PLECO DEATHS? I don't get it

[Sturgeon]

do you gravel vac? feed @ night too

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

its a standard rectangle.. I have wood in there, have fake plants, plenty of hiding spots, and no.. the other fish do not mind the plecos.

someone advised me that maybe since my gravel is uncoated.. and its older, that it could be sucking up poisons and that I need to change my gravel? and when the plecos eat it, they are just eating poison.. anyone hear of that?

Can you then measure the length, width and height of the tank please and test the water quality?

The gravel thing by the way is nonsence, has not factual backing to it at all and is just a myth. Also pleco's don't eat gravel.


How often do you clean the substrate in your tank? If you do not clean it often enough, waste which gets trapped in it will decompose and play havc with the water quality and also produce toxic gases from the decomposing process.

 

[davo]

That originated from if you treat a tank, and theirs algae in it, the treatment becomes concentrated in it, and if you have an algea eating pleco... then it can kill them.

What species are they? Can't solve much without knowing that, unless it is simply your other fish killing them.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

That originated from if you treat a tank, and theirs algae in it, the treatment becomes concentrated in it, and if you have an algea eating pleco... then it can kill them.

Is there any scientific evidence or whatever that explains and backs that up though? Its kinda vague saying that if you treat the tank the algae will absorb the meds, they could be any kind of meds which could contain anything and there are dozens of types of algae which grow and appear very different etc.

 

[davo]

duno, i'll have a look, but it is a fact that many plants if not all will take in any pollutants and therefore you will have the concentrated meds in the plant and if said animal eats it will end up in it. Then it's about the toxicology of the treatment.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I think your friend might be referring to "Old Tank Syndrome". All tanks ultimately build up to a near-constant level of waste products in the water column. Tanks that aren't cleaned very often will build up much greater waste levels than tanks that are cleaned frequently. This is a fairly slow process so nice, hardy fish like yours adapt to the elevated waste condition. The problem shows up when you try to add new fish. The new fish haven't adapted to the tank and so they don't thrive in the "dirty" water.

The quickest way to test for "Old Tank Syndrome" is to just test the nitrates in your water. If you don't have access to a nitrate test, you may just want to try doubling either the frequency or the volume of the water change. Doubling the frequency would probably be better, but sometimes it's easier to double volume.

(Hey Tokis!)