Wow that really sucks! And he was 8 inches. Incidently there are scarlets coming through and being sold on aquabid but they are not cheap. I payed $405 with shipping for an 11 inch L-114 which is similiar but not as rare as a scarlet. I have had my leopard cactus for about a year and his main diet is NLS 3 mm laced with garlic. I did have a scare with him sunken eyes and belly when I got him but luckily he pulled through. Hope you find another scarlet real soon.
lost my scarlet pleco today
- Thread starter longv
- Start date
That is a sad sad site...
So sorry for your lost..
If i had to bet.. i'd say the fish's death wasn't caused by parasite or any form of bacteria... but its actually the bichirs...
Plecos and Bichirs dont play nice at all.. in fact.. i would never recommend anyone put the two species together... South American and African fish do not mix well.. Also, Bichirs have bigger mouth than Pleco.. they shredded fins on this L25 indicate that he's gotten beat up quite a bit..
FYI... if you ever come across a rare fish like L25.. take extreme care for it and dont mix it with anything non south american... Cichlids are fine unless its Red Devil or Midas.. those are just evil fish...
The second thing could be temperature.. I am not family with Bichirs temperature range.. but if water is TOO hot.. 86 and above.. it can lead to pleco suffocation, when water is too hot.. oxygen level to defuse must faster in water... I've lost a few pleco in summer months.. that why I make sure to turn off heaters by day and replug in heaters by night..
Well i dont need to tell you what a great lost you have.. but thats what i think caused your Pleco's death..
So sorry for your lost..
If i had to bet.. i'd say the fish's death wasn't caused by parasite or any form of bacteria... but its actually the bichirs...
Plecos and Bichirs dont play nice at all.. in fact.. i would never recommend anyone put the two species together... South American and African fish do not mix well.. Also, Bichirs have bigger mouth than Pleco.. they shredded fins on this L25 indicate that he's gotten beat up quite a bit..
FYI... if you ever come across a rare fish like L25.. take extreme care for it and dont mix it with anything non south american... Cichlids are fine unless its Red Devil or Midas.. those are just evil fish...
The second thing could be temperature.. I am not family with Bichirs temperature range.. but if water is TOO hot.. 86 and above.. it can lead to pleco suffocation, when water is too hot.. oxygen level to defuse must faster in water... I've lost a few pleco in summer months.. that why I make sure to turn off heaters by day and replug in heaters by night..
Well i dont need to tell you what a great lost you have.. but thats what i think caused your Pleco's death..
zerojquan85;4226433; said:
L25 are not punks. I have seen them fight with fish I would have never thought possible. I have never had any problems with plecos and polypterus. I've had a phantom pleco with 15"+ endli and ornates for years. No problems at all. The plec actually sticks out his spines and pushes the polys around. Pretty funny.
The heat thing you mentioned is right on though. I have also had that happen with plecos.
Was there any other plecs in the tank? They are their own worst enemy sometimes.
I keep my L-114 ( 11 inches) in a 65 with 2 regular silver dollars and 2 black banded silver dollars. Also an albino bristlenose. No other fish in this tank. I put 12 swordtails in there to keep the dollars from hiding and slowly removed 2 a day until they were gone, my silver dollars stay in the open now as does my 2 plecos.
