Plecostomus acting abnormally

sammich · Post by **sammich** » 24 Jun 2003, 14:53

Hi,

I've had a Spotted Plecostomus for 2 months now, and it has been fine since then. However, just recently, my pl*co has started acting abnormally. Earlier, when I turned the light on in the fishtank, he would flee to the darkest place in there. But right now, he doesn't seem to do that. He seems to be alive, but not very active. Is this natural, or is something wrong with him? Any help would be appreciated.

PS: One of the cories in the same tank had lymphocystis, could that be the problem with my pl*co?

sammich · Post by **sammich** » 24 Jun 2003, 20:36

IndefactorX · Post by **IndefactorX** » 24 Jun 2003, 22:15

what are your water parameters? Ph, nitrites nitrates etc etc, and what size tank do you have him in

sammich · Post by **sammich** » 24 Jun 2003, 22:23

It's a 6 gallon tank, and my nitrite level is fairly high. I haven't checked the others, though.

catdoc · Post by **catdoc** » 25 Jun 2003, 00:48

A friend of mine had a pleco do this too--stopped hiding, was listless/just floating along the bottom without being attached. Her nitrates were way too high. The biological filter converts nitrites to nitrates which must be removed by regular partial water changes. In her case, she never did water changes, she just added more water as the water level dropped due to evaporation. She started doing water changes but the fish was already too stressed and died within a couple of days of showing symptoms.

Was your tank set up and cycled before putting the pleco in? It sounds like the biological filter isn't well-established and/or you've overstocked your tank if your nitrites are high. As the biological filter develops, it should be able to keep up and convert nitrites into the less toxic nitrates. If he's been in the tank ever since it was set up, he may be able to compensate somewhat and hopefully the bio filter will kick in soon. (The nitrites will plummet to zero or nearly zero when the bio filter is mature, this will happen almost overnight.) I'd do some partial water changes, no more than a gallon every day or two, to try to drop the nitrites a bit but it's a process that really can't be rushed. If the tank's been up and running with fish in it for 2 mos, there should be improvement soon as long as the tank's not overstocked. Six gallons is a small volume, so you will have more trouble stabilizing it than, say a 55 or even a 20-gallon. Water fluctuations in that volume can have drastic changes in a short time (not so good for fish).

Good luck and hope your fish cope well! Hopefully someone with more expertise specific to plecos can help you out, I'm somewhat new to pleco-dom but have kept tropical tanks for a few years.

Kostas · Post by **Kostas** » 25 Jun 2003, 09:17

Hi,
Your cory HAD lymphocystis or HAS lymphocystis?If your cory HAS lymphocystis carrantine it immediatly because it is infectious.

sammich · Post by **sammich** » 25 Jun 2003, 17:23

The cory had the disease.