Recently two of my sucker fish have died. We've had them for a few months now since June but I figured they would live longer than this. I thought maybe it was the water so I changed it but our last one that I have grown pretty attached to looks like he's about to die. He's breathing but he won't suck on anything he just floats sometimes on his back. I actually was about to go flush him but when I picked him up he moved a little. But nothing has changed i keep checking on him to make sure he's still alive but I'm lost. Our tanks aren't fancy they are just basic starter tanks from Wal-Mart Idk the pH balance or anything
Sucker fish keep dying
- Thread starter ResaB
- Start date
Most plecos require some specific water requirements. Please have your water tested to get the parameters. Specifically the ph and water hardness/ alkalinity. Also how big is your tank and what type of plecos? What are you feeding them? Plecos will do ok with the wrong water parameters for a short time but then they will die.
A few things we need to know:
Water parameters: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?
How big is the tank?
How often and how much do you change the water?
What are the tank mates?
Are you feeding the pleco or just letting them eat algae?
Water parameters: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?
How big is the tank?
How often and how much do you change the water?
What are the tank mates?
Are you feeding the pleco or just letting them eat algae?
Well he died last night but I believe they were suckermouth plecos and I will have to test the water but when we bought them the lady said we could use water from our fridge because it's filtered so that's what we have been using. I change their water once a month or as needed depending on if there just seems like there is a lot of poop in there. Our tanks are only 1.5 gallons. They were sharing a tanks with the glow fish sold at Wal-Mart but they have also died and right now I have a black gold fish in there who seems to be doing very well.
Also I was just letting them eat algae I didn't think they had actual food for them until after reading a few lost lately
Chances are they died of ammonia poisoning. A 1.5 gallon tank is not big enough for a common pleco and water changes once a month are not going to keep your water quality in check.
I would recommend two things: 1) have a read over this http://freshwater-aquarium-passion.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/nitrogen-cycle-for-dummies.html
2) do not add any more fish to your tank
Step 1: rehome the goldfish. It needs a minimum of a 20g tank to start and if it is a feeder goldfish it will grow to be about 12" long so in time it will need more than 20g.
Step 2: get rid of the 1.5 gallon tank or only keep shrimp in it
Step 3: Raise your right hand, and state I solomly swear to never buy or listen to anything Walmart has to say about fish ever again as they only want to sell me something, have no idea what they are talking about, and do not have the welfare of the fish even remotely in mind.
Step 4: goto the find a LFS thread under freshwater fish and locate your local fish store that is a good one.
Step 5: Buy at least a 20 gallon tank as a newbie you will be tempted to overstock it and this will give you more room for the amount of fish that you want without overstocking it.
Step 6: cycle said tank for at least a month until your ammonia and nitrite readings are zero and you have a nitrate reading of at least 5.
Step 7: do not ever again buy a fish without first researching for yourself ( research does not equal what the store clerk told you) what water parameters the fish needs, how big it will get, what tank size it will need when it is fully grown. Only buy fish that you CURRENTLY have the fish tank size for when fully grown
Step 8: Bring home the correct fish for your tank and read up on caring for them properly
Tiff recommend reading cycling your tank for dummies: I figured it would mention it in there as Tiff gives golden advice.
