what killed my pleco??

[shoey]

I've had a 600l tank for around 4 years with oscars convicts and a pleco. All doing pritty well till around a month ago I noticed my pleco was breathing air from the surface every so often. A week ago i noticed he seemed to have stopped foraging and was apathetic. last couple of days the air breathing increased, till thismorning was not happy. can anyone explain why pleco would have been going for the air. the only thing i've done differntly in the last 6 months was to move house and use town water with a conditioner. Was past always kept in tank water

 

[WyldFya]

Were the other fish full grown before the top breathing began/increase? If not, I'd say your fish have over grown your tank. O2 levels were definitely too low in the tank.

 

[shoey]

I would supose the oscars and pleco were close to full grown being 4 years old. But the convicts have breed (of course) and have all been geting larger. I think you would be right. I guess leting the convicts breed at their lesure wasn't such a good idea.

 

[WyldFya]

Bio-load expanding, plus the stress from the cichlid did him in. Plecos need a lot of oxygen.

 

[shoey]

thanks for the info was such a cool fish, not a nice way to learn a lesson.

 

[Allan01230]

Did you have an air stone in that tank and what size was the tank?