I'm having trouble keeping plecos, long term... numerous tanks, and conditions???

[Magnum Man]

so I've not been able to keep plecos long term, both my South American tetra, and cichlid tanks, should be good conditions for them, the rest of the fish thrive... they seem to get lethargic, and slowly die... sometimes they don't move for a week or more, and I go to fish them out with the net, only to have them swim off, to die a week later... most have been various breeds of bushy nose, but a few others as well... my king tigers are wood chewers, and I noticed my biggest one, this morning is acting like a zombie... I wondered maybe they didn't like the water at 78 degrees, but so far several have been living with my Tilapia, in the breeding tanks, and those are at like 85 degrees, with no problems, so far... at least one of the two I added to my cool water barb tank has been thriving... it's a strange situation, as they all seem to be thriving, until one day they turn to zombies, then a few weeks later they die... all other fish doing well in those tanks... thoughts???

 

[GaryE]

Success with <plecos> is a mindset for me.

First, I think we have to stop calling them plecos. It gives us the illusion they're similar, or are breeds. I had trouble with them when I first encountered them because I kept thinking in a one size fits all way. I thought they'd all be somewhat like common Ancistrus.

These fish can throw you curves unless you research each species. I almost made a big mistake with a species I saw on a list recently, and thought I'd like. I'm sure I would have liked it, but it would have died on a plant based diet. I only found that info in about the 3rd text online I checked on. The other 2 authors were guessing.

They can be costly fish to guess with. Our guesses are costlier for the fish than for us.

They can have all sorts of feeding adaptations, water flow needs, temperature differences, depths of water, oxygen needs... these fish are diverse. They just kind of look alike, which catches us out.

I have friends who keep nothing else, and every species is a book to them. One is found under rocks in total darkness. Another ventures onto the rocks its cousin lives under, A third does...

We have Loracarid fans here. I'm not one, though I keep thinking that maybe someday, I'll get more curious. But I respect the detailed knowledge they need to keep the fish. If they were all like the common Ancistrus who knows what species I keep here (because every time I sell them all, a few babies weren't noticed, and they come back) they'd probably be boring. But they'd be easy.

 

[Magnum Man]

all my tanks are well lit ( although my tetra tank is pretty shaded ) maybe they are not getting something they need to survive long term, or maybe they are chewing on so much pothos / roots, or ??? and get too much of something...as I mentioned above, they seem to be thriving, most at least doubling in size from purchase size, before they turn to a zombie

 

[GaryE]

One of the difficulties with armoured fish is you don't always see problems til they've gone too far. It's a thing with Cory group fish too.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

King tiger, aka L066 is not a wood eater. It is a Hypancistrus Here is what PlanetCatfish says about feeding

Feeding

Carnivore - feed with bloodworms, mussel, sinking prepared food (such as Tetra bits), carnivore wafers, shrimp pellets and so on.

from https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=174

I would even moreso consider these fish to be a bit somewhat omnivorous. They do need some veggie matter. When they are first born they seem to need more veggie matter in their diet than when they are much older. My solution to feeding them has been to provide veggies in two ways. The most obvious is the use of veggies sticks. But the other way I go is when I feed Repashy. I make a mix of the Spawn & Grow or the Bottom Scratcher with about 20% being Soilent Green. This provides the veggies. It is also a food that both full grown adult and newborn fry can eat.

The other thing I have learbed is that most fish will eat almost anything. This means the vegetarians will eat meat and vice versa. The only way we can control what any of our fish might eat is by what we feed. I have watched my amano shrimp pick up a peice of meat foods and swim off to eat it without having to share. If they can litf a food and take it someplace private to eat, they will do so.

Bear in mind that much of what Anciustrus might eat is either attached to a surface in the tank or else it is on the bottom. So if we feed blood worms for open water swimmers you can bet any of the worms that hit the bottom are likely to be taken by the plecos. This is especially true after lights out when there will be almost no competition for it.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Give up while you're ahead and do the world a favour by not increasing the population of these abominations

 

[anewbie]

Give up while you're ahead and do the world a favour by not increasing the population of these abominations

I agree that some species of pleco are abominations and others are very interesting.

There can be a number of parameters including temperature; water ph and cleanness; current level - it all depends on the specific species.

 

[MaloK]

What kind of nutrition deficiency can kill a fish in a few weeks ? That seems extreme to me.

I would also think of too much of something not good.

 

[GaryE]

I agree that some species of pleco are abominations and others are very interesting.

There can be a number of parameters including temperature; water ph and cleanness; current level - it all depends on the specific species.

I had a good laugh at @CaptainBarnicles ' post - she's back!

We can joke, but they are complicated beasts, whether you love 'em or leave 'em. If you just sort of think they're okay and don't research them species by species, they can end up dead.

New arrivals are starved and stressed, and I can see them dying from diet fairly quickly. The armour can hide a lot of sunken guts, and if they are very specialized and can't digest the food, they're trouble and in trouble. You can have tooth shape, gut shape and digestive enzyme adaptations that really matter. If they have a quick metabolism to deal with life in rapids, slow aquarium water won't change that. If they come from really warm, sun heated but oxygenated whitewater, or from deep habitats, the stress would be considerable and a few months could take them out. A lot of this group have very specialized adaptations to very extreme habitats.

I don't know what @Magnum Man has, but I do know he likes the weird and wonderful. I have a lot of friends who love Loracarids, and if I receive an import list on a rainy day, I'll often take some time and look up all the catfish coming in. They're usually out of my price range, but I like to know what I'm missing. They are jaw dropping in their diversity.

 

[Fishfunn]

The only time I had a pleco die was from another aggressive pleco fighting with it for territory. All the other plecos I usually gave back to the LFS when they got too big, etc. My plecos love algae wafers and sinking wafers, and I feed them a wafer usually every night before I go to sleep.

 

[anewbie]

I've had problems keeping pleco alive in my discus aquarium and I'm not sure. They seem to do fine for 3 or 4 months and then die. I do put in pellets (algae and non-algae in addition to feeding the discus blackworms. The temp is around 83 and ph 4.9 (ec 20). In my other aquaruims they seem to do fine. I have a bunch of L128 and L208 and a couple of L333 and a few honeycomb bn - 4 to be precise but one is a male so eventually .... maybe.

 

[Magnum Man]

most live longer than a couple weeks, and most are growing, prior to succumbing to Zombie disease, and I agree most are omnivores... the king tigers do eat other foods, but to nawl on some driftwood quite heaviely

 

[Fishfunn]

most live longer than a couple weeks, and most are growing, prior to succumbing to Zombie disease, and I agree most are omnivores... the king tigers do eat other foods, but to nawl on some driftwood quite heaviely

I would try dropping sinking carnivore wafers or shrimp pellets for the plecos at night when the lights go down. I would check in the morning to see if they ate it.

My BN and gold nugget plecos loved cucumber slices, but the shy gold nugget pleco would eat them at night. I put a slice on a clip that weighs it to the bottom.

 

[Magnum Man]

The King Tigers this morning were feeding heavily on bug bites... including the newest of the zombies... but it spent a good portion of yesterday on it's side, the day before, almost upside down, in the stems of an anubis... it's the biggest of 5 in this tank... I wish I could figure this out

 

[MaloK]

How is your water changes schedule on that tank ?