# Why wont they stay alive?



## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

Every time i get a pleco or a snail it dies! i had pleco once for a good long time and one day he was dead, i was so mad! i prefer snails because i dont have all the space in the world for the Pleco's but my goodness! what is up with them dying? i have had like 6 of each! i have a really bad algae problem in my tanks, neon green algae and brown algae, and i scrub and scrub and turn my lights off and nothing helps.... so any one know why they could be dying?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

What kind of snails are you getting? The mystery snails need hard water and need to be fed. They can't just live on algae. It's the ramshorn snails that are the best algae eaters. I've never seen them for sale in a store.


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

Water params please. And temp, size of tank ect.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

and what kind of pleco have you been buying? commons need practically 75gallons to themselves


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

uhm, water is normal betta water? 80 degrees i guess... i havent had one in a long time (snail pleco) i just want to know why they keep passing. can AQ salt kill them? and i dont know what kind if snails they are....


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

How big is the tank? Is it filtered? What exactly is "normal betta water"? Do you mean you use those bottled "betta water" things?

I don't remember exactly but i think AQ salt doesn't sit well with scaleless fish as well as snails.


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## megaredize (May 21, 2012)

ya salt plus snail is death, and it does say on the salt packaging to be careful with scaleless fish. like mentioned they need to be fed also cant live just on algae


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## Coppermoon (May 8, 2012)

Pleco's don't "eat algae", they eat a specific algae. The have to be fed wafers.
I have Rams snails, pond snails, an apple snail, mystery snails (trapdoor less) and MTS. My tanks have 1tsp for 1g or 1 TBSP for 5g (according to if I mix up 15g of water at a time, then I use the 1 TBSP). All snails are fine....anyone need MTS...I'm overrun!!!

Are you sure you have algae? There are several "algae" that are not algae at all, it is bacteria/fungus. Each algae eater eats specific type of algae.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

yes i had algae wafers too and dropped them in there. and the algae is brown and green, i dont what it is D: wonna send me some MTS lol. jk , its a death wish lol.and nooo not betta water i mean its fine the perameters are fine, i dont have any testing things atm but i take it to class ans test it, is soft water. not slaty but i do add salt. and even then it soft... i don't know....


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

How large is the tank and what type of Pleco have you been purchasing, what have you been feeding it,


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

its a 20 gallon, and ten gallon, common pleco, and algae wafers.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Aquarium size. Wayy to small for a common Pleco. Substances such as ammonia would build up very quickly and even though your bettas may seem fine I've seen bettS act "normal" in ammonia high levels that would negatively effect Pleco


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

ohhh..... okay. what about the snails? and honestly every time i get a pleco its one i feelbad for... that may be a main contributer, that i bring it home half sick...


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

Snails, too. They produce A LOT of ammonia, more than Bettas! Did you add AG Salt in? Aquarium salt is not supposed to be in the tank more than 10 days as the Betta's labyrinth would get injured.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

also salt like they said, not good for scaleless fish like a pleco. pretty sure they fall under the "armored catfish" categroy


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

okay, salt not good for scaless fish....


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

Yeah. I would highly recommend using either aquarium or epsom salt ONLY when treating a scaled fish, like a betta, for a disease like fin rot and ONLY for a short period of time and ONLY in a separate tank from any scaleless fish and snails. Other than that, its not needed.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

okie dokie! thank you.


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