Need help, with Pleco keeps dying.

[Eric1115]

I am new to Pleco, had my first pleco few months ago and fell into love with them and started collecting them. I have done a lot of reading and asked quite a few folks about Pleco keeping and tried to do it correctly but some how I am losing quite a good amount of Pleco and costed a lot of money. Need some help to see what I am doing wrong so I don’t loss more.

On one tank, 55 gallon Grow out tank that’s been cycled for 3 months, has a SunSun Canistor and a Hob filter. I added 4 L397, 2 L134, L190, L191, L027, L129, L201, L104 and a common BN. The largest being L191 at 2.5 inches and the rest all between 1.5 - 2 inches. Everything was good for two weeks and they my L027 die and was eaten with only the skull left. Then 1 L134 die and eaten. After that a L397 die but I saw it slip upside down and too it out. They were all active and eating hours before I found them dead. I feed Zucchini, NLS 1mm pellets, Norfin flakes, algae wafer and shrimp pellets. Not at the same time.

I change 50-60% water every 2-3 days. I checked the water and 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate.


In my other tank a 75, I had the bigger Pleco, 5 inch L075, 4 inch L091, 4 inch L200, 3 inch L128, 4 inch L240, 4 inch Albino BN, tanks been ruining for months. The L091 die after two months, L075 die after two weeks. Then I added a long fin Blue eye lemon BN 5 inches, die in two days eaten. Add another long fin Blue eye lemon 5 inches die over night. I stopped adding and now the remaing 4 are doing very well.

I did dosed PraziPro when they were newly added.

I am looking to go into the more expensive Pleco but with all these death, I am scare of losing them.

Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

TIA

 

[phreeflow]

Each of those plecos have different requirements...like the L90, L27 and other panaque are wood eaters so they need driftwood. Most Hypancistrus and leporacanthicus are carnivores, bristlenose are herbivores, etc. Perhaps they didn’t get the right nutrition.

Also, if you’re leaving them in the tank long enough that the dead ones get eaten all the way to the skeleton then you’re not keeping an eye on them enough. Try and take any dead ones out immediately as some parasites will leave the dead fish and look for a new host and a decaying pleco can foul the water quickly.

However, tiny plecos that are 1.5” are pretty sensitive so I am not surprised you lost some. You also have to be careful when you buy plecos to make sure they’re healthy. Flip them over and see if their bellies are swollen and black or if they are sunken in...it’s very hard to save them in those condition. Check the eyes and make sure they aren’t sunken in. It’s also hard to see ich on some of them but many times, you’ll see them breathing very fast at the petstore...you’ll want to avoid those. Their bellies should be flat, their eyes should not be sunken in, and they should be active and breathing normally.

Setup a dedicated quarantine and be sure to do a full round of internal parasite meds and make sure they are eating well before adding them to your tank.

 

[twentyleagues]

I am new to Pleco, had my first pleco few months ago and fell into love with them and started collecting them. I have done a lot of reading and asked quite a few folks about Pleco keeping and tried to do it correctly but some how I am losing quite a good amount of Pleco and costed a lot of money. Need some help to see what I am doing wrong so I don’t loss more.

On one tank, 55 gallon Grow out tank that’s been cycled for 3 months, has a SunSun Canistor and a Hob filter. I added 4 L397, 2 L134, L190, L191, L027, L129, L201, L104 and a common BN. The largest being L191 at 2.5 inches and the rest all between 1.5 - 2 inches. Everything was good for two weeks and they my L027 die and was eaten with only the skull left. Then 1 L134 die and eaten. After that a L397 die but I saw it slip upside down and too it out. They were all active and eating hours before I found them dead. I feed Zucchini, NLS 1mm pellets, Norfin flakes, algae wafer and shrimp pellets. Not at the same time.

I change 50-60% water every 2-3 days. I checked the water and 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate.


In my other tank a 75, I had the bigger Pleco, 5 inch L075, 4 inch L091, 4 inch L200, 3 inch L128, 4 inch L240, 4 inch Albino BN, tanks been ruining for months. The L091 die after two months, L075 die after two weeks. Then I added a long fin Blue eye lemon BN 5 inches, die in two days eaten. Add another long fin Blue eye lemon 5 inches die over night. I stopped adding and now the remaing 4 are doing very well.

