Common Pleco got the "shakes"

[philfreenode]

My 6 inch common pleco has developed a constant twitch, at first i thought it was the current in the tank but when i turned off the filters for a water change he kept twitching, and when he tries to move he runs into stuff. he stopped eating 2 days ago. he's been eating zucchini for the last month, before that it was zucchini and spinach.

Has anyone seen this before? You think he will snap out of it or die?

Water is 0 or .1 ammonia (did a 50% water change after i noticed the .1 ammonia), 0 nitrite, 20-30 nitrates.

Maybe he ate too much pesticides from zucchini skins? that seems like his favorite food.

Its like he has spasms...

 

[bluehighways]

Bummer to hear that. It could be pesticides. Some of those chemicals are very toxic to fish in minute quantity. Make sure you're washing the veggies really well before feeding them. I cut off the skin altogether unless it was grown in our organic garden.

Hope he lives through this.

 

[philfreenode]

Damn, if he dies I think i'll get another pleco and only feed it sinking pellets since I don't have my own garden. I thought i could get away with feeding organic veggies from the grocery but now I just read on wikipedia: Organic farming standards do not allow the use of synthetic pesticides, but they do allow the use of specific pesticides derived from plants. The most common organic pesticides, accepted for restricted use by most organic standards, include Bt, pyrethrum and rotenone. Rotenone has high toxicity to fish and aquatic creatures, causes Parkinson's disease if injected into rats, and shows other toxicity to mammals.[36]

...

Parkinson's.. sounds familiar cause he is shaking.

 

[bluehighways]

Try farmers' markets in your area. Most of them here in Wisconsin don't use any pesticides at all. It's probably true in your state of WA too. My pleco eats zucchini, cucumber, wafers, left over cichlid pellets, but he LOVES pumpkin. Pleco goes absolutely nuts for it.

I keep one cut up in the freezer so I can feed him year 'round. If pesticides are a big concern for you, try your local farmers' market. Cut up veggies in the freezer will feed pleco for a long time.

Also, most pesticides do not penetrate the rind of any veggie. If you simply cut it off, you should be OK.

Another thing to watch is what's on your hand if you put them in the tank. Hand sanitizers and some soaps can really screw with your fish.

 

[NixMix]

IMO it sounds like he may just be in shock from the WC. I transferred my Gibby over to a bigger tank that was being established and he went into shock for a little while. He recovered within a half hour or so. Just keep the lights off and keep an eye on him. Should be ok unless he's spasming more often than just for the time being.

Does he still stay at the bottom or in place or is he floating and/or turning over or anything?

 

[philfreenode]

I wanted to make an update to this thread... my pleco made a complete recovery. It took him a few weeks.. after NixMix's post he continued to have what looked like seizures for another week or two. I moved him to a 20 gallon long where he has been there alone since christmas. I kept putting fresh food in there for him every day..

He's got an aquaclear 30 and penguin 200 for filtration. in early january, probably around the 10th he started eating again after about what seemed like 4 weeks without food. maybe he ate a little on the way i dunno. it never really looked touched. the spasms have disappeared. he gets zuchinni every other day and spinach on the off days. im keeping the tank clean by vacs and replacing all mechanical filtration no less frequently than weekly. today i even saw him eating pieces of spinach that came un-anchored from the bottom by swimming on his back at the surface. I'm very happy he is once again a poop machine and constantly eating now