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Hi i have an 8" gibby and he was sucking on the front of teh tank today and i noticed taht he looks really skinny and not moving as he used to do, his breathing looks alittle slower as well. Is there anyth8ing wrong with him as i would cry if he died.

i feed him on cucumber, catfish pellets, algae wafers, bloodworm.

any quick help would be greatly appreciated

thanks

What size tank is it in? You should really have a tank in the 250-400 liter range for an 8" pleco.

Also, what is the nitrate level of the tank?

[Some moderator may want to move this to the Loricariidae section of the forum]

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Mats

the tank is 48*18*15 .

nitrates are fine just done a water change last night and tested the nitrates tonight and they are fine.

he just looks like hes lost weight, and i'm worried for my baby, so please help

Define "fine" - better yet, give us a value for the nitrates... Also, is your nitrate test fairly fresh? I found that my test stopped working after several months (quite likely it stopped working gradually - but I found that is showed ZERO on a quite well-stocked tank that hadn't had a water change for a while, and when I got a different test-kit, it showed around 100ppm - quite different from zero!)

Also, catfish pellets and bloodworm should be small amounts only. Cucumber contains more water than the sea - there are other vegetables that may work better, such as Courgette, marrow, squash, etc.

Other than that, I haven't got much of a suggestion - it's hard to suggest things when there's "nothing wrong"...

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Mats

Another thing about nitrate test kits I didn't realise was the thick layer of sediment in the bottom of bottle number 3. Hold it up to the light and you will see it.

It says on the label "shake very well before use". Most people I imagine would just give it a quick 2 or 3 seconds.

Make sure you shake it really vigorously though, as the all the sediment can be very stubborn, and will need to be in suspension for the test to work properly.

If you hold it up to the light now, the water should be black.

I use the Nutrafin (Hagen) test kit, but I imagine the others work in the same way.

I use the API Nitrate test kit with two bottles. Bottle 2 contains the cadmium, the metal used as an indicator. This needs to be held in suspension.

This test suggests a good 30 second shake of bottle 2 before adding to the sample, then the sample is shook for a further 1 min and left to stand for 5 min to react.

I have tried the test as suggested side by side with a test giving it a half arsed shake. A massive difference was noted.

Tom

hI id take him back where you had him from and buy a elephant in is place you might get better enjoyment.give it a try you never no.......

Catfish_Mad
Sounds like your catfish has long been fed an inadequate diet. This may be to late to help as these guys arn't normally difficult to feed. If you can isolate him from competition and if he is at least still eating, I would recomend vitamin supplements rich in B1 and for good measure food soaked in one of the new deworming drugs. His recovery won't be initially rapid but if these suggstions help you should begin to see improvement in two weeks. That should impove rapidly from there out. Sometimes they just don't get there share of grub if their tankmates are agressive cichlids. You might want to get another one as a backup plan if your's doesn't recover with a little TLC. Most LFS have them in any size you need due to the constant trade-ins of plecos that have outgrown their previous home.
Despite all efforts you make he still may just waste away. We all lose fish for reasons we don't always understand.
Best Wishes,
Larry Waybright

I'm afraid all we are doing here guessing at the problem.

catfish_mad, would you be able to supply us with all the info in this sticky?

We might then be able to narrow down the problem with your gibby.

Thanks.

Hi, sorry guys found him dead this morning.

Thanks for all the help but i'm afraid i was too late. He's the fish i have had the longest as well.

apistomaster which food is rich in B1?

Thanks guys

Catfish_mad,
My answer to what foods contain vitamin B complexes is not to sound flippant; this is how I handle it. I add a high quality commercially available multivitamin to the foods I make and to whatever prepared food the fish will eat 3 or 4 times a week. Every feeding for a fish that comes in already emaciated. For a "gibby', a few drops on an algae wafer several times a day would be in order. Gibbiceps don't waste away unless there has been extreme neglect in it's past. I tend to agree that the seller should make good on this deal and make it his problem.
The subject of nutrition and supplement is best known for commercially valuable food fish and for us keepers of the newest,latest,greatest fish we are more or less on our own and have to learn much empirically and then make generalizations based on experience.(read 'best guess')
Sorry to hear he died but it wasn't your fault...he was dead when you got him. The seller owes you at least an equivalent credit. They knew is was on its way out when they sold it to you.

I think talking about vitamin deficiencies might be "barking up the wrong tree" perhaps.

Water quality problems are usually to blame in most cases.

Gibbies just don't waste away like that unless something is very wrong with the tank.

It's awfull when you lose a favourite fish, but I think it would be in the best interests of the tanks other inhabitants if you find out why the gibby died.

By providing all the info in the sticky I posted above, hopefully we can get to the bottom of it.

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I will have to try the vitamin's. I will do some tests and post them to find out whats happened. Thanks guys