FishProfiles.com Message Forums

i had a nice plec for around 6 months that was quite expencive, i was told he would only grow to 6", he was orange and black striped. i found the poor little thing dead this morning and he looked v well to me the day before. i dont know what was up with him if any one knows what it could be could you please tell me. thank u

Was it a whiptail pleco. I had one that just died Sunday for no reason at all. It was orange with black stripes.

ye i think it was, but dont know sounds the same

Ummm, let's see...first, we'll start off with trying to figure out the type of pleco...unfortunately, I've never heard of a Whiptail Pleco and the closest thing I can think of (Whiptail Catfish) is nowhere near orange and black...

go here and go through the Cat-eLog to see if one of the plecos looks like yours...

Now then, as for the problem, I think I may know what it is...

The fish you list in your signature are rather large fish (even if they just look small now), and unfortunately, a 30 gallon really isn't a very large tank...

I would guess that if you check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels, your ammonia would turn out to be rather high. Specialized plecos, which may be rare in your area and are usually expensive, tend to be rather sensitive to their water conditions. I would guess that your ammonia is rather high and you pleco was just the most sensitive to it. I wouldn't know for sure until you got those concentrations measured and the results posted, but that's what I would lean towards...

If you'd like, I could pm you some more about the fish that are in your tank currently and we could work through how to maybe correct the problem...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

that that will b cool i think i need 2 work it out, so what do u suggest to do?