New Bulldog Pleco Died

[spidey]

New problems.

The issues in this topic were now a while back:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=174777

And since then, I've had two very lively, healthy-seeming 'survivor' neon tetras, and nothing else in the tank. They've been eating really well, exhibiting no problems, and all my tests have been fine.

So I thought... time to add some fishies (wrong thing to do?), because I know you're not supposed to keep so few neons. So I went to the shop with the intention of adding more neon tetras, just the minimum amount, no more than 4 more, and a small pleco.

Turned out that the neons they did have weren't ready for selling as they'd only just arrived, but I did come away with a beautiful little bulldog pleco. I kept an eye on the guy - he had hollow divers helmet ornament, castle, and fake plants etc to hide in/behind, so I thought that would be enough. I got him some algae wafers, too. But very quickly the next day, his breathing became laboured, he wasn't moving very much, his gills were slightly pink/red, and I swear I saw little patches of pink just beneath him, although that could have been paranoia.

Temp had been gradually lowered to about 24deg c to accommodate him. Test results just before his death (which was only a few days after I brought him into my tank) were as follows:

Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 20, PH 7.5-8 (this seems to be around .5 higher than usual?), Ammonia: 0.

What killed my lovely pleco?

 

[WILDER]

What was the ph of the lfs to your tank.
How long did you climatise him.
The pink was beneath his skin.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

 

[spidey]

What was the ph of the lfs to your tank.
How long did you climatise him.
The pink was beneath his skin.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.

Hi, Wilder.

I don't know what the PH of the lfs water was, sorry. I let his bag float in my tank for about 20 mins before putting him in the water.

The pink seemed to be on his underside, near the tail? Didn't see any rubbing, but come to think of it, he did seem to 'jerk' every now and again... would that be classed as flicking?

 

[WILDER]

Phone the lfs and ask there ph.
It seems to me that he had a bacterial infecttion bless him.
When buying new fish always check the lfs ph.
When you get home test the water of the bag for -ph and temp, should really be climatising a fish alot longer than 20 minutes, if there is a big ph swing it can take hours.

 

[spidey]

Phone the lfs and ask there ph.
It seems to me that he had a bacterial infecttion bless him.
When buying new fish always check the lfs ph.
When you get home test the water of the bag for -ph and temp, should really be climatising a fish alot longer than 20 minutes, if there is a big ph swing it can take hours.

Thanks, just rang lfs, they said between 6.5 and 7.5?

I need to get me a thermometer - the only one I have is stuck to the side of the tank. So the bottom line is that I didn't climatise for long enough, and that's why he got a bacterial infection?

 

[WILDER]

Dosn't the lfs know there ph.
Yes sadly sounds like it, could of already been ill as well.
R.I.P.

 

[spidey]

Dosn't the lfs know there ph.
Yes sadly sounds like it, could of already been ill as well.
R.I.P.

I did think that was a wide PH range to give me... Perhaps its because it's one of these very big stores that has many, many tanks, or maybe the local water varies?

Anyway, thank you for your help - poor little pleco I'll make sure to fully test lfs water in the future, and climatise more carefully and for longer.