Hi,
New here. I've had my L200 for 7 years. He was sold as a "Lemon Spotted Pleco" so I hope this ID is right. Let me apologize ahead of time for the long post but ultimately my question is this:
Will a "time-out" in a 10gallon w/no other fish help break the habit of a pleco suspected of going after slime coat?
My pleco received a varied diet up until my husband had cancer surgery in October 2012. It was a long recovery and caretaking. I knew it would be so in preparation, I broke down two other tanks but decided to keep the 55gallon that got me back into the hobby. Established tank about 10yrs.
During my husbands recovery, my pleco got whatever dropped, mostly just flakes, algae wafers, shrimp pellets and occasional frozen brine, bloodworms and vegemix. No fresh veggies. He had to miss that, but it was the last thing on my mind at the time.
By April (about 6mos total) my husband is doing great. Still is!!! Things getting back to normal for the family but issues brewed in the tank. I resumed the varied diet and weekly water changes but started losing rainbow fish, and then the Lemon tetras.
I tested, and nitrates were 40, GH was 180+, KH was 50, PH=6.0 but thankfully no ammonia. Made immediate steps and got nitrates down, then worked on PH slowly. It's now 6.8. GH is 120 and KH is 80.
By May, I had no rainbows and the Lemon tetras started dropping one by one. No white poop, no thinning or flat fins, just isolating and dying. Thinking Ich, I raised temp and added salt. No meds. But after treatment, Gourami sides looked mottled and part of his tail, like a chunk was missing. I suspected the Rainbow Shark was getting territorial so I changed the tank around a bit, added some plants. But days later, Gourami just died.
Now all that's left are the rainbow and the pleco. I never saw my pleco go after anyone, just the rainbow darting out to chase others from his cave, except for the pleco. He always appears "wary" with healthy respect to my pleco, swims away when it approaches. But the other day, my pleco appeared to be "hunting" for the rainbow.
Since I'm not sure who the culprit is, my plan is to rehome the rainbow and go with peaceful community fish. But I don't want to lose these fish if my L200 is going to suck them dry.
Thanks for reading and for your patience.
Jennifer
New here. I've had my L200 for 7 years. He was sold as a "Lemon Spotted Pleco" so I hope this ID is right. Let me apologize ahead of time for the long post but ultimately my question is this:
Will a "time-out" in a 10gallon w/no other fish help break the habit of a pleco suspected of going after slime coat?
My pleco received a varied diet up until my husband had cancer surgery in October 2012. It was a long recovery and caretaking. I knew it would be so in preparation, I broke down two other tanks but decided to keep the 55gallon that got me back into the hobby. Established tank about 10yrs.
During my husbands recovery, my pleco got whatever dropped, mostly just flakes, algae wafers, shrimp pellets and occasional frozen brine, bloodworms and vegemix. No fresh veggies. He had to miss that, but it was the last thing on my mind at the time.
By April (about 6mos total) my husband is doing great. Still is!!! Things getting back to normal for the family but issues brewed in the tank. I resumed the varied diet and weekly water changes but started losing rainbow fish, and then the Lemon tetras.
I tested, and nitrates were 40, GH was 180+, KH was 50, PH=6.0 but thankfully no ammonia. Made immediate steps and got nitrates down, then worked on PH slowly. It's now 6.8. GH is 120 and KH is 80.
By May, I had no rainbows and the Lemon tetras started dropping one by one. No white poop, no thinning or flat fins, just isolating and dying. Thinking Ich, I raised temp and added salt. No meds. But after treatment, Gourami sides looked mottled and part of his tail, like a chunk was missing. I suspected the Rainbow Shark was getting territorial so I changed the tank around a bit, added some plants. But days later, Gourami just died.
Now all that's left are the rainbow and the pleco. I never saw my pleco go after anyone, just the rainbow darting out to chase others from his cave, except for the pleco. He always appears "wary" with healthy respect to my pleco, swims away when it approaches. But the other day, my pleco appeared to be "hunting" for the rainbow.
Since I'm not sure who the culprit is, my plan is to rehome the rainbow and go with peaceful community fish. But I don't want to lose these fish if my L200 is going to suck them dry.
Thanks for reading and for your patience.
Jennifer