Pleco Died Soon After Adding A Second

[tna2327]

So I have done a fishless nitrogen cycle and a week ago I purchased the tanks first fish to celebrate! 3 glowfish and 1 pleco. They are all doing fine and dandy until today we decided since the tank and fish were doing quite well to add some more. 3 cardinals and another pleco was the decision. Well soon after adding the pleco and 3 cardinals...the other pleco within a couple hours decided to pass away . Any ideas to why and also I am curious what to feed the cardinal tetras because any flake food I put in, the glowfish decide to eat it before the tetras even know its there...afraid they are gonna not eat and end up dying...I saw they eat live food, where and what is the best thing to get for them to eat...also read a variety is good but I apparently need something other then flake due to the glowfish being so fat! haha

thanks,

Tim

 

[jenbo]

to get a good answer they need to know the reading for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate also how long has your tank been going....
pleco's should not be put into your tank till it has been running for atleast 3 months if not more imho
also need to know which pleco's you have some need bogwood to survive and veggies too.

i feed my tetras micro pelets and mini pelets since they dont like flakes that much (may just be mine)
i also feed them catfish pelets there for the pleco's but my tetras will have a nibble too
i also give them bloodworm and brime shrimps

hope that helps you alittle
;-)

 

[tna2327]

to get a good answer they need to know the reading for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate also how long has your tank been going....
pleco's should not be put into your tank till it has been running for atleast 3 months if not more imho
also need to know which pleco's you have some need bogwood to survive and veggies too.

i feed my tetras micro pelets and mini pelets since they dont like flakes that much (may just be mine)
i also feed them catfish pelets there for the pleco's but my tetras will have a nibble too
i also give them bloodworm and brime shrimps

hope that helps you alittle
;-)

well the ammonia is 0 as well as the nitrite considering the tank is cycled and i have the algae tablets in the tank the i thought were for pleco's...the nitrite is at 20.

 

[jenbo]

even if tank is cycled they still like to ask lol

i have algae wafers and pleco tablets but always have to get them out in the morning as they never get eaten
depends i think on your pleco i put a peice of courgette in tonight as my plecs are fairly new additions to my tank too
and found my common pl*co eating it but not my clown pl*co and its the clown i was hoping to see eat it as i havent seen her much but nope
looks like my common will eat anything but my clown is picky....

which pl*co's have you got???

 

[Jenste]

what species of pleco do you have and is it the same species as the one that passed away?
how big is the tank?
can you describe your acclimating process?

you also may wish to invest in a quarantine tank for future additions to your tank to keep disease from entering your system

 

[tna2327]

guess i need to stay away from the plecos for now because the other one just died...he was a clown pleco and he just from the start didnt seem to like the water...i added him to the tank properly and seemed fine until entry...he just kept swimming around as if he was looking for something and then he would stop for awhile and do so again a few minutes later...any ideas to why this happened? The cardinal tetras and the glowfish that were already in the tank seem to be just fine...the pH level is 6.8-7.0...if you were curious

 

[AstonN24vantage]

tank size?

 

[jenbo]

clown plecos need lots of bogwood and hiding places my 1st clown died on me cause i wasnt aware he ate wood and didnt have any only lasted afew days too.

i have a new clown pleco and only had her a week shes doing great with lots of hiding places and wood.
however she was a bigger one then the last one i had as i didnt want ababy again,
they dont come out in the day and dont like the lights so find shady places.

get some bogwood and try again in afew weeks they are lovely plecos but you wont see it much when its got bogwood and caves......

sorry for your loss

 

[elisew]

to get a good answer they need to know the reading for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate also how long has your tank been going....
pleco's should not be put into your tank till it has been running for atleast 3 months if not more imho
also need to know which pleco's you have some need bogwood to survive and veggies too.

i feed my tetras micro pelets and mini pelets since they dont like flakes that much (may just be mine)
i also feed them catfish pelets there for the pleco's but my tetras will have a nibble too
i also give them bloodworm and brime shrimps

hope that helps you alittle
;-)

well the ammonia is 0 as well as the nitrite considering the tank is cycled and i have the algae tablets in the tank the i thought were for pleco's...the nitrite is at 20.

Sorry, I`m confused.....

Ammonia and nitrite at 0....then you say the nitrite is 20??

Pleco`s are much better in a tank that has been cycled for more than one week, they can be incredibly sensitive. Neons are also more suited to a more mature tank so you 'may' find that they begin to die off as well.
Danios are probably going to be the hardiest fish for your tank during the early stages after cycle.

What`s the size of your tank? Have you tested your water quality using a liquid kit or test strips?

 

[tna2327]

to get a good answer they need to know the reading for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate also how long has your tank been going....
pleco's should not be put into your tank till it has been running for atleast 3 months if not more imho
also need to know which pleco's you have some need bogwood to survive and veggies too.

i feed my tetras micro pelets and mini pelets since they dont like flakes that much (may just be mine)
i also feed them catfish pelets there for the pleco's but my tetras will have a nibble too
i also give them bloodworm and brime shrimps

hope that helps you alittle
;-)

well the ammonia is 0 as well as the nitrite considering the tank is cycled and i have the algae tablets in the tank the i thought were for pleco's...the nitrite is at 20.

Sorry, I`m confused.....

Ammonia and nitrite at 0....then you say the nitrite is 20??

Pleco`s are much better in a tank that has been cycled for more than one week, they can be incredibly sensitive. Neons are also more suited to a more mature tank so you 'may' find that they begin to die off as well.
Danios are probably going to be the hardiest fish for your tank during the early stages after cycle.

What`s the size of your tank? Have you tested your water quality using a liquid kit or test strips?

It's a 10 gallon tank and yes I know you shouldnt have plecos in such a small tank but I was planning on transferring them to a bigger tank as they grew. Anyways I meant nitrate is at 20 not nitrite again, sorry about that. And I do have a piece of what I guess is driftwood in the tank. Not sure if that is bogwood or not.

 

[elisew]

I personally think it's more to do with the fact that your tank is newly cycled more than the size. You would have to be very careful about the size of the tank because growth can be stunted even if the tank is a temporary home.

Maybe give it another couple of months before you attempt adding another pleco......hopefully in that time you might have got a bigger tank too

 

[jenbo]

drift wood i beleive is harder then bogwood
im not sure if clown pleco's eat driftwood but i have bogwood and they love it.
i dont think driftwood is the one they like

 

[tna2327]

I personally think it's more to do with the fact that your tank is newly cycled more than the size. You would have to be very careful about the size of the tank because growth can be stunted even if the tank is a temporary home.

Maybe give it another couple of months before you attempt adding another pleco......hopefully in that time you might have got a bigger tank too

agreed...thanks guys for all the quick responses even though this time it didnt help save the fishies