OK! I'll ask the questions.
Did you quarantine the L600 before introducing him into the main tank? Did you quarantine / plan to quarantine this new L600 before introducing him into the tank?
-- all, ALL fish need to be quarantined before introducing into the main tank, even if it's purchased from fellow experienced hobbyists. Many of us, including myself, learned this the hard way. I had 1/4 of my plecos wiped out recently when I agreed to housesit a few plecos of a buddy from mfk who was going on vacation.......
Do you have a test kit for your water? What's the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate like?
-- Really!!! do you have one? give us the numbers so we can help... if you don't, get one now and test, THEN give us the numbers.... it more important than you think. Even experienced ppl with 50+yrs under the belt need to test now n' then.
Why do you feel a need to do a 80% water change every 5 days? How was the water change done? Was it with de-chlorinated water that's the same temperature as the main tank? Or was it with tap water that lowered the temperature of the main tank by 5~6 degrees after the water change?
-- big water changes only causes big stress. Stress lowers fish's immune system and make them weaker and easier to overcome by parasite/bacteria infection/diseases.
How long do you think the fish was dead before you noticed? .
-- If not long, and the fish is already torn up, some/if not all, fish are underfed, and hungry. Again, that leads to stress, and fights, which leads to more stress. And what did we say about stress?
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Advise.
Don't worry about the type of food you feed, as long as they are eating. Fish are not dumb, meat eaters won't go after veggie foods, and veggie eaters won't go after meaty food. If they eat it, it's ok.
Always quarantine fish, no matter the source. If pleco is wild-caught, always de-worm before introducing to main tank. Plenty of discussion about de-worming a pleco, I think I participated in a couple of them here on mfk as well, search around.
Don't do big water changes. Some people says never to do anything over 25%. I say 50% is doable, if water is the same temperature and de-chlorinated.
Know exactly what's in your water. How much ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH. That's the only way you can determine how often to change water, and how much. Rather you are overfeeding, overstocked, or if you have enough filter.
Aerating the water is not that hard... as long as you are breaking the water surface with some action. Like a waver maker, overflow filter, HOB filter, anything!!! just break the water surface or make some waves. That's enough. You really only need airstones if you are using a canister filter which causes a very calm water surface. Too calm a water surface may cause a film to develop on top, which makes air exchange even more difficult. If a corner of tank really is not aerated, fish will move to a more aerated area, don't worry about that.
Most importantly. Find out what killed the L600 before buying a new one. It's not just about the money. Think about the trauma on your lil boy if the new one days again..........
Best of luck
Did you quarantine the L600 before introducing him into the main tank? Did you quarantine / plan to quarantine this new L600 before introducing him into the tank?
-- all, ALL fish need to be quarantined before introducing into the main tank, even if it's purchased from fellow experienced hobbyists. Many of us, including myself, learned this the hard way. I had 1/4 of my plecos wiped out recently when I agreed to housesit a few plecos of a buddy from mfk who was going on vacation.......
Do you have a test kit for your water? What's the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate like?
-- Really!!! do you have one? give us the numbers so we can help... if you don't, get one now and test, THEN give us the numbers.... it more important than you think. Even experienced ppl with 50+yrs under the belt need to test now n' then.
Why do you feel a need to do a 80% water change every 5 days? How was the water change done? Was it with de-chlorinated water that's the same temperature as the main tank? Or was it with tap water that lowered the temperature of the main tank by 5~6 degrees after the water change?
-- big water changes only causes big stress. Stress lowers fish's immune system and make them weaker and easier to overcome by parasite/bacteria infection/diseases.
How long do you think the fish was dead before you noticed? .
-- If not long, and the fish is already torn up, some/if not all, fish are underfed, and hungry. Again, that leads to stress, and fights, which leads to more stress. And what did we say about stress?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advise.
Don't worry about the type of food you feed, as long as they are eating. Fish are not dumb, meat eaters won't go after veggie foods, and veggie eaters won't go after meaty food. If they eat it, it's ok.
Always quarantine fish, no matter the source. If pleco is wild-caught, always de-worm before introducing to main tank. Plenty of discussion about de-worming a pleco, I think I participated in a couple of them here on mfk as well, search around.
Don't do big water changes. Some people says never to do anything over 25%. I say 50% is doable, if water is the same temperature and de-chlorinated.
Know exactly what's in your water. How much ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH. That's the only way you can determine how often to change water, and how much. Rather you are overfeeding, overstocked, or if you have enough filter.
Aerating the water is not that hard... as long as you are breaking the water surface with some action. Like a waver maker, overflow filter, HOB filter, anything!!! just break the water surface or make some waves. That's enough. You really only need airstones if you are using a canister filter which causes a very calm water surface. Too calm a water surface may cause a film to develop on top, which makes air exchange even more difficult. If a corner of tank really is not aerated, fish will move to a more aerated area, don't worry about that.
Most importantly. Find out what killed the L600 before buying a new one. It's not just about the money. Think about the trauma on your lil boy if the new one days again..........
Best of luck
