disruptive_intensions Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Hi guys and gals... please help if you can. A couple of weeks ago, while doing a water change in our community tank, i noticed that a couple of small plants had died and appeared to have rotted? i just cleaned them out and thought nothing more of it (probably a HUGE mistake!). Anyway, today i began doing another water change... and notice alot more dead plants near the back of the tank... and appeared to have actually rotted ????? so i cleaned it all out and carried on with the water change... then i notice our largeish plecostamus's belly is beginning to puff up and swell and he really doesnt look very happy... now im worried, as 3 years ago our Albino Plec did the same thing and died in one of our other tanks... This isn't good, and now my girlfriend is upset that she is going to loose the plec and possibly everything else including our 3 year old LARGE black knife ghost fish that resides in this tank. We dont have another tank available to put these fish into, as one other tank is occupied by our pair of tropical puffer fish (who dont like having tank mates... they eat them) so cant put anything in there.... and the other tank is small, and in the cupboard, so trying to get it ready to accept fish would take too long to really serve any purpose... Anyway, can someone PLEASE offer us some help before all our friends are dead? id hate to loose the lot... any suggestions of cause of all the dead plants... and dying plec, and what we can do to remidy the issue would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance. Cameron & Skye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Hi there, Once bloated, it's very hard to treat. Another member just went through this same issue recently and I'm afraid to say her pl*co didn't make it. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/what-w ... 11372.html If you read through that thread, you'll see recommended treatments such as shelled peas, salt baths, etc. Best of luck and let us know how you get along. Any ideas why your plants would be dying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Sorry I can't help...I don't have live plants, too nervous to try yet since I can't seem to keep plants alive that aren't in tanks :-? :-? But there are many folks here who have live plants, I'm sure they'll help you. Perhaps you may have to remove all your plants for the time being, in order to save your fishies. Is it possible to put your plants in the smaller tank if its not big enough for the fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Once again we have a member who is asking for help, and due to the fact that we have no idea where you reside, NZ, Aust, China, Nepal etc, we can't even think of who in your area to point to. Go back to your profile disruptive and would you like to fill in your location?? What were these plants that died, and what type of filtration are you using?? Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 There could be a number of reasons your plants are dying. Not enough light for the type of plant, planted incorrectly, being eaten by fish for a start. If you have just pulled up the remains without giving the gravel a good vacuum, there may be bad bacteria built up where the plant remains are. The plec would be hit first as it is a bottom dweller. Give the substrate an extremely good and deep siphon. Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 tis me who lost the pleco. seeing as you had those plants die maybe it caused a small ammonia spike due to the rotting stuff? id dose the tank with epsom salts right away (1tbp per 10 gall/40L) just incase its constipation. feeding shelled peas can also help if its constipation. go to the link in that link (lol!!) does your pleco look like mine? if after you give your substrate a good clean, if you see no improvement it could be parasites, double doses of furan 2 can help if you catch it in time (dont have to remove salt). i moved my pleco to a 40L bin for treating so i didnt have to use so much meds. hope we can work out what the problem is, work fast though, even though theyre hardy fish if you wait too long you could lose em ive heard ghost knives can be sensitive to meds so i wouldnt treat the pleco in the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disruptive_intensions Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 im from christchurch. and ill try your suggestions tonight when i finish work (bad hours make getting to fish shops virtually impossible during the week) Anyway... thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Dis. see if you can get in touch with Craig or Shelly down there. They may be able to help. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disruptive_intensions Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 yeah i see shelly and craig alot out at redwood, and i emailed them before i posted last night... the help was great, but unfortunatly i was unable to save this fish... Time of death was sometime between me leaving for work at 12pm and my girlfriend getting up at 2pm (monday 13 feb 06) An unfortunate loss. this was our original fish (brought from craig at redwood) so around 3 years old now. such a shame... the tank just seems so empty without him in there... nevermind though, sometimes shit just happens i guess. Again thanks for all your help... Might by another plec in the weekend *provided the tank is healthy before then* but we do still have our Bristlenose Plec. thanks again for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Really Sorry to about your loss. Remember time will heal. Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 sorry to hear about your loss, sucks to lose plecos aye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 i notice that you mention you have a black ghost knife. someone else here mentioned using salt in the tank. now my question is, can you salt in a tank with a ghost knife? i always thought it was a scaleless fish so salt would not be good for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disruptive_intensions Posted February 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 not sure, but didnt salt the tank anyway, as its a community tank with a wide variety of fish living in it. Looking at the ghost, it doesn't appear to have scales like the other fish do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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