Chocolate zebra pleco unknown death?

[Fishie123]

Sad sad day for my baby pleco. R.I.P. Today.

My girlfriend and I were doing water changes in my baby discus tank ("150L, bare bottom tank, 1 random cave for the pleco"), which consisted of 15 baby discus and 2 chocolate plecos.

While doing water changes I noticed that one of the pleco was out of the cave. So I was pretty surprised to see him/she outside. While doing water change I had to lift up the cave ("Because all the leftover food keep getting into the pleco cave.").

Once I lifted up the cave I wanted to take it out of the tank, but the other pleco was still in there so my girlfriend suggested doing something with it that I didn't understand. So I place it back down near the bottom left of the tank. As i was going to put it down, my girlfriend screamed out. ("Don't squash the pleco you idiot"). So I quickly lifted at the last minute before squishing the pleco that was outside of the cave.

Then my girlfriend notice something was up with the pleco. Girlfriend: "I think there’s something wrong with the pleco", I replied "Its fine", Girlfriend "But why is it white and dirty". Then I put my finger and waved the water around the pleco. It started floating and went back down. So I took the net and fished the dead pleco out.

When I flicked the pleco over to see its tummy, I saw orange spots on the outside of the body and red on the inside lower body of the pleco which looked like interior bleeding. I don't know how it died as it was alive in the morning when my girlfriend was feeding the fish. Could it be the Tetra color bits that are emphasizing the red color too much?

I quickly fished the living one out to see if similar symptoms. Nothing was on the other pleco?

Could someone help me identify what was the cause of death? Could my other pleco be infected and died soon?

[Adrienne]

The only thing I can say is that I have noticed they are very sensitive to different water conditions. I lost two out of four overnight last year when I moved them into a different tank.

Mine looked alive but were motionless - 'frozen in time'.

Its not likely to be the tetra colour bits but I do assume you are feeding them the food they need as well.

[whitesandals]

So would chocolate plecos die from lack of vegetable matter like algae discs?

[DJPaulyPlec]

Ayo DJ Pauly up in the mix, here to answer your Q

So would chocolate plecos die from lack of vegetable matter like algae discs?

Chocolate Zebras, scientifically known as Hypancistrus sp. (L-270) are primarily carnivorous. Most of what you feed them should consist of live or frozen foods. My advice would be to keep the remaining specimen fed on any of the available carnivore pellets (Hikari has a good carnivore tablet I believe, also various brands of shrimp pellets and such) and every now and then the feeding of say a decent spirulina pellet or I maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree. But something that can fill the nutritional gap, allowing them to receive the extra vitamins and such that are not present in the main diet, what i would do anyway.

150L, bare bottom tank, 1 random cave for the pleco

Wouldn't be a silly idea trying to provide some enrichment also. Perhaps more caves, more cleaning to the tank, i'm unsure of how many water changes you do per week/month but Plecos in general are notorious for having a fairly high waste output, so if uneaten food and waste is accumulating on the bottom of the tank. Then i suggest making changes to the cleaning regime. Just for the well being of the fish anyway. I presume you're doing at least two water changes per week? With Juvi discus and all. Perhaps even move him/her to another tank. Plecos aren't too hard to look after, if you're interested you can PM me and i can provide some additional tips for you.

FNZAS, feel free to add on to what I've said , and perhaps correct me if I'm wrong , most of the Hypan info I get is from PlanetCatfish and such, so yeah

DJ PAULY OUT.

[mcrudd]

I have two choccies for just over a year now, they are growing beautifully. I feed them Jbl Novatab, frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms. Although they are carnivorous I have seen them nibbling on my bristlenoses Hikari algae wafers, they also like the new spectrum food that I feed my schooling fish

They seem to like variety. I do a 10-20% waterchange once a week and find it sufficient, mind you I don't have discus. About the tummy, it sounds weird, was the little guy perhaps constipated? I just saw that after my baby bristlenoses had some of the reddish new spectrum food then you can see patches of it in their tummies, but I stand corrected in your case though.

Very sorry for your loss, its not easy losing such a cute little fishy which a person gets so attached too. All the best for the future

[BikBok]

very sorry to hear about your choc zebra. They are a neat little fish .

I have one that loves anything I give him to eat but is particularly fond of shrimp pellets and whatever bloodworms make it to the bottom before the other fish get it. He will swoop over the other bottom dwellers to make sure he gets his meat absed food!

Typically he will push the kuhlis and otos out of the way for his meal but is more polite when it's just plain vege based.

(yes my otos do eat the protein as well as algae wafers I give them)

[Joutei]

Plecos poop alot.

