Urgent Help Needed

[superpostie]

Hi.

I am in desperate need of help with a huge problem with plecos constantly dying on me.

I set up a 70ltr tank back in early June, and left it for 3 weeks before gradually starting to introduce fish to it.

One of the first fish that I introduced was a pleco, along with a couple of red eyed tetras, iridescent sharks and a couple of Mollies.

At first, they were fine, but as the weeks went by, and I added one or two more fish, all small i.e. Mollies , Guppies etc, I noticed that the smaller ones were dying off.

I got the water tested, and found that the Nitrate levels were through the roof.

With chemicals, and changing the water 2 - 3 weekly, I got that problem under control.

Now the reason for this post. All of the fish that were left, 15 - 16 including the pleco, were thriving. Then, after about 3 months, I noticed that the pleco was starting to come out during daylight.

Under advice from my local aquarium shop, I started to add an algae wafer or two to the tank every evening.

However, about 3 1/2 months after being introduced to the tank, the pleco was dead.

This is where my real problems start.

I bought another one to replace it, but it too died within 2 days of being introduced to the tank.

And since then, I have introduced 4 more to the tank, and they have all died less than 48 hours after being introduced. In fact, one died less than 24 hours after.

The latest one was actually quite large compared to previous replacements, it looked about 3 - 4 months old, so I thought that it may have a chance of survival. But no.

It has gotten so ridiculous now, that I introduced it on Saturday afternoon, and last night (Sunday), I told my daughter that the pleco would be dead today as they never last more than 2 days.

Sure enough, when I came home from work this afternoon, it was.

I have now gone through 6 plecos in little over 2 weeks.

That is the reason for this posting, I am desperate.

I have had water samples tested, and they are ok.

The water is a little cloudy, and smelly, but I am changing 30 - 40 % of the tank every 7 - 10 days to try and get clear water, but it is still cloudy.

The man in the local aquarium shop is at a loss for an explanation, so I am now desperate.

I am new to the tropical fish game, and this is my first tank.

So can ANYONE help me please?

Thanks

 

[shelaghfishface]

wow that was seriously over stocked for a 70 itre tank, maybe missed the bit about which plecos they were but most get huge.
you need (desperatly) to invest in a test kit of your own.(.API)
the shop will keep telling you its fine,as you keep spending your money there, so get the kit,do the test and post your results on here along with stocking,


shelagh xxx

 

[superpostie]

wow that was seriously over stocked for a 70 itre tank, maybe missed the bit about which plecos they were but most get huge.
you need (desperatly) to invest in a test kit of your own.(.API)
the shop will keep telling you its fine,as you keep spending your money there, so get the kit,do the test and post your results on here along with stocking,


shelagh xxx

Hi Shelagh

Thanks for the reply.

As I said, I am new to this.

I was told that I could have approx 22 fish in the tank as they are all small. Sharks, Mollies, a swordtail red eyed tetras and a couple of Guppies.

And, until this problem with the plecos, they have all been thriving.

There is a hardcore of 15 fish that I have no problems with, which makes the death of all of these plecos all the stranger as it has been confined to just the one species.

I will do as you suggested and get a tester kit. The water has been tested in the shop a few times, but maybe he was only checking for the nitrate level.

What do you think I should be looking for?

Paul

 

[Mr Bliss]

You can get away with 15 fish if they're all platies, guppies, mollies and red-eyed tetras.

However...

This is how big iridescent sharks can get:

So I would take any advice and information from that particular LFS with considerable scepticism.

 

[BecciMac1987]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!
Firstly, the most costly mistake you have made so far is listening to a pet shop. It seems obvious-need advice, ask a fish shop, but they are so misinformed its untrue.
Your stocking list is horrendous. The sharks, if they are indeed iredescant, will grow to about 3 foot long and are completley unsuitable (but obv the shop didnt inform you of this).
Do you know which plec you have? Again, if it is a common or gibbi plec it will outgrow your tank soon, as they can get between 1-2 foot long, and create huge amounts of waste.
You need to get a liquid test kit yourself, and test the water for ammonia (MUST be 0), NitrIte (MUST be 0) and NitrAte (not so important atm, but let us know the exact reading anyway).
There is every chance that your tank is still in cycle and thats why you are losing plecs.
Mollies, guppies and tetras are ideal for your tank however, so well done on those!
You need to take the sharks back to the shop and get them to give you a credit note/exchange for more guppies/tetra etc, and pick up your test kit. Then you need to head home and do a 25% water change (when did you last do one?). The smelly water/cloudyness could be due to a bacteria bloom in the water, so try doing 15% water changes every 4 days for the next few weeks. Water shouldnt ever smell.
Sorry if I waffled on a bit but pet shops do annoy me as they give such bad advice and its not your fault for believing them.
Good luck xx

 

[superpostie]

You can get away with 15 fish if they're all platies, guppies, mollies and red-eyed tetras.

