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I got a L260 pleco yesterday and tonight I found it dead. params on the tank are

Temp-79
Ph-8.0
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10

He looked good when I picked him up, but the worker grabbed it by the tail and it started flapping in the tank. I drip acclimated it for atleast an hour. I noticed when I got home that one spot on the base of the tail on the dorsal side it was white like a burn or something wounded it. I then noticed today that it had another spot like it on side. I then came home and it was very faded and the spots were all over. It doesn't look like the spots were protruded. What could this of been. All of the others look good.

I dunno about the spotlike symptoms, but I would guess shock and extreme stress. First of all, the store worker didn't do the fish much good by snatching its tail like that. If I were a small fish, I sure would be pretty freaked out after that. There could be a problem with water parameters, too. I bet the store tank had a pH of around seven, and yours is all the way up at eight. Fish tend to not take huge jumps like that well, not in the course of a single day. How did you acclimate the pleco?

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

There ph is right about 7.8, 7.9. The pleco was only 2"-3"

The white discoloration of the caudal area also sounds like a symptom of a potential bacterial infection. Were the fins deteriorating? Could you see any blood spots/streaks anywhere?

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

No red streaks. The fins were frayed though. If its bacterial is there anything I should do to the tank to prevent it. I usually QT but this is one time I didn't.

The white discoloration and especially the frayed fins sound like a bacterial infection. Here is a picture of one of my corys which had a severe bacterial infection about a year and a half ago:



Notice the whitish discoloration in the caudal area, the frayed fins, and the sunken in eyes. That infection wiped out that entire batch of corys, but luckily I was able to save the rest of my fish.

I treated the tank with Maracyn Plus, an excellent antibiotic designed to combat this kind of infection. While the fish that were already infected were not able to be saved (pretty much impossible considering the damage you see in that photo), the Maracyn Plus prevented it from spreading to my other fish.

If you could post a picture of your pleco (either before it died or if you still have the body), that would help in determining the cause of death significantly. It does, to the best of my knowledge however, sound like a bacterial infection. Considering that they can wipe out your tank in about 10 hours if the other fish become infected, I think it would be best to treat the tank with Maracyn Plus as a precautionary measure. It is mild on fish and biological bacteria, so you should not have any complications.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Looks like it could be it, Is there another med thats similar just incase I can't find that stuff. So far everything else looks good.

Any sunken bellies? I always catch smaller loricariids by hand at the store, and no harm ensues.

Actually it had a full belly. I'm starting to believe that the extreme stress caused it. Its been over 48 hours since I introduced him and not one other fish has shown any negative effects. I may hold off with meds and watch carefully over the next few days.