Unknown Cause of Death

[rommel39]

I found my rubberlip pleco dead yesterday in the tank. He was lying on the bottom of the tank, white as a ghost (except for his stomach which was blackish). Probably the worst thing is that I have no idea what killed him. After successful raising a common pleco with no problems when I first just into fishkeeping and had no idea what I was doing (until it was too late), I have now had two rubberlip plecos die on me, each time I have had no idea what was wrong .

 

[Lotus]

Sorry to hear that Maybe it was internal parasites. How long did you have him?

 

[rommel39]

Lotus,

I’m not sure if it was an internal parasite or not. Like I have said before I have had three rubberlip plecos and that is the only fish that continually dies on me (although the second one died within days of me getting it from PetSmart and I tend to think that it had more to do with PetSmart than my tank). And like I only said I had a common pleco that I had thrived and is now living in my girlfriend’s 55 gallon tank. And none of my other fish are dying.

The only theory that I have is that the UpSideDown Catfish could be bullying the rubberlip plecos. And I say that not because I have seen them do that, because I have not seen that with my own eyes at all, but because that is the only difference between my common pleco and my rubberlips, I did not have the USD when I had my common.

I’m thinking about getting a bristlenose pleco, from what I have read about them they can hold their own with other fish. Although bristlenoses cost $20 and rubberlip pleco only cost around $4 or so. I dunno, I really wish I could pin what is killing them down, because I really love having plecos on my tank and I am about a year away from setting up my 75 gallon.

 

[Lotus]

It's hard because most plecos are wild caught, so you always have the risk that they come to you with something or other. I have gotten my rubberlipped plecos at PetSmart, and they did fine, even though it was a terrible store for fish.

One problem might be your hex tank and lack of oxygen at the bottom. Most plecos need water with a high oxygen content.

 

[rommel39]

I'm not sure if that is the problem. I run a rena airpump that is big enough for a 75 gallon tank. What do you think?

 

[Lotus]

The airpump should give enough oxygen, although the air exchange happens at the surface. It was just a suggestion.

 

[rommel39]

I'm open to suggestions because I sure would like to know what is going on