[JackiePlecChan]

There is alot reasons why the l270 could have died, my theory is that since it's bare bottom and have a large group of small discus large amounts of wastes are producted. I have no idea how much water changes you do but since fancy plecos are sensitive to water, it could of had some bacterial infection... I'm not saying i'm right just sharing my opinion..

[DJPaulyPlec]

Ayo DJ Pauly back in the mix

There is alot reasons why the l270 could have died, my theory is that since it's bare bottom and have a large group of small discus large amounts of wastes are producted. I have no idea how much water changes you do but since fancy plecos are sensitive to water, it could of had some bacterial infection... I'm not saying i'm right just sharing my opinion..

I think this is a possibility too, of course, presuming the tank is in the state we think it may be.

Reminds me of something i read on PC

When I first started to breed plecos I used a thin layer of fine gravel in the raring tanks and I had no problems raising them, but after I read about other breeders that use no substrate I tried that technique. If nothing else, it made it easier to vacuum and keep the tank clean from waste and foods. In no time at all I started experiencing problems keeping my fry alive; one by one, with a day or so between they started to die. In the beginning I thought the problem was the water rather than any disease because there was too few dying, but the deaths never stopped how much water I changed. I can't tell for sure what was going wrong but I have my ideas about what caused the problem; after some months a bacteria film built up on the bottom glass which feels like a thin slimy coat to the touch. My thoughts about this are that the bacteria consume lots of oxygen and their end product is nitrogen which makes first, lower millimeters of water low in oxygen and high in levels of nitrogen instead. Small fry that live on the bottom practically swim, breathe and live in just this layer; their mouth and gills are, at most, 1 mm up from the bottom glass. Their oxygen level starts to decrease in their blood and the immune system weakens until they fall prey to bacteria or die from high levels of nitrogen in their blood; they are essentially “drowning”. The first symptom is faster breathing followed by the loss of fin parts as bacteria attack them. I also think that the symptoms of gas, making their bellies look like a balloon is caused by the same condition; fluid containing high levels of nitrogen fills their stomachs.

Can be found here : http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... us+species

[phoenix44]

Why the need for a second profile?

[JackiePlecChan]

Why the need for a second profile?

Zuǐ bì zuǐ

Just because we have plec in our names doesn't make us the same people.

[phoenix44]

Not you two.

[JackiePlecChan]

oh i see fishie and white, misunderstood. :roll:

[Rabbit]

Can be found here : http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... us+species

This story has lingered for a long time and though it does state some truthe it is rarely the case. Beside the fact that in order for this sort of build up to occure the discus would suffer long before the hypans. I raise my fry and have done for years in bare bottom with no adverse effect given water changes and hygiene are maintained, and of course trying to keep nitrate's as low as possible to drevent deformity or stunting fry growth. Fry obviousley more sensitive and submerged in the "filth" would suffer more so than an adult but unless there where plants or the keeper meerly took water out and not cleaned the tank there would be a build up of nitrates leading to the fact they are not being kept properly.

I have no idea how much water changes you do but since fancy plecos are sensitive to water

Iv never found plecs fancy or not to be sensitive to water chemistry more so swings or the effects from Ammonia and nitrite macking oxygen absorbtion difficult, taking into account there situation in the tank to be the lowest level of oxygen. Loricariidae are one of the largest family's of catfish and diverse due to there ability to adapt and evolve, these arnt instant and nor should be any change in the aquarium tacking this into consideration within reason most plecs can handle a vary diverse range of water conditions.

[livingart]

Zuǐ bì zuǐ

.

your interpretation of that please?

i know what mine is

[DJPaulyPlec]

This story has lingered for a long time and though it does state some truthe it is rarely the case. Beside the fact that in order for this sort of build up to occure the discus would suffer long before the hypans. I raise my fry and have done for years in bare bottom with no adverse effect given water changes and hygiene are maintained, and of course trying to keep nitrate's as low as possible to drevent deformity or stunting fry growth. Fry obviousley more sensitive and submerged in the "filth" would suffer more so than an adult but unless there where plants or the keeper meerly took water out and not cleaned the tank there would be a build up of nitrates leading to the fact they are not being kept properly.

AYO DJ Pauly here,

Correct, I have no objections but just making sure you understand that I merely was reminded of the article. I wasn't saying that it WAS the cause of death. I feel the cause of death may have just plain and simply been due to a lack of proper care. (Especially seeing as the keepers didn't know the basic needs of a L-270.) Without getting technical anyway, seeing as water parameters and any other factors that may be used to determine the cause are unknown to me.

[livingart]

I feel the cause of death may have just plain and simply been due to a lack of proper care.

[Fishie123]

@phoenix44 - Sorry. My girlfriend account is White.

@Everyone else. I went to a pet store and with my water; they said there were nothing wrong with my water. The fish died naturally.

