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i had a gold nugget pleco for no more than 2 days and it died ?? i checked the ph levels and the same with the amonia levels and they came back normal and the ph was 6.8 and i thought gold nuggets like alittle lower ph than neutral ?? any suggestions ?

My guess would have been 1 of three things

1) the pleco was already sick when you bought it( was it a reliable store?)

2) the pleco was stressed out from the move( did you cover it up on the way home?

3) you did not acclimate it correctly

where did you get it from, I know how frustrating that can be because they are pretty expensive fish.

-Vincent

thanks umm i got it from a very well known fish store and they usually have good fish . i did have it coverd up in the car in 2 bags idk if that could have effected it negitivly ..??

umm it might have been sick when i got it idk . i am goin back soon to replace it . usually they are 40$ and i got a deal for 20$ maybe thats y i couldnt tell u . Hopefully it wasnt my water or anything b.c i did a few tests and everything came back normal. thanks for your help

well is there any chance you have within ten feet a tank of four baby turtles with one dying and limped?? i read they get sick from that

naaa not a chance lol

thats a pretty random speculation
where did you get that from?

-Vincent

When you floated it did you err on the side of caution? Did you add a little of yoru own tank water and then seal the bag and continue floating. Add a bit more, seal bag and continue floating... and so on...... so it doesn't get a shock.... I always do it that way just to be extra careful.

One is never regretful of being too cautious. On the other hand the remose of thinking you could have been more conservative is not a nice feeling.

Enough hiding spaces?
tankmates?

We don't have much more to go on from the info given.

Good luck for your future tank friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

its definatly that jack dempsy in the 30 gallon, it jumped across from that tank into the other onee and ate the pleco


thats my suggestion.

Hi,
I would be interested in hearing what the nitrate reading
of the tank water is. The fish are sensitive high nitrates.
High nitrates = "dirty water."

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Just saying tests are normal tells people nothing. Some people think .5 ammonia, 2 nitrate, and 60nitrates is "normal". Gold nuggets in my experience are somewhat more sensitive than most other plecos I've dealt with and slightly off water parameters along with being moved and/or being acclimated too quickly could have done it. I'd lean towards drip acclimation with these guys or at least a long acclimation with very frequently adding small amounts of tank water to the bag. Also since you mentioned checking ph levels are you adjusting ph or is that the normal tank ph? Ph adjusters are tricky and often lead to the death of fish.

sry i got banned b.c i didnt read the rules to closely anyways
i used the dripp method to acclimate the pleco. i think it might have been just the fish b.c i got another one and its doin better than the last - last one died in alittle less than 2 days

also are they brackish fish ? b.c a well informed co-worker said that they are perdominately brackish

As far as I know the 3 species normally called gold nugget are not at all brackish.

http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=153
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=154
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=155

I've kept the first species L018-L085.

thanks for the links they helped some

do u no anything about the salinity levels ?

No Loricariid is brackish. Don't add any salt to the tank - with most species of fish, it does much more harm than good.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Oh it's time for this piece again.

There are two types of freshwater fishes from the standpoint of salt tolerance. PRIMARY freshwater fishes have been freshwater for a VERY long time - they've evolved from ancestors that were freshwater all the way back to the Devonian era and possibly beyond. These fishes have NEVER evolved the osmoregulatory machinery required to cope with salt in the water, and if you put a fish of this kind in water with even a small amount of salt and leave it there, the fish will die. Characins, Carps, Catfishes are classic examples (indeed virtually all of the Ostariophysans popular in aquaria are freshwater) and these fishes should NEVER be exposed to salt, with the possible exception of last-resort treatments for diseases that won't succumb to various meds. Even then, you're at the stage of "the fish will die if I don't do something" before you do this ...

SECONDARY freshwater fishes, on the other hand, had marine ancestors fairly recently in terms of geological time (Eocene era or thereabouts) and consequently, though they moved into freshwater, they still possess some salt tolerance because they still possess some of the necessary osmoregulatory machinery. Cichlids are classic scondary freshwater fishes - they share a common ancestor with the marine Damselfishes, and indeed, the Cichlids share a LOT of features with the marine Damselfishes - common anatomical groundplan with very few (and subtle) differences, advanced social behaviour with strong territorial instinct and parental care of young, and complex rituals for signalling behavioural intent between individuals of the same species. Indeed, one Genus of Cichlids - namely Etroplus - contains obligate brackish water fishes. Other secondary freshwater fishes include the Killlifishes (some of which are again obligate brackish fishes, or have evolved to live in mineral rich waters such as some Cyprinodon Pupfishes) and Poeciliid livebearers (velifera Sailfin Mollies are in fact euryhaline, and can be found in the wild in everything from hard, alkaline fresh water, through brackish, to fully marine!). In fact, quite a few popular aquarium livebearers will actually fare better in a brackish aquarium - Poecilia velifera being the obvious example I just quoted, but some others are obligate brackish fishes such as the rare Poecilia branneri.

So, short answer, NEVER put a Plec in water containing salt unless it's a "last resort" attempt at medicating a terminal disease. Because if you do, you'll kill it.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

im not tryin to make anyone mad at me but anyways
my friend has a 55 with brackish water and has had a pleco live in it for almost 2 years now . Idk if its the species of pleco but when i got it the only name they had for it was common pleco

Common Plecos are one of the hardiest species of fish available in the hobby. They can be found in the wild in central Texas, where temperatures near freezing aren't all that rare. Likewise, Common Plecos are frequently able to tolerate brackish water (and are probably the only species that can do so).

The keyword there, however, is "tolerate". A pleco kept in brackish water is not thriving, just merely surviving in poor environmental conditions. I have no doubt that your friend's pleco, if kept in brackish water indefinitely, will not grow to full-size (about two feet) and will have a significantly shortened lifespan. Plecos can live 25 years and probably more, but I would expect your friend's fish to expire between the ages of five to ten years.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

thanks everyone for yo helps