possible cause of death?

[Plantie, posts: 4]

Hi guys, im new here. I was recomended to have a look at this forum by one of your members T.
I hope you might be able to help me with my problem.
I had a young Royal Pl*co, who i had bought about 3 weeks ago. He seemed to be settling into his new home very well. He didnt let any of my other fish or Pl*co's hastle him & wasnt at all shy.
Saturday morning i noticed that he had some tares on his top fin & thought i would treat with Melafix. He seemed fine until last night where i noticed him on his back sucking away onto nothing. The colour in his tail was non exist & every now & then he wasnt breathing. I thought the best thing was to put him out of his misery. I was just wondering if any of you had thoughts on what could of killed him. He had no visible marks apart from his frayed fin.

I am just so puzzled. I hope it wasnt the Melafix

[FatCat, posts: 87]

Aside from running a full line of water tests its hard to say, sometimes catfish can act strange. I woulda let nature take its course personally. PLecos are tough cookies, Out of all my fish ive never had one die, he might have pulled through. Sorry for ya loss.

[Plantie, posts: 4]

I think if i had left him the other fish in the tank would have probably started to pick on him. The man at the LFS said last night that royals can be not so hardy as the other pl*co's.

Thanks for your reply though

[Ben, posts: 191]

Did you have any wood in the tank for him to eat? Without it in their diet, Royals digestive systems can clog up. I've heard of this happening more than once.

[Plantie, posts: 4]

Yep, he had a huge piece of wood to chew on. He left loads of little shavings all round the tank.

[Pooks73, posts: 46]

for the future, i'd suggest having a spare tank around that you can use to treat any fish that might become ill. a 10 gallon works great, as their cheap and most medications are dosed for a 10 gallon anyway. whenever a fish begins to look ill, i always remove them to a hospital tank. that way i can treat the fish, as well as help to ensure that no other fish become ill with the same thing. plus the other fish are not subjected to medications that they don't need.

i'm sorry to hear about your royal. from all accounts, they are a heardy plec. how was the water quality? had you added any other fish? it's very hard to say what could have gone wrong with it. had it been eating (other than the wood)?

not to offend anyone, but i find that most employees at lfs's have no idea what they're talking about and should be the last person that you ask for advice. unless this is a good, local mom and pop type place, or you know that the person really knows what they're talking about and keeps fish of their own, do not listen to them. i have heard the most disturbing things come out of the mouths of pet store employees.

[Plantie, posts: 4]

I know usually you dont listen to LFS but this bloke has been keeping fish all his life & he is very knowledgeable. I would trust most things he tells me.
The water quality is fine, all my other fish & fancy pl*co's are doing well.
I dont have enough space for another tank, im in a flat as it is & have trouble fitting in my 5 foot tank that i have now.
The Royal was eating well, ate a slice of courgette or potato every night & also had some bloodworms in the evenings too.
I suppose this is just one of those learning experiences, shame it had to happen though

[stibolt, posts: 97]

Maybe he was sick, when you got them. . my experience is that many animal-shops don´t know how to take proper care of special fish. .