My fish died the same way as "Adrienne". My pleco looked alive but just frozen in time. It died so suddenly. I have a cave in the tank for it to hide. Before their home was driftwood in my 1st tank i started. But I was getting a new tank setup. So their temp home was the cave I got them.

@DJPleco. I went to a pet store with my water; they said there was nothing wrong with my water. The fish died naturally. As for what you said - I don’t need you making crude remarks as to how I take care of my fish. I researched my fish before buying them and tried to give it the best care as I possibly can.

Thank you for the tip for feeding plecos as I am thinking of getting a couple of magnum and royal pleco for my 1200L tank. I really love pleco as much as i love discus and my arowana. I am really sad losing one of my babies. I wish him to have a good afterlife

[Joshlikesfish]

@DJPleco. I went to a pet store with my water; they said there was nothing wrong with my water. The fish died naturally. As for what you said - I don’t need you making crude remarks as to how I take care of my fish. I researched my fish before buying them and tried to give it the best care as I possibly can.

:dunno:

[DJPaulyPlec]

@DJPleco. I went to a pet store with my water; they said there was nothing wrong with my water. The fish died naturally. As for what you said "you're talking out of his asshole"- I don’t need you making crude remarks as to how I take care of my fish. I researched my fish before buying them and tried to give it the best care as I possibly can.

Thank you for the tip for feeding plecos as I am thinking of getting a couple of magnum and royal pleco for my 1200L tank. I really love pleco as much as i love discus and my arowana. I am really sad losing one of my babies. I wish him to have a good afterlife

Yeah, you're a A-Grade researcher. Except you forgot one of the most important factors, feeding. If you really knew about your fish, you nor your girlfriend would ask about the diet. And perhaps it'd consist of a bit more variation aswell, instead of just "Tetra Colour". Well, personally, the only thing i find crude is the conditions you kept it in.

As for your pleco idea, let's hope you do a little more research this time around, and none of them end up dying.

DJ PAULY OUT.

[DJPaulyPlec]

DJ Pauly Plec, here with some light!

For all the onlookers, who perhaps mis-understand why i speak the way i do.

I know people who have seen this tank in person recently, it's not pretty. Nor maintained. The ground is filthy, and all there is a small ornament which houses two L-270s, seeing they have no where else to hide. This death is no suprise to me.

I'm DJ Pauly Plec, i keep it real y'all

[livingart]

I know people who have seen this tank in person recently

so you are just relaying what someone told you?

[Fishie123]

The tank that I've placed the pleco, is in the baby discus tank. There are 15 baby discus producing waste every day. My girlfriend tries to pick up as much dirt at the bottom of the tank by doing 20% water change per day and refilling with rain water. Also we feed the baby discus 3 times a day with different sort of food such as tetra colour granules, blood worms and flakes. We feed the pleco bottom feeder food. Hence, we do put a variety of foods for the pleco and discus. Also it is a bare bottom tank making the tank easier to clean and maintain water conditions.

We do water changes in the morning. And throughout the day the tank floor is filled with leftover and waste from the discus and pleco. Sometimes we even do two water changes.

The ornament I am using doesn't have any light reflecting inside the cave, so there isn't any problem with the cave. We put the pallet inside the cave so that the other discus doesn’t eat the pleco food. We also make sure that the leftover waste and food going into the cave is cleaned ever day. We will take a picture of the cave tomorrow. It sometimes even feeds outside the cave when there’s no one around.

[mcrudd]

The tank that I've placed the pleco, is in the baby discus tank. There are 15 baby discus producing waste every day. My girlfriend tries to pick up as much dirt at the bottom of the tank by doing 20% water change per day and refilling with rain water. Also we feed the baby discus 3 times a day with different sort of food such as tetra colour granules, blood worms and flakes. We feed the pleco bottom feeder food. Hence, we do put a variety of foods for the pleco and discus. Also it is a bare bottom tank making the tank easier to clean and maintain water conditions.

We do water changes in the morning. And throughout the day the tank floor is filled with leftover and waste from the discus and pleco. Sometimes we even do two water changes.

The ornament I am using doesn't have any light reflecting inside the cave, so there isn't any problem with the cave. We put the pallet inside the cave so that the other discus doesn’t eat the pleco food. We also make sure that the leftover waste and food going into the cave is cleaned ever day. We will take a picture of the cave tomorrow. It sometimes even feeds outside the cave when there’s no one around.

You are doing well, can't see anything wrong with the above except for maybe too much bloodworm for a pleco. I feed mine bloodworms only twice a week because its prone to cause constipation in fish. Though I must add, I am no expert and is talking from experience. I am so sorry for your loss, it can't be easy I know :tears:

[Mcculloch]

Nice mags do you polish them with your hair..