L600 pleco dead
- Thread starter jaws7777
- Start date
Cant be starvation he ate the night before. Cant afford to try again so this next one better last
Sent from my SM-G900P using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my SM-G900P using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Like I said, just because your pleco is eating doesn't mean he's able to process the food he's taking in. Eating is only part of the equation and w/o the proper ability to process the contents in his stomach it's the same as not eating at all. In most causes there's nothing you can do about that. Like I said, lots of times fish stores will treat for parasites or other issues and the chemicals they use can kill the good bacteria that live in a pleco's gut the converts what they eat into something their body can break down and use for nutrition. Without this they can eat and eat but basically still starve. I still think this is what happened with yours since you said he was fearless. I've seen that behavior displayed from plecos who die from starvation a short time later. It's like they understand how dire of a situation they're in so they're wired to put safety on hold in an effort to seek out food. Even if they are eating as is the case with yours they still aren't getting nutrition from the food so at a primitive level they're still starving.
Some plecos need meaty foods. Some plecos it's not good for then & they need more plant-based foods. You'll just have to take it case by case when you get a new L # pleco or are considering it.
As far as him potentially not having the proper beneficial bacteria in his gut, it may not be anything you did at all. Didn't you say you recently got him from a LFS? Like a few months ago? It's possible they unknowingly treated him or the tank he was in with some sort of antibiotic or chemical & inadvertently killed the BB that lives in the guts of plecos. Without a healthy gut flora their ability to properly process the food they take in is greatly reduced if not completely lost. Even though they eat & look full they pass the food w/o processing all (or any) of the nutrition they need from it. So they physically eat but it's like they never even ate to their body. They effectively starve w/o the ability to process/absorb nutrients. If that's what happened there's not too much you can do other than to buy from somewhere else in the future or educated them on caring for plecos.
As far as him potentially not having the proper beneficial bacteria in his gut, it may not be anything you did at all. Didn't you say you recently got him from a LFS? Like a few months ago? It's possible they unknowingly treated him or the tank he was in with some sort of antibiotic or chemical & inadvertently killed the BB that lives in the guts of plecos. Without a healthy gut flora their ability to properly process the food they take in is greatly reduced if not completely lost. Even though they eat & look full they pass the food w/o processing all (or any) of the nutrition they need from it. So they physically eat but it's like they never even ate to their body. They effectively starve w/o the ability to process/absorb nutrients. If that's what happened there's not too much you can do other than to buy from somewhere else in the future or educated them on caring for plecos.
I'm not saying for sure that's your problem but I wouldn't treat fish that aren't displaying symptoms. To be safe don't treat fish unless you absolutely have to.
