Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Pleco fish dying - advice please
- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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We have a Fluval 600 tank (60cm long x 35cm deep x 40cm high) and have 2 goldfish in it for about 6 months.
About 1 and a half month ago we bought 2 pleco and put them in the tank. We asked in the shop if they were OK to go in with the gold fish and we told them the tank temp was 22/23 C all the time. They said no problem. We also got the little tablets you feed them with - we fed them one of these tables each day.
Anyhoo - they never really seem to move much and after about 1 week one of them dies, and a few days later the other was dead.
So, back to a few days ago. I went back, told them what happened and the guys int he store said I should have the tank at 26 C and that was the problem. So that evening I put in the heater tha came with the tank, and set it for 26.
The next day the tank was up to 26 so I went back and bought 2 more plecos, and 2 goldfish also. I asked if it was OK to buy that mank and put them in and was told it would be no problem, after I showed them the tank I had and told them there was only 2 goldfish in it.
I'm just home now from work, and one of the new plecos is dead !!
What am I doing wrong ?
Could it be the pH in the tank? I asked about his in the shop and they said, no they'll be grand......
Any help would be greatly appreciated !
By the way - all fish, equipment and advice we received was in Pet Shop Superstore in Blanchardstown.
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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Do you know what type of pleco it is? I was in Blanch last week and all their Plecos looked like common plecos which grow to over 17". If this is the case, then your tank is way too small for them.
What type of tablets were you feeding them - were they algae wafers? Your temperature looks as though it would be ok if it's a common pleco as they can tollerate temperatures from 22c to 28c. However, are you sure the tank wasn't dropping below 22c when the house cooled over night? It would if there wasn't a heater in there.
The more information you have, the more we can help you.
Regards,
Ken.
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/411.htm
Regards,
Ken.
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- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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Yep - it's a common pleco - just like in the pic you posted.
The tables are at home now so I can't check, but they were about the size of a 1c piece and hard and black (if that helps)
I installed the heater a day before I got them (to allow time for the tank to heat up) to 26. The heater is ther all the time since then and it keeps the tank at a constant 26 day and night.
Is there any plecos that I can get that will not grow so big ?
I showed the tank I had to the people in the store also, and they never said a thing about plecos growing so large !!
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- lampeye (lampeye)
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first thing is to get test kits like ken said ASAP. then post the results and we'll tackle it from there.
lampeye
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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Blanchardstown shouldn't have sold it to you. They have a lot of common plecos up there and I'd doubt that they are selling them to people with sufficient sized tanks. You would need a 5' tank minimum for a fish that reaches that size.
You also need to decide whether you want to keep goldfish (coldwater) or tropicals. They don't mix well and one or other will be stressed by the water temperature.
Get the test kit as soon as you can. Your problem is most likely related to an ammonia spike.
Regards,
Ken.
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- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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You should do a 30% water change tonight to be on the safe side. This will help the water parameters if you have problems in that area.
I presume you're using stress coat and bringing the water up to the same temperature as the tank when doing a water change?
Regards,
Ken.
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- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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Is that OK ?
And yes, I'm bring the weater up to the correct tem before introducing it.
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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Regards,
Ken.
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- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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- deadl0ck (deadl0ck)
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- KenS (Ken Simpson)
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Ken.
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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u should buy test kits straight away. i personally have never heard of someone keeping a pleco with goldfish but that doesnt mean it doesnt work...i just dont think it would IMO.
first thing is to get test kits like ken said ASAP. then post the results and we'll tackle it from there.
In California, Texas, or even southern Spain, they keep plecs with goldfish without heating, in the winter indoors its go and be 20C, and the plec can live fine and the slightly lower temp than the amazon helps them to grow slower, In Ireland in a heater room you are probally going to be around 16-17C, its starting to push the limits, even though plec can take the cold snap that kills many tripicals in the dirt ponds and the orange grooves to!! in south Florida, the plec always survive.
Youi are probally asking why heat a room to 20C, well outside now its 16C and feels cold so indoors is going to be 20C. At home I have a young baby so we always keep the house 8C above ambient temp hence 24C, which explains why with the 1C increase coming from the water pump I can keep the tank at 24-25 WITHOUT a heater (my sons african tank, not marine that has a heater to lift it from 24 to 26 for the marine, any less the stone floors when walking bear feet would hurt. This is healthy as if the outdoors was say 10C and you heat the house to 18C the "feel like" is the same as 24indoors when outdoors is 16C.
I have to go, I am going out to lunch now to a chinaese all you can eat restaurant that had a cold water fantails with plecs!!
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- mattlemon (mattlemon)
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u should buy test kits straight away. i personally have never heard of someone keeping a pleco with goldfish but that doesnt mean it doesnt work...i just dont think it would IMO.
I have done it for years though it has to be in heated water 26+ The goldfish don't mind the warmer water they'll live in a fairly wide range.
I think it's more likeley that the extra bioload on the filter is overwhelming it and the fish are dying due to ammonia levels. Get a test kit ASAP and then post the water parameters up so we can see. Two plec's would make an awful lot of waste that the filters have to cope with.
What water changes do you do ?
Matt
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