Regular Member usmgp1 Posted November 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 25, 2010 I had a Pleco in quarantine for 4 weeks now and I put him in my main tank on Monday and now all of my fish are showing red patches on them and are laying around the bottom of the tank. I thought my pump quit working and maybe it was ammonia burns but now I am thinking it is a parasite! ARGH! I have to clean my whole pump system if it is true. What is going on? HELP HELP HELP HELP! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member flutterbudget Posted November 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 25, 2010 I can't really help as far as possible parasites, but do you think the pleco could be eating their slimecoats at night? What kind of pleco is it and how big? I'm sure someone will come along who will have better info for you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted November 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 25, 2010 I read a lot about pleco's eating the slime coat off goldfish and injuring them, I wonder if this is the case here. Is it a common pleco? They are known for that although I have to say that I personally have no problem. When I started out with fish keeping I added a common pleco to my goldfish. They were all babies and got along well and still do, although I always keep an eye on it, so if he starts being a brat I will have to remove him. Anyway, what size is the pleco? How big is the tank he is in with the goldfish, and how many goldfish are in there? I know you got this great filtration and all that but there is a point where filtration isn't enough but more ROOM is required, and common pleco's can be territorial. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member usmgp1 Posted November 26, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 I read a lot about pleco's eating the slime coat off goldfish and injuring them, I wonder if this is the case here. Is it a common pleco? They are known for that although I have to say that I personally have no problem. When I started out with fish keeping I added a common pleco to my goldfish. They were all babies and got along well and still do, although I always keep an eye on it, so if he starts being a brat I will have to remove him. Anyway, what size is the pleco? How big is the tank he is in with the goldfish, and how many goldfish are in there? I know you got this great filtration and all that but there is a point where filtration isn't enough but more ROOM is required, and common pleco's can be territorial. The Pleco is 4 inches long and is now back in his own tank the 55 gallon that was affected has 6 medium size goldies and 4 small ones. WHAT HAPPENED! ????? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member theaquaticlibrary Posted November 26, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 Definately sounds like the plec latching onto the other fish 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted November 26, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 Yeah, I think too that it was the pleco as this was the only thing that was changed. What kind of pleco is it, a common one? I think they are awesome, but can grow to be two feet (!!!!) in length. One way to keep them from starting to go after goldis slime coat is to have enough food available; algae, algae wafers, shrimp pellets etc. The shrimp pellets especially are difficult to feed in a tank with goldfish as these will gobble up the shrimp pellets before the pleco even registers them. Algae chips are easier to feed to the pleco, I usually put three in every three days after I turn the lights off at night. That way the pleco has good chances to secure one of the wafers for himself. Fresh cucumber and zucchini are my pleco's favorite, s/he also likes nibbling on gel food and blanched spinach. That keeps his belly full and from sucking on the goldis slime coat. I also got a nice piece of driftwood to nibble on and a bunch of river rocks which offer additional surface for algae to grow as food source. This might actually be one of the main reasons why s/he didn't bother my goldis YET. Does the tank you put the pleco in have a lot of algae on the glass? If not, the pleco might have gotten hungry and saw no other food source. But once s/he got nibbled slime coat, I personally wouldn't try to put her together with goldfish anymore as s/he might have developed a taste for them. You should either rehome the pleco or set him up with his own tank. They prefer warmer temperatures anyway as they are tropical fish, and from what I have read they usually don't go after small tropical fish. Goldfish are "delicious" to them because they produce more slime coat, are bigger and slower than little tropical fish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member usmgp1 Posted November 26, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 Yeah, I think too that it was the pleco as this was the only thing that was changed. What kind of pleco is it, a common one? I think they are awesome, but can grow to be two feet (!!!!) in length. One way to keep them from starting to go after goldis slime coat is to have enough food available; algae, algae wafers, shrimp pellets etc. The shrimp pellets especially are difficult to feed in a tank with goldfish as these will gobble up the shrimp pellets before the pleco even registers them. Algae chips are easier to feed to the pleco, I usually put three in every three days after I turn the lights off at night. That way the pleco has good chances to secure one of the wafers for himself. Fresh cucumber and zucchini are my pleco's favorite, s/he also likes nibbling on gel food and blanched spinach. That keeps his belly full and from sucking on the goldis slime coat. I also got a nice piece of driftwood to nibble on and a bunch of river rocks which offer additional surface for algae to grow as food source. This might actually be one of the main reasons why s/he didn't bother my goldis YET. Does the tank you put the pleco in have a lot of algae on the glass? If not, the pleco might have gotten hungry and saw no other food source. But once s/he got nibbled slime coat, I personally wouldn't try to put her together with goldfish anymore as s/he might have developed a taste for them. You should either rehome the pleco or set him up with his own tank. They prefer warmer temperatures anyway as they are tropical fish, and from what I have read they usually don't go after small tropical fish. Goldfish are "delicious" to them because they produce more slime coat, are bigger and slower than little tropical fish. He is now in his own special little tank. He is a common Pleco . Thnaks for all of the help. Hopefully now we can begin the healing 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted November 26, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 (edited) Oh good! Just make sure that if you keep him he has a large enough tank, considering an adult pleco will reach 18 to 24 inches. 40 gallons minimum tank size! I just read on another website how someone had a similar problem as you are having, but then she started feeding algae wafers and the pleco stopped sucking on the goldfish. So you MIGHT be lucky that if you provide enough food for the pleco s/he will leave the goldfish alone. Edited November 26, 2010 by Oerba Yun Fang 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member usmgp1 Posted November 26, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 I am really hoping all of the fish recover . Alot of them are miserable. I removed all the rocks out of the tank and left it like I see alot of the tanks on here. I like it better. It should be a nice change in the presentation when I add some decorations to it. Chuck Please Pray for my fish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted November 26, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2010 I will! I know you are quite experienced with their care. The water should be perfect in your tanks because of your amazing filter system. If possible raise the salinity to 0.1% to support their recovery 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Raivynn Posted December 1, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 1, 2010 If i added correctly, you have 10 goldfish in a 55 gallon tank? We usually recommend only 1 goldfish per 10 gallons of water, and maybe that could also be an underlying cause. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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