new pardalis dies always :-(

[sharonka]

I need help please. I want common pleco (l. pardalis) in my tank. But I am buying this again and again and it dies always. It is only little ( 5,5 cm) to buy in our city and I seen bigger (cca 10 cm) only once and it looked so ill.

And about my problem: when I buy it, it look good, eat , swim...and per several days it is passive, don´t eat, tummy is cavernous. It live one week or one month...I don´t know, what I am doing wrongly.

quarantine tank is 60litres, temp. 26 - 28 °C, soft watter ( 3dGH) ph neutral, driftwood, jawa moss and some test guppies...food daphnia, infusing nettle, vegetable flakes, spirullina

when it has Ichthyophthirius , I use Acriflavin.

I bought 7 plecos over last year and died all. Why?

 

[davo]

What are your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests? Have the guppies always survived. It is best to purchase animals with a non cavernous stomach.

 

[sharonka]

Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests are OK, guppies are OK too, female has babies sometime, they are ok too, my cichlids eats them and cichlids are ok..I don´t know...when I buy baby pleco, it hasn´t cavernous stomach. But they are only in one shop in our city..may be, that this shop have bad supplier?

 

[davo]

Maybe... Do you see it eating ok? These are pretty hardy plecos. Do you treat them when you get them for internal parasites or anything else?

 

[monsternoob]

I had the exact same problem. Perfect water, regular water changes, all other fish A okay. I could never keep any plec alive for much longer than a month. Maybe 6 or 7 died this way over the course of 3 or 4 years. Then, I switch the tank over from RO water to aged tap, stick a few goldfish in and buy a BN, and he has never had any problems.

 

[abpositive]

Are you guys offering a variety and plenitude of food?

For babies that come from people or stores that I don't trust, I always powerfeed my new arrivals for at least 3 months.

Powerfeeding is zucchinni or cucumber or melon every day, and shrimp pellets, and TONS of wafers too.

For baby plecs, I always dump wafers in twice a day on top of the fruit and veg.

Yes, it means more water changes, but I've honestly only lost two plecs-and they were both the runtiest of runty, tiny, spindly, fry. Both under one inch.

 

[loach43]

Not a bad theory abpos. By the time fish get to their LFS destination they are sometimes malnourished from being unfed for weeks in holding tanks.

 

[sharonka]

Thankś all, I will try it once more. I am despairing, when I see, as it dies one by one. I like them but I wanted back down. Cross fingers

 

[SiApA2]

wow! plecos are pretty hardy just like davo said.
when i first bought my pleco they were same size as yours i use to put boiled zuchinni and they loved it now he is 50+cm
hope all goes well with your new ones bud.

 

[davo]

Just so you know, don't boil the zucchini, it will take out all the nutrients. Raw is best