I got a new albino pleco and it is death after second day

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professorjimjam

Dovii
MFK Member
May 26, 2021
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I got an new albino pleco it wasn’t the bristle-nose one , it was the kind that gets too big. I put them together with my other plecos which is bristlenose plecos and other different plecos and this one was a bit smaller than the others and it was eating a lot. Today after I came back from work, I saw the plecos death on the bottom of the tank. I don’t know why it died, I don’t see any sign of disease on him. His stomach looked completely greenish. I cut him to see if he had eaten, and all I could find in his stomach was green algae nothing else. I am assuming maybe he had a hearth attack and died because other plecos maybe have been bullying him. Could it be that he died becuade of bully? Can there be any invisible disease? Should I be worried about my other plecos?
 
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I have never been able to keep common plecos long. I think it was just unhealthy when you got it or didn’t respond well to the new tank, but I don’t think it is anything of concern to the others.
 
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No quarantine?

When you constantly buy new fish willy-nilly and add them to your tank without quarantining them long enough to have a chance to observe them and look out for obvious diseases or parasites...then, yeah, you probably should be concerned. Not saying that this particular fish introduced disease into your tank...but there's no way to tell. Something killed it. Stress from moving? Disease? Unseen injury? Too late to be sure now.

Every new un-quarantined addition increases the chances of introducing a problem. Keep it up and it will happen.
 
When I was a beginner, it was very hard for me to kill a common pleco. The first one I ever had went through all the beginner learning stages (too small of a tank), several ich outbreaks and a few fish cycles. I rehomed it at 19 years old. I consider them nearly bullet proof seeing many beginners having no trouble.
 
Yes, I bought it from a shop. The shopkeeper told me he will give me a new one. I do not want to risk it. I am afraid it may have a disease that can nuke my tank.
 
You can get new fish, no problem (if you have tank space). Just make sure to use at least a month long quarantine. Here and there people feel they get away with it, but it is just not worth the risk. Sometimes the problems become quickly apparent. Other times it takes a long time but it will bite.
Sorry for you loss.
 
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Like many and I should really say all fish, the water change itself is stressful. I could only imagine; you properly acclimated the fish. But did you add tank water to the new bag a few times over in intervals of 10 to 15 mins. Water PH and Hardness also stress fish and can cause death overnight. Another thing you should consider is adding more fish to an already established tank. The existing fish may have already acclimated to that tank and your scheduled cleaning. Sorry for the loss.
 
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