However...

This is how big iridescent sharks can get:

So I would take any advice and information from that particular LFS with considerable scepticism.

Hey MrBliss

I think that a shark that size might be just a tiny bit too big for my tank.

And I have two of them.

Thanks for the advice

 

[superpostie]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!
Firstly, the most costly mistake you have made so far is listening to a pet shop. It seems obvious-need advice, ask a fish shop, but they are so misinformed its untrue.
Your stocking list is horrendous. The sharks, if they are indeed iredescant, will grow to about 3 foot long and are completley unsuitable (but obv the shop didnt inform you of this).
Do you know which plec you have? Again, if it is a common or gibbi plec it will outgrow your tank soon, as they can get between 1-2 foot long, and create huge amounts of waste.
You need to get a liquid test kit yourself, and test the water for ammonia (MUST be 0), NitrIte (MUST be 0) and NitrAte (not so important atm, but let us know the exact reading anyway).
There is every chance that your tank is still in cycle and thats why you are losing plecs.
Mollies, guppies and tetras are ideal for your tank however, so well done on those!
You need to take the sharks back to the shop and get them to give you a credit note/exchange for more guppies/tetra etc, and pick up your test kit. Then you need to head home and do a 25% water change (when did you last do one?). The smelly water/cloudyness could be due to a bacteria bloom in the water, so try doing 15% water changes every 4 days for the next few weeks. Water shouldnt ever smell.
Sorry if I waffled on a bit but pet shops do annoy me as they give such bad advice and its not your fault for believing them.
Good luck xx

Hi BecciMac

Thanks for all the advice.

I feel like such an amateur. You are right, I presumed, stupidly, that the shop was the best place to get help.

I have gotten more help here in a few hours that from the shop all summer.

I have changed the water, 30 - 40% twice in the last week, to try and clear the water. However, it is still cloudy, but not a lot. It is only really noticeable when the light is on.

Also, there is still a lot of waste amongst the gravel, even though I put the siphon head right down into the gravel.

It is a pity that the two sharks are unsuitable for the tank, as they are my favourite fish.

As regards the pleco dying, like I said, it was thriving, and growing, for 3 - 3 1/2 months before it died and the tank was in cycle for 3 weeks before the fish were introduced. So if the problem was that it is still in cycle, why didn't the pleco die sooner?

I will pick up a testing kit tomorrow and try to get all of the information that you ask me for.

I will post all the info (as best as I can) then.

The tank was a gift from my 3 daughters for Fathers Day, and it is something I have always wanted. But it is heartbreaking when it goes wrong.

Thanks

Paul

Hopefully, this will help with sorting out the problem.

 

[Mr Bliss]

Plecos are messy fish. If the stocking level is already high, adding a pleco can put the tank into a mini-cycle while the filter adjusts to the new waste load.

And yeah, iridescent sharks are a real shame. Just seeing them for sale at a LFS makes me angry. When they're small they look extremely cool and get shamelessly sold to newbies (possibly in the hopes that they'll die in a new tank so the buyer never finds out how big they get?). I often wonder what happens to all those thousands of iridescent sharks after they eat their tankmates and outgrow their tanks. I suspect many of the big ones you see in public aquariums come from hobbyists' tanks.

 

[BecciMac1987]

As Mr Bliss said, plecos are such messy fish that it could well have put your tank into a mini cycle. 3 weeks isnt really long enough to cycle the tank properly, so the pleco lasted long enough for the ammonia to spike, and thats probably what got it. Then when you added more, they just reacted to the already high ammonia levels.
It sounds so complicated to beginners as everyone just assumes its water and fish, but theres a lot more to it, and unfortunatley pet shop staff tend to just parrot what they have been told when they started the job.

The waste in the gravel is normal, just syphon up as much as you can during every water change. And make sure you are doing that water change every few days for the time being.

The only chemicals you need to add is water dechlorinator (you cant OD on this so just slap a load in-dont stress about the dose as beginners tend to!), dont waste money on any others the pet shop recommend for anything!

Take those sharks back tomorrow when you get the test kit, and get store credit. Be firm with them-you werent told how big they would grow.

Then just dont add any more fish for another 2-3 weeks, and you should then be up and running with a lovely clear healthy tank.

As you are obv a pleco fan, Id get a bristlenosed plec as they only grow to 5-6 inches and are lovely fish. So in a few weeks you can look forward to that!

Hope all that helps, and try not to worry too much with teething problems, goodness me we have ALL had them!
Becci xx