease in tropical fish, like plecos, and is likely caused by poor water conditions. This can happen to any fish if it does not have . If your temperature and pH are out of this range, you need to take steps to remedy the situation. Huge plecos like this need A LOT of broccoli to survive ;). My Pleco sits underneath the rock in my mini cave. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Hes in a seperate bowl. There are other reasons why a pleco might start floating, but its possible that the fish could be dead. The Pleco is Bloated. WHats wrong? Some will also cause fish to have a hard time breathing. If this is the case do a 25% water change as soon as possible. Its also possible that plecos will lose color when experiencing significant stress. If there is no reaction, then the fish is truly dead. (Possible Causes). There is a man that works at Petco who actually knows what he is doing, and when my friend asked about getting a common pleco for her 75g, he said he only recommends them in a 150 gallon tank or more to fully thrive. Plecos can stay in the same place for long periods of time, or move and go back without you knowing it. Fish are fascinating creatures, and although some are easy to take care of, that doesnt eliminate the possibility of them developing a sickness. One day, I was excited to see the male had trapped the female in a cave, so I was expecting some babies.However, the next morning I waked up noticing the fish death in the cave. It could be that the fish is sick and has some type of problem with its gills. Nitrite is the most dangerous, and should always be at 0 ppm. Many enthusiasts say that plecos will play dead sometimes. How can I make my plecostomus more active? We might get a modest commission at no extra cost to you. Infections are usually caused by the various bacteria and parasites that may be present in the tank. It can take a few days for him to convinced one to lay eggs for him then he sits in the cave and fans them. Bristlenose plecos are unique fish with unique needs and preferences. Hi, my name is Sean, and Im the primary writer on the site. JavaScript is disabled. Do not . He (or she) is normally pretty active, being a good vacuum cleaner for the tank. Of course, its often human error that causes plecos to die in fish tanks. 0. I have heard of RTC living out of water for 45 mins!!! Cloudy eye is caused by bacteria and if your pleco is under stress, has had an injury, or lower immune system it can come up. AquariaCentral.com, a division of Monster Aquaria Network, LLC. The pleco has stayed motionless in the same spot and position for a few weeks and I started wondering if it was dead so this morning I took a net and stuck it near him and he freaked out, swam around and went back to the same spot.
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