# My 10+ inch Pleco just died, and I have no idea why...



## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

I came home tonight to find my pleco crammed into the corner of my tank with his head stuffed under a rock, and when I fished him out I found it was dead. Only problem is, I have no idea why.... How long do plecos normally live for? I'm not sure how old this one is, but I've had it for I'd say at least 4 or 5 years, maybe a little more, I can't remember how big it was when I got it.

But as of tonight, it was approximately 10" long, maybe a little longer. It seemed fine over the past little while, I didn't notice any abnormal movement, (although it's kind of hard to tell because he didnt spend much time swimming around when I was watching) but no more than a couple of days ago I saw him swimming quite gracefully, and I wouldn't have thought it was sick or anything. The only thing I noticed that was the least bit strange was that over the past month or so, he seemed to like eating off the glass while upside-down. (nose towards the bottom of the tank). And the algae has started building up on the glass lately...

Is his death more than likely due to natural causes (age,etc.) or is this too young for a pleco to die? (implicating that it was sick).

I know this is a forum meant for cichlid discussion, but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Patrick


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What size tank is holding all these species?

Are they all adult fish?

It may have been from old age but if you got him when he was small, I doubt it. That's a pretty risky stock list as far as aggression goes. A 10 inch fish doesn't stand much of a chance of hiding if he's being picked on, and I'm sure you've got some frustrated fish if these are all adult size because of your stocking.

And, I've heard of plecos living for longer than this...My sister has a common pleco that is 13 years old.

What are the water parameters on the tank?

What is your normal tank maintenance routine?

Common plecos aren't that great for algae control. Once they mature, they tend to get a bit lazy, and prefer to eat food that hits the bottom rather than the algae, so that really doesn't mean anything. (BN plecos are better for algae control, and they don't get so huge)


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

It's a 115g tank 4'x32"x18", the fish in it are all around 4-5" with the exception of a couple that are a little smaller. I don't seem to have any aggression issues yet, other than a few that got bullied when they were new to the tank, but now they seem to be fine.

I don't think the pleco was very small when I got it, because i purchased it for a large tank, although it was a long time ago, so I can't remember exactly how big it was... (i'm thinking around 5", maybe bigger) I have never seen any of the fish picking on the pleco, and it's fins were all still in great shape. There's also lots of room for him to hide in the back of the tank due to the way I've got the rocks set up in there, so I don't think shelter was the problem.

The pH is somewhere around 7.8-8.0, and the nitrate is around 10ppm. Water temp is 78*F and I do weekly 25% water changes while vaccuming the gravel with my python syphon.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Well, it's impossible to say for sure what happened. Common plecos grow pretty fast the first couple of years, so it's going to be hard to figure out exactly what happened.

For now, I would keep a very close eye on the tank and the remaining fish. This is a high risk stock list, no matter how you look at it, and most of your fish are reaching full adult maturity at the sizes you stated, so things will start to change within the tank as they do.


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

Thanks for the input. I've definitely been watching out for aggression. Now I'm only the hunt for a new plecostomus...

Any suggestions? I've got a 4" synodontis in there already, so I don't really need another catfish, but I have considered a shovelnose or tiger cat, just because I think they're really interesting fish. Although I've also seen how big they can get, so I've very doubtful that it would be a wise choice.


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

since this post is here i will chime in. I recently lost 2 plecos in 2 isolated tanke in 2 days. They had been fine for years and all of the sudden boom boom they were both dead. no other problems in tanks. 1 is a 55 with 20 yellow labs. the other a 55 with seven aul. ngara. there was no cross contamination between tanks as they have seperate water barrels to do water changes and I hadent changed anything for at least a week.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You can have more than one Synodontis, in fact, their behaviour is more enjoyable in larger groups.

BN plecos are the best for algae control, and rarely get larger than 4-5 inches. However, you may have difficulty introducing one with your other fish starting to mature. If you've got alot of rockwork for the plecos to escape in, you might pull it off if you can find some larger ones at about 2 inches.


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

Ok, thanks for the input. I was looking for something larger than that. but I do like the look of BN plecos. I also did not know it was best to have more than one syno


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

The larger plecos aren't good algae control. They tend to get fat and lazy and produce more waste than smaller plecos. Common plecos are pretty useless when they reach a certain size.

You're going to have a hard time keeping the larger fish from eating smaller plecos, though, and a pleco can do some damage when and if they do try to eat it!


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

Ok thanks, I'll try to keep an eye out for something around 5" then. the syno I have right now is probably a little smaller than that, but I've had it for a while and I've never seen it being bothered, although, it mostly spends its time darting back and fourth in between rocks, etc.

Any idea how big Ocellated synodontis' get?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

If you don't have a lot of algae, why get a pleco at all? And if you only use your light for viewing and the tank isn't in direct sun, maybe you don't need one at all?

While some synos are better as singles (I'm thinking the eupterus, for one), others are much better in groups. I highly recommend the syndontis multipunctatus (assuming you're not trying to breed). I have a group of four and they are out and about all the time and great fun. In your sized tank, you could definitely do more than that . . .


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