LDA33 suddenly died

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn · Post by **PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn** » 26 Jul 2009, 00:14

as the title said, just lost my 2 LDA33 at the same time, with no reasons.

I had 2 LDA33 in a tank with 4 L213(possibly, identified on here a while back) 12 Geophagus Tapajos OH and 4 Mesonauta festivus (also Tapajos) their in a 5by18by22" tank, recently moved (2weeks ago) (all the fish that is) from a 4foot tank. I did a 50% water change yesterday, but every other fish is fine, not even showing the slightest signs of being ill/uncomfortable.

I'm going to do a load of tests in a moment, but fairly certain there is no issue there. the only thing I did was turn the temperature down a little (from about 28c to 26c) its not because their new fish, as I've had them almost 3months now. though they were small about 5-6cm in total.

[edit] water results
pH 6.6, GH >1 KH >1 Ammonia 0mg/l Nitrite 0mg/l Nitrate >5mg/l (not quite 5mg/l but not 0mg/l on the API test)
[/edit]

I found a single body (the other one just isnt in the tank, looked over every piece of bogwood, its not in there) and that fish had been swimming happily enough at lunch time, with no apparent problems. the wasn't any thing wrong with the fish, no visible wounds, just a slightly grey patch around the area by its dorsal fin (which also remained erect despite it being dead.)

also looks like I wont be getting any more as their extortionately expensive (cheapest I've found with a quick google was £27 for a 3-4cm fish)

drpleco · Post by **drpleco** » 26 Jul 2009, 01:19

LDA33's are chlorine/chloramine sensitive and the water change might have done it if the new water hit the fish before your dechlorinator kicked in. I lost mine (6") this way after moving to an area with an extraordinarily high chloramine level in the water supply. The fish died immediately after a water change and an L128 died during the water change. It thrashed around for 5 seconds and then was dead. All the other fish were fine.

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn · Post by **PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn** » 26 Jul 2009, 01:29

I use Seachem safe, and always slightly overdo the dosage (1.2dose, but this is safe to use up to 5* dose, which would be for ammonia/nitrite detoxification) so shouldn't be a problem with chlorine.

also did the water change yesterday night, and at least 1 of them was perfectly fine then, and this morning/afternoon

Rohan Richardson · Post by **Rohan Richardson** » 28 Jul 2009, 02:20

drpleco wrote:LDA33's are chlorine/chloramine sensitive and the water change might have done it if the new water hit the fish before your dechlorinator kicked in. I lost mine (6") this way after moving to an area with an extraordinarily high chloramine level in the water supply. The fish died immediately after a water change and an L128 died during the water change. It thrashed around for 5 seconds and then was dead. All the other fish were fine.

You should always use a water change tank to adjust and treat all water before doing the water change with baryancistrus species, i live by this rule when i started doing this i never had a fish loss from doing water changes and i have a trio of Lda33's, 8xL85, 2xL81, 3xL270, 2x2L333's and a couple of rams so my advice would be to use a tank for nothing other than water changes and to allow for all water chemistry to be a precise match before use.
Rohan R

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 28 Jul 2009, 19:39

Baryancistrus do seem to be very sensitive fish. I have only keep the large spotted Gold Nuggets but they were to the most deilicate of plecos I have kept. However, I have never had a problem during water changes. I use Prime which I add in slightly more than the recommended dose to the residual water then top off directly from my tap water. I would seriously consider switching to Prime. I use it in the same manner as I described with very young discus fry still feeding on their parents and have never had any problems.

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn · Post by **PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn** » 28 Jul 2009, 22:56

apistomaster wrote:Baryancistrus do seem to be very sensitive fish. I have only keep the large spotted Gold Nuggets but they were to the most deilicate of plecos I have kept. However, I have never had a problem during water changes. I use Prime which I add in slightly more than the recommended dose to the residual water then top off directly from my tap water. I would seriously consider switching to Prime. I use it in the same manner as I described with very young discus fry still feeding on their parents and have never had any problems.

safe is prme, just without the irritant to "promote slime coat". its a dry form.

Prime® promotes the natural production and restoration of the slime coat rather than relying on artificial or non-native slime compounds

a claim I'm dubious about (with all products) with regard its benefits

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html

I use it because it works out much cheaper than prime £10.79 for 250g pot, which treats 26455gallons (US) so 100000l. whereas a 500ml bottle of prime costs me about the same (google puts it at £12.39) 5000gallons (US) so about 20000l

but it is the same stuff.

the other thing is I've been performing these same 50% water changes on them for the last 3 months...

nvcichlids · Post by **nvcichlids** » 28 Jul 2009, 23:06

I am wondering if the fish was stressed to start with. the tank seems crowded and if you did the water change, that could have set it over the top

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn · Post by **PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn** » 28 Jul 2009, 23:55

nvcichlids wrote:I am wondering if the fish was stressed to start with. the tank seems crowded and if you did the water change, that could have set it over the top

too crowded in the 5footer???

like I said, they'd been in a smaller tank prior to that, with the 50%water changes.

and they had been quite active and feeding all the time.

nvcichlids · Post by **nvcichlids** » 29 Jul 2009, 00:14

well I keep 6 gymnogeophagus el norte's which are smaller than tapajos and they are in a 6' tank. My breeding pair of meno's are in a 45 gallon tall with my altum angels, but those tapas in a 5' tank is crowding for that species alone.

Farid · Post by **Farid** » 29 Jul 2009, 23:04

hi there,
i keep 8 LDA33 all about 7-11cm until now...since about one year now...

most important is: high temperatures! i keep mine at 30-32°C enough oxygen...best would be a airfiltered system. or a diffusor and a strong pump...

second baryancistrus need a lot of vegetables...raw potatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, red pepper broccholi and so on...but i also feed them frozen whole shrimps. (and always enough!)

this is a spezies that can eat always not like others..so keep checking their stomach...it might be round after a meal...but the next day it will be flat again...time for more food...and while the temp. is high this continues until they are big...

until now i never had any problems, the fish are fit and very shy but still a lot of activity is going on in the tank and each one has it's place. also make sure a soft peace of wood is in the tank...

good luck!
farid

Tommi · Post by **Tommi** » 10 Aug 2009, 21:09

I agree with lots of green food and hi temps. I've had my precious L142 for about 4y's and it has grown from 5cm to 23cm. I actually have three of those and I found couple shots from my old homepage.

When I got him, tiny.

Bad shot from early days.

Somewhere in middle.

Biggest guy few months back.

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