Lost another Plec

[PlecoCollector]

Sometime last week, my male Bristlenose passed away. I had no idea his age, so I just assumed that he died of being old (When I got him, he was full grown and he often had a cloudly look to his eyes).

Yet this morning, I found Sir Newton, my Rubbernose pleco, on the bottom belly-up. He's always been very active, so this one didn't make as much sense to me.

I did a 25-35% water change just last week (that included vacuuming the gravel) and I checked my water this morning and got this:
pH: 7.6 (it's been consistantly at this number for the past 3 months)
Ammonia: 0pmm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: >10ppm

I have been having trouble with the heaters lately. Only one stays on and the other doesn't do anything, so last night I was trying to balance them out (they have no temperature written on the dial, so it's one of those guess and check things). This morning the temp was up to 94F eek: ), so I've lowered it. It's not the first time that's happened, but I thought I'd mention it in case it meant anything.

Any idea on what's going on in this tank? I've lost quite a few fish in this tank over the past two months, but I can't find anything that could be directly causing it... Thanks.

 

[Pure]

94!?!!!GAH!!

That probably had a lot to do with the rubber passing. The heat added to the lack of O2 in the water. Remember the hotter the water the less O2 it has in it.

Sorry bout your loss.

 

[PlecoCollector]

That's what I thought... stupid heaters... I need to invest in some better ones. The ones I have now are the cheap kind from Pet Supermarket

Thanks Pure

 

[Lotus]

Sorry to hear about your loss

I've had more problems with heaters than any other piece of equipment. The darn things are expensive, and never seem to last like the ones they used to make.

 

[tubbs24]

my heater has the same problem....i have to leave it at a set temp (76), otherwise if I tap it up or down just a little bit, it either jumps to 90 or down to 60. Sorry about your plecs....