HELP!!! plecos from lfs keep dying

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Personally based upon my experience I would never buy a pleco under 4".
Unless you have a well established planted tank with tons of hiding places and prisitine water. Stay away from small gold nugget plecos most are not handled well at the wholesaler and then the lfs. Most LFS do not know how to properly condition plecos specifically the gold nugget....
 
brawler1588;3701088; said:
Does anyone know where to buy good plecos online or on here anywhere
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ya.. try snookn21... he doesnt sell u pleco that are bad or not eating.. all are in good health... he actually canceled an order i wanted because the plecos weren't doing well.. so John (snookn21) is a good MFK vendor to order plecos from...


Back to topic...

Make sure that when ur getting the new pleco from any LFS.. their belly are not sunken in.. they are in good healthy condition and eating well.. U can usually tell if they are pooping in the tank... But mostly the sunken in eyes and belly will give u a clue on the pleco's health...

It also does help if ur water in ur own tank is crystal clear and well maintained... I do a water change on my pleco tank at least once a week to clean up the debries left behind and to lower the ammonia..

I could also be the food your giving ur pleco... how long do they usually die? over night? a few weeks? :confused:
 
johnd651;3700810; said:
just to be sure... you are not dumping the fish store water into your tank. you should drip your water into the bag, for a while, and then net them into the aquarium... dump the bag water into a sink or water the plants.

i had a couple die like that as well...good luck
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May I ask why this is? cuz I've always just been doing that...
 
Koldsoup, I'd consider quarantining every new fish for 3-4 weeks. This has to be done if you want to protect your prized collection from possible diseases that may even wipe out all of your stocks. If you have to buy your fish from different sources, I'd keep them in other quarantine tanks. I advise against cross contaminating all your new fish from different sources especially if some are actually healthy and do not harbor issues and are instead lost when batches from another source carry something that kills everything.
 
I have also heard that wood is beneficial to a pleco. Some species either scrape the wood itself, or the fungus and detritus that collects on it. Even if they don't it makes for good camouflage structure and will potentially reduce stress.
 
brawler1588;3700874; said:
Yea I don't put the store water in my tank. You also said drip the water into the bag how do I do that
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Use a regular airline piece. Start a drip just like siphoning a tank (suck on the airline, make sure it's lower than the tank). Then, when it gets going tie a loose knot in it so that only a drip comes through.
 
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