I did dosed PraziPro when they were newly added.

I am looking to go into the more expensive Pleco but with all these death, I am scare of losing them.

Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

TIA

I see a lot wrong here. As mentioned above plecos have different needs, not only food types but temps and water chemistry. Mixing far to many plecos together. They don't like being together and will fight over territory, food, whatever. No mention of quarantine (also mentioned above). You could have brought in a pathogen of some sort. Neither one of those tanks are big enough for that many plecos. Plecos are actually pretty complicated fish to take care of properly. Yeah I know the common ones can be easy, but you get into the more expensive types with food requirements, temps, water hardness/pH, overcrowding you are going to loose a lot of money. You need to do more research then you did. Look for more specific species info on the ones you really want to keep, if those are your only tanks then you will need to cut way back on how many you want. You should be able to keep a couple of the smaller ones in the 75. I have a calico bristle nose that is so aggressive to other plecos he wouldn't let me add any others to a 75 he was in, male or female. I didn't understand why I lost the other calico at first and when I added a long fin albino I watched him harass the new one even though the new one was much smaller and of course I couldn't get the new one out or this one without dismantling the entire tank(curse of 3d backgrounds). I figured it would calm down and they would be ok. Nope he killed the new one. So knowing mine was male I tried to get a known female for him same outcome I got lucky and removed her. He even chased my starlight BN around my 300g pond I had to put him in a tank of random other fish. He doesn't bother other fish mostly, but will chase other types of catfish away from an area he has claimed.

 

[Eric1115]

Each of those plecos have different requirements...like the L90, L27 and other panaque are wood eaters so they need driftwood. Most Hypancistrus and leporacanthicus are carnivores, bristlenose are herbivores, etc. Perhaps they didn’t get the right nutrition.

Also, if you’re leaving them in the tank long enough that the dead ones get eaten all the way to the skeleton then you’re not keeping an eye on them enough. Try and take any dead ones out immediately as some parasites will leave the dead fish and look for a new host and a decaying pleco can foul the water quickly.

However, tiny plecos that are 1.5” are pretty sensitive so I am not surprised you lost some. You also have to be careful when you buy plecos to make sure they’re healthy. Flip them over and see if their bellies are swollen and black or if they are sunken in...it’s very hard to save them in those condition. Check the eyes and make sure they aren’t sunken in. It’s also hard to see ich on some of them but many times, you’ll see them breathing very fast at the petstore...you’ll want to avoid those. Their bellies should be flat, their eyes should not be sunken in, and they should be active and breathing normally.

Setup a dedicated quarantine and be sure to do a full round of internal parasite meds and make sure they are eating well before adding them to your tank.

Thank you for your response. This is a dedicated QT and growout. There are no other fish, just the new pleco. I do have a lot of driftwood in the tank and 21 caves also so a lot of hiding spaces. I am very new to Pleco so I didn’t check their belly, eye when I got them. Will do that going forward. I did notice two of the larger pleco that die in the past. The belly was very sunken. I also see white poops in the tank but not sure from which one. I check on them few time a day and for the two that were eaten. One I saw eating zucchini before I went to bed and found the bone in the morning. The other one I saw it eating couple hours before I found its skull.

As far as them having different diet, I am planning to put them in different tanks after a few months when they finish QT and grow pass 2 -3 inches.

 

[Eric1115]

I see a lot wrong here. As mentioned above plecos have different needs, not only food types but temps and water chemistry. Mixing far to many plecos together. They don't like being together and will fight over territory, food, whatever. No mention of quarantine (also mentioned above). You could have brought in a pathogen of some sort. Neither one of those tanks are big enough for that many plecos. Plecos are actually pretty complicated fish to take care of properly. Yeah I know the common ones can be easy, but you get into the more expensive types with food requirements, temps, water hardness/pH, overcrowding you are going to loose a lot of money. You need to do more research then you did. Look for more specific species info on the ones you really want to keep, if those are your only tanks then you will need to cut way back on how many you want. You should be able to keep a couple of the smaller ones in the 75. I have a calico bristle nose that is so aggressive to other plecos he wouldn't let me add any others to a 75 he was in, male or female. I didn't understand why I lost the other calico at first and when I added a long fin albino I watched him harass the new one even though the new one was much smaller and of course I couldn't get the new one out or this one without dismantling the entire tank(curse of 3d backgrounds). I figured it would calm down and they would be ok. Nope he killed the new one. So knowing mine was male I tried to get a known female for him same outcome I got lucky and removed her. He even chased my starlight BN around my 300g pond I had to put him in a tank of random other fish. He doesn't bother other fish mostly, but will chase other types of catfish away from an area he has claimed.

