Need help with plecos

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I will check out those websites.

I took everything out of the tank in hopes they would go nuts eating everything like they did the last time. The biggest one did come up to the front and excitedly at the particles that had come of the cucumber...but stayed away from the slices. They seem to like hanging out on the back wall near the "pipe" from the filter.

The filter can be seen from the top of the tank. It has two rollers that are housed in front of two cup like things the water passes through. In the cups are changable filters.

The water is very cloudy. What do I do about that?

News! My big baby swam over for a nibble on the cucumber then swam back to the back of the tank. Another decided to lie down right where the food particles congregated. This is causing the food to float upward. Is it eating the food?

I am cautious of craigs list but I will look into other ways of finding a tank.

I am so greatful for all of you helping.

I go to bed around 9-930 so that is when their lights will go out. I will put the wood back in.

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You don't actually have to take everything out, the emptiness will just stress them. That is probably why they are hiding by the filter. Instead, just move things a little bit, or turn some of the gravel over. As for the cloudiness, don't worry. That is just probably particles that got kicked up when you moved things around, which are not bad for the tank and will settle after a few hours. I'm not really sure, but that filter looks pretty big, and should be fine. (Others, please correct/elaborate if you recognize the filter; I do not.) It does appear, as I believe someone else said earlier, that there is something floating around in your tank. They show up in the picture as sort of whiteish stringy things. If you could, please get a closer/sharper photo of these for me or others to identify. Some stringy things like that are perfectly harmless, while others are parasites? Are these the same things you saw on the plecos? If so, and if they are mostly on the posterior end of the fish, as a third option these could be unusual feces as someone described earlier.

Good luck,
Brian
 
I have a feeling it is 0arasites. The pleco who died had it all over him/her. It was hanging off it's face. My daughter said another pleco looks soft, not hard like it use to. The convict is n9t as active. What do I do at this point? Normally, is there something I can test for parasites.

Answers to questions I forgot:

The goldf8sh was brought home from a fair around Halloween. Not sure what kind but it had a black dot on its head and moved around the tank like a spaz. It didnt swim elegantly like my kids sitters goldfish. The convict hung out with it.

I do have a heater. It is not on I can adjust. It is for 78 degrees and for a 50 gal tank. I am on my 3rd one in 4 months.

I want to take the tank apart, clean real well and put them back in, but I will wait to hear what you say.

How would I get parasites? How can I prevent them?
 
Actually this is the little one. I dont think he/she has grown since we got it late last summer (or earlier). The other was the medium one. The biggest is around 4 or 5"....but swims fast.

I read online to use 1 tsp of non-idiodized salt per 5 gal of water and something called that starts with an r to rid the parasites. What do you think?

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If they were all over the dead one, then it probably is parasites. Unfortunately, I really can't help much at this point because I have no experience dealing with parasites. What I can say is taking the whole tank apart and draining all the water and cleaning everything is a bad idea. This will destroy all the BB in the tank, and force the fish to go through a cycle, which will almost certainly kill them. If you have another tank that is fully cycled, then you could try putting the fish in there. It may or may not help, depending on if they are already infected with parasites. If you had an adjustable heater, I would suggest turning it up a bit, as this sometimes helps with parasites.

Odds are, the parasites came from the goldfish. It was the most recent addition to the tank, and it probably wasn't cared for properly leading up to your acquisition of it.

If the parasites did come from another fish, the best thing you can do to prevent this is quarantine new fish in a smaller, separate tank for a few weeks, or even more. The main thing to watch for is just if they are showing any signs of disease. If they are, leave them in the quarantine tank to see how it turns out.

As for the differentiation in size between the plecos, they may have been different types. There are many many types of plecos, so they may have appeared similar and been falsely classified as the same by Walmart. Or, they may have been the same but at different ages where growth rates are different. It is also possible that all this was a factor of the parasites. I'm really not sure on any of that, I'm just giving it my best guess.

Good luck,
Brian
 
Thank you, Brian. I was at Petco talking to the fish guy (he has fishes at home). I ended up buying the thermometer with adjustable heat, the snake lcd with blue light for oxegyn (if not a good idea, pls let me know and I will get the stone) and ick remover. If any of this is not a good idea, pls let me know. Thank you. In the beginning of the new year, I will be upgrading tank size. Mine, I found out, is a 29).
 
Good call I'd say on the heater. What is the snake lcd? I can't quite tell from your description, and I haven't seen any reasonable results online. A picture would also be helpful, of the device and/or packaging. Same thing on the medication. I was just wondering what kind it was, and what else it might treat. From what I understand, ich doesn't have any wormy looking stage, but I could be wrong. If possible, more disease information from the others out there would be great.

Good luck,
Brian
 
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