# Pleco dead again!!!



## infamous (Mar 28, 2012)

I recently got a pleco and found him dead this morning,I have never been able to keep one alive for more than a couple weeks. I have a total of 25 fish in my 3 aquariums and average 1 death a year for about 12 years in the hobby...but have never had luck with plecos.There is always plenty of algae in the tanks. Does anyone else have this problem? Is the algae in the tanks not good enough for him to survive? Any help would be greatly appreciated>


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Sometimes plecos are sold in a weak condition (look for plump bellies) and sometimes the Malawi kill them.

Unless they are purchased plump and die skinny it is not a food situation.

Any symptoms?


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## infamous (Mar 28, 2012)

No...he was doing really good (i thought) he had a pretty big section of glass in the back cleaned and he was only in with 1" Demansoni and he was about 2"to 3". I want one to be able to clean the glass in the back of my tanks...I dont really like moving everything to scrub the back of my tanks.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've had 1/2" yellow lab fry kill a BN pleco. I've had about 60% survival rate with them, but once they make it a few months, they are good for their lifetime.

I do provide specific hiding places for them. They ones that survive are saavy enough to find and use the spots. A flat spot the full length of the fish. But it also has to have a overhang that is close to the top of the fish and also full-lenth...so the pleco has to almost squeeze in. The overhang helps protect the eyes which seem to be the main attraction for mbuna.

It's fine if the sides are open. And you want to have plenty of territories so the mbuna will not want to claim the "pleco-spot" themselves.


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## Vancitycam (Mar 1, 2012)

i keep my tank pretty clean so i give my pleco those logs not sure if he eats them the cichlids go for them at first then im sure he cleans up but there no reall "algae" to eat but hes gotten quite big and has hiding spots aswell but from time to time i see a chipped fin hes lasted 3 months now


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> I do provide specific hiding places for them. They ones that survive are saavy enough to find and use the spots. A flat spot the full length of the fish. But it also has to have a overhang that is close to the top of the fish and also full-lenth...so the pleco has to almost squeeze in. The overhang helps protect the eyes which seem to be the main attraction for mbuna.
> 
> It's fine if the sides are open. And you want to have plenty of territories so the mbuna will not want to claim the "pleco-spot" themselves.


So perhaps an appropriately sized piece of pvc pipe might work well?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Mine do use PVC on occasion, but they are more likely to use the rocks in my tanks.


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## FedEXguy (Feb 24, 2005)

I never had any die in my old Malawi setup, but they definitely never got very "bushy." I think the tendrils were too much of a target. I kept one and put it in my Tang tank, and it probably didn't even take it a couple weeks to grow out it's bristles. Lots of small hiding spots in both setups is probably the key.

If all you are concerned with is the algae cleaning, have you tried nerite snails? I believe a number of people think they clean better than BN plecos. I have both in my tank and zero algae.


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## Jesmoose (Jul 25, 2011)

I too can't keep my plecos alive in my tank. I have seen him getting picked on by the various fish in my tank. I was trying to figure out what a good alternative algae eater would be. Do you guys get more then one snail...how many should I buy for a 55? Thanks


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## sandandrocks (Apr 3, 2012)

I had a BN pleco in my 75 all male peacock/hap for a few months and he did great, but died during a tank change (to a 125). My new BN plecos are doing fine and are all healthy. They just need an environment where they are left along with plenty of food. I do plan to get more plecos just because they are AWESOME and i have no problem dropping extra food into the tank after dark.

My peacocks/haps are fine with plecos at the moment and do not bug them.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Jesmoose said:


> I too can't keep my plecos alive in my tank. I have seen him getting picked on by the various fish in my tank. I was trying to figure out what a good alternative algae eater would be. Do you guys get more then one snail...how many should I buy for a 55? Thanks


The snails that are not bothered by the fish (pond, ramshorn and Malaysian Trumpet snails) multiply and become pests and the snails that don't (nerites) are killed by the fish.

Try live plants. :thumb:


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

My yellow labs will kill any pleco put with them.


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## Jesmoose (Jul 25, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> Jesmoose said:
> 
> 
> > I too can't keep my plecos alive in my tank. I have seen him getting picked on by the various fish in my tank. I was trying to figure out what a good alternative algae eater would be. Do you guys get more then one snail...how many should I buy for a 55? Thanks
> ...


Great...just when I thought there was some hope! Its just the sides of the tank I want clean...I love seeing all the "chew" marks where the one I just got 2 days ago has already worked. Fingers crossed they leave him alone. Although in a future tank cleaning I will find his skeleton.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You got a nerite? Which kind, olive or zebra?

You won't find his skeleton...you will find him upside down on the substrate cause the cichlids keep knocking him off the glass. They can't turn over easily...so I would flip them back every night. But they slowly starve to death because they only eat the green algae (no fish food, no brown) and I think they need to graze constantly to get enough to eat.

Anyway, you can get more depending on which kind you got and how many gallons.


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## cmdel (Jul 27, 2015)

Yea, I lost two small plecos in the yellow lab tank. It seems that if the pleco is not at least twice as large as the yellow labs they will harass it to death and you'll find your little pleco dead, usually upside down on the bottom of the tank. Really frustrating and surprising to me to experience this. I thought any size pleco could stand up for themselves. I've had plecos even stand up to larger turtles and give them fits for getting in their way. I guess the young plecos got overpowered by the 4 yellow labs and couldn't keep up.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have many plecos (BN) smaller than mbuna or other tank inhabitants that are fine. IME they are at risk the first month of being introduced to a tank, but thereafter thrive. I have 1 or 2 plecos in every one of my tanks below and most are smaller than the fish.

It does help to do the introduction when the OTHER fish are small (small pleco, juvenile mbuna) but I've done it with all sizes. Except 1/2" plecos...those did NOT do well.


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