Thank you for your response. This is QT tank and not their permanent home. I do have their permanent home, 2 125 gallons, a 300 gallon coming hoping in few weeks time. 1 150, 2 100, 3 75 and many 55 gallon tanks.

I was told by many that the pleco starts fighting when they mature and these are only babies being so small, so I didn’t think I need to have separate QT for each one. I was hoping to QT and grow out a little in the 55 before moving them to the bigger tank. I will separate based on their diet and temperament when moving them to their permanent tanks but was thinking they will be ok QT together. Is that the issue and I need a QT tank for each one of them? Cause then that would be too many tanks for me to setup.

 

[Rocksor]

Prazipro isn't the only parasite medication you should be using since it only treats some internal parasites. There's also a different medication for internal worms that Prazipro doesn't treat. You'll need levamisol HCL or flubendazole (https://www.amazon.com/Plymouth-Discus-Product-WORMER-Plus/dp/B085TQ75Z5).

 

[Eric1115]

Thank you for your response. This is QT tank and not their permanent home. I do have their permanent home, 2 125 gallons, a 300 gallon coming hoping in few weeks time. 1 150, 2 100, 3 75 and many 55 gallon tanks.

I was told by many that the pleco starts fighting when they mature and these are only babies being so small, so I didn’t think I need to have separate QT for each one. I was hoping to QT and grow out a little in the 55 before moving them to the bigger tank. I will separate based on their diet and temperament when moving them to their permanent tanks but was thinking they will be ok QT together. Is that the issue and I need a QT tank for each one of them? Cause then that would be too many tanks for me to setup.

By the way I do understand that Pleco can get aggressive and kill other pleco, but was told when their are mature. I don’t intend to add anymore pleco to the 75 as the 4 seems to work. I might even move the L240 out to another tank. It’s the QT and grow out tank that kind of got me discourage as they are all very small so didn’t think aggression will be there yet.

 

[Eric1115]

Prazipro isn't the only parasite medication you should be using since it only treats some internal parasites. There's also a different medication for internal worms that Prazipro doesn't treat. You'll need levamisol HCL or flubendazole (https://www.amazon.com/Plymouth-Discus-Product-WORMER-Plus/dp/B085TQ75Z5).

Thanks I have that also, was going to finish 3 rounds of PraziPro then start Levamisole or should I do them together? Thanks

 

[Rocksor]

Thanks I have that also, was going to finish 3 rounds of PraziPro then start Levamisole or should I do them together? Thanks

Levamisole HCL can be done at the same time as PraziPro. I've done it with bichirs and lungfish. It's only a 2ppm dosing (roughly 0.1g per gallon) for 24 hours with a blackout of the tank. Re-dose 2-3 weeks later with levamisole HCL

 

[Fishman Dave]

Hi, as the others have intimated, you have a mix of plecs there in the 55 with a real mix of requirements. I would suggest too many too, some of which really would not get on, ok this gets worse the larger they get but even small ones will start to divide territory.
The L134 can be really territorial. The L190, 191 and 027 will squabble as they are all the same. The food you are feeding is in my opinion not suitable for many of the plecs you have in there.
L104, L397, L190, L191, L027 all want a wood diet with veg like sprouts so that means plenty of wood they can feed on. Better with wood they can bite through like bog wood and not the harder mopani wood types.
The L201, L129, L134 all want a meaty diet, so shrimp, fish, mussels etc. Which the bristlenose will also rellish.

In the 75 you have a number of similar looking plecs which could mean disputes. Some fairly territorial plecs along with some real softies (L075, L200).
Note that you are also keeping high temp slow water plecs with lower temperature faster water plecs.

In general I think you need to look at a set up 55 or 75 for each kind/ habitat and thin them out somewhat. Plecs all have similar shapes but many different requirements and they don't do well overstocked without the habitat they prefer, which is not necessarily caves.
Get that sorted and I would expect better results.