Does common plecos require special attention?

fishist · Post by **fishist** » 20 Oct 2004, 23:39

Hi all, I have been keeping fish for a few years now. But I never have any experience with plecos. Recently, I notice one of my tank has some algae growing in it. Knowing that common plecos are fairly sturdy fish, I decided to buy a common pleco to take care of the algae problem. I bought a common pleco last month (it was about 5 inches long), and put it in a tank with 2 bala shark (each about 6" long) and 3 clown loaches (each about 3" long). The tank is 48" x 24" x 12" in demension, has plenty of hiding places, and is about 2 years old. The pleco seemed to do well at first. It was active cleaning the algae and eating normally. I fed it with cucumber and algae waffer. But after 2 weeks it started to be very inactive and stopped feeding. The fish had no sign of any disease on the body. It wasn't bothered by its tankmates. I tested the water and the water was in good condition. All the other fish in the tank was doing well. Only the pleco was not moving nor eating. And after 1 week of not moving and eating, the pleco died. I am not sure what happened. This is my first time keeping plecos. So if anyone can offer any insights or share some experience, please help. Thanks!

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Oct 2004, 10:08

Fishist,

Really sorry to hear about your loss.

From what I've read, they like to get some drift-wood to "chew". It contains fibers that they need for their pretty lengthy intestines.

It could of course be any of a large number of other reasons that caused it to stop eating, including some sort of decease that it's had before you got it, and that doesn't show on the "outside" of the fish...

--
Mats

fishist · Post by **fishist** » 21 Oct 2004, 23:00

Thanks MatsP,

I do have serveral pieces of driftwood in the tank. But I'll make sure I do more research before I get another pleco.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 22 Oct 2004, 10:01

fishist wrote:Thanks MatsP,

I do have serveral pieces of driftwood in the tank. But I'll make sure I do more research before I get another pl*co.

Not sure if that helps. It may be that you were just unlucky...

Btw, what temp do you have in the tank. Pl*co's seem to live in lower temperatures than for instance some of the tetras, about 24'C or so. But it does vary from one specie to another, so check the Cat-eLog for what kind you're thinking of.

They are great fish, very interesting and useful at the same time, so worth persevering with...

--
Mats

fishist · Post by **fishist** » 22 Oct 2004, 19:24

Thanks again Mats,

I'll keep your suggestions in mind. My tanks temperature is about 26'C. Do you think I should lower the temp a bit?

fishist

saradora · Post by **saradora** » 24 Oct 2004, 17:12

Did you happen to notice the fish's belly when you purchased it? Never buy a pleco that doesn't have a full belly! No matter how much care you try to put into it, a fish with a sunken stomach (even just a little sunken) is often beyond help. They just kind of give up on eating. Also, it is my understanding that wood-eating plecos (like commons) are more sensitive to lower temps because lower temps interfere with the functioning of the symbiotic bacteria that helps them digest all the wood and cellulose they eat. My common pleco has lived happily at 79-80F for over a year now (and has grown six inches in that time!)This fish also weathered a two week heat wave (creating tank temps of 84-86F) with no apparent distress. The only pleco I know of that absolutely requires lower temps is the rubbernose. Rubbernoses do not eat wood and do best at 68-76.
Hope this helps!

fishist · Post by **fishist** » 24 Oct 2004, 18:38

Thanks Soradora,

Now that you mentioned it, I realize that the pleco's stomach was a bit flat. I'll pay attention to the next pleco I buy. And thanks for the info on water temp. My tank is kept at ~80'F. Same as yours.