# Pleco in trouble



## FinalBlue (Oct 14, 2014)

I really need someone to beat me with a stick whenever I try to go look at fish. I had to make a run to a certain large chain store that sells fish as well as everything else under the sun and me being a fish lover just had to go see the fish because they're just so dang cute. Well I found a Pleco in with crabs! The poor pleco was in rough shape and you could just tell he was weak. The crabs were grabbing the poor fish with their big claw and tearing chunks and I mean CHUNKS of this poor plecos fins off and eating him alive. I was pretty much in tears (no sleep plus horse show plus poor animal care equals very emotionally unstable me). So I ran around until I found someone to at least move the poor thing but they wouldn't move him so I bought him. I know what you're thinking why would you buy a fish without a tank set up. I'll tell you why because I'm and insane necrotic being and I have a quarantine tank set up all the time for cases like this or if one of my bettas gets sick. Anyway the tank is at 80F with aquarium salt in it to help ward off infection on his fins it's also has antibiotics and stresscoat in it. It's bare bottom because I don't like gravel in quarantine tanks so tell me if I need to change that. It's currently running a filter without a carbon filter thingy (sorry I can't function well right now I'm so tired). I feel guilty as hell because it's a 1 gallon quarantine because my betta with fin rot was in my 3 gallon quarantine but I figured I shouldn't switch their tanks without a super thorough clean because I don't think 2 fish with fin rot would be good (sorry this got ranty) and I know plecos need a bunch of room at least when they're healthy so someone please tell me what I need to run for this guy quarantine wise. As well as medications I should or should not add. I'm a betta person I seriously have very little of a clue of what I'm supposed to be doing with a pleco. Oh and I gave him an algae wafer thingy idk if I was supposed to feed him but I thought it wouldn't hurt I'm also going to go and try to find treated driftwood for him. Anyway like I said I have very little of a clue on what to do with a sick pleco but I do have a general knowledge of the species. Oh and I have no idea what kind he is but I'm going to assume common I'll have a picture tomorrow if he survives the night.


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## FinalBlue (Oct 14, 2014)

Sadly he didn't make it through the night I just think his injuries were too great and that it was to much stress to be moved as well.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aww sorry to hear. At least he got to see some compassion at the end. May he SIP


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Poor lil' Pleco. SIP little buddy.

You tried.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

I'm sorry for your lose but here's some info in case you ever try to save another pleco.
Aquarium salt and any catfish species (pleco, oto, cory) do not mix, they are skin based not scale based and don't tolerate aq salt. As a catfish they also prefer strong flow and highly oxygenated tanks Aside from that pleco are HUGE bio load fish, they poop a ton and need very large cycled tanks to dilute the immense amount of ammonia they generate, if you don't have a large tank with a cycled filter they can die in 1-2 days from the ammonia spike they cause easily. And contrary to what all the idiots at a pet store will tel you, they can't survive on tank algae alone, they need supplimented diets, commonly vegetable and algae wafer, but some species don't even eat algae or veggies (heavily carnivorous) and simply starve as they're expected to eat algae which they never will. No matter the breed of pleco you get they are huge poopers and need a TON of water changes if kept in smaller tanks than they should be (more trouble than its worth). About the only 'small' tank pleco is the bristlenose, which 1 can live in a 20g, most others need 30 to over 200g (majority in the higher range). Another thing to remember is never to use a fishnet with a pleco, they have very rough hides and spines on their fins which will get caught in the net and they can get hurt struggling or from a person trying to free them. instead use a plastic cup. If they're too big for cups you can go in with your hands to gab them.. but if you've ever held a catfish out of water (from fishing) you know they won't hold still and will try to break loose of your grip.

I kept a leopard sailfin pleco for nearly 2 years (they max out at 18"! I parted with him at 13.5"). He was given algae wafer 1/2s each night when small with 2x a week veggie.. by the time he was over a foot he got large veggies slices each night plus a whole algae wafer. His breed was a plant eater and destroyed my first planted tank (managed to salvage my Argentinian swords from being only crowns (no leaf or roots left) so he had to live in a tank without plants to help absorb nitrates. I did a 50% water change every day to deal with poop and nitrates while he was 'small' after he hit 8" I got him a 4-5x larger tank. Still had to do 25% water changes every other day . even st up an aquaponics system (grow terrestrial plants using aquarium water instead of soil) to help... finally he got so big and pooped so much my canister filter couldn't handle it (kept clogging) even upgraded to an extremal expensive canister and that clogged from the poop too x.x so I found him a new home with a group that cares for fish, had experience with plecos, and had a HUGE tank with filtration that could handle his waste. When he was caught to be transported we had to use a huge (clean) heavy duty construction strength trash bag to get him from the tank to the 5g bucket used to transport him (he was not in there long).

You rally should never buy a pleco unless you've researched first, know the proper id of what you're getting, and can properly house it (don't try to fit them in smaller tanks.. it just doesn't go well). I got mine on impulse and regretted it quickly but did the work to keep his tank clean so he never had illness or finrot... originally planned to build a 250g tank with diy sump filtration system but by the time he was 13".. I wasn't sure the sump design could handle his bio-load either. The people who took him had an oscar (pretty much as big a poopers as pleco) so trusted their system could handle him.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

I have one pleco, he's tripled in size since I bought him and I love him to death. He's in a 75g right now, and if he keeps growing at the rate that he is, we'll be needing to upgrade to a 150 gallon next year. But, that's okay. We knew what we were getting into.

He's my little cucumber vampire. Eats the middle out and leaves the rinds!:lol:


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

hrutan said:


> I have one pleco, he's tripled in size since I bought him and I love him to death. He's in a 75g right now, and if he keeps growing at the rate that he is, we'll be needing to upgrade to a 150 gallon next year. But, that's okay. We knew what we were getting into.
> 
> *He's my little cucumber vampire. Eats the middle out and leaves the rinds!:lol:*


That's amusing my guy LOVED the rind of zucchini (prefer zucchini over cucumber) more than the center, by the end i was giving him 2-3' long whole cuts no rind removing or blanching and he's devour them in 24 hours.

my mother in law gave us a monster organic zucchini (she was out of town for 2 months + and no one tended the garden.. holy crap!) this was his last zucchini before we gave him away.. it was so huge i had to cut it, remove seeds (size of large pumpkin seeds!) and freeze chunks btw he's 13.5" when that photo was taken.. yes thats the actual size its not depth making him look tiny compared to the plant.





This was a very touch zucchini rind. took him days instead of hours to finish but he would not let me remove it for a fresh one... in another 5 there's nothing left except about 1/2" around the plastic weighed down chop stick (the usual size zucchini are gone in 24 hours).
When he was donated the bag of zucchini (started as 2 large freezer bags) went with him.


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