long time friend finally gone :(

[dony2020]

as we all know when it starts to get cooler and days get shorter we soon pay even closer attention to are tank mates and well my L264 sultan made it for 3 winters and this year he finally didn't make it poor lil fella.

got him when he was just the size of a usb thumb drive and now was 5 inches long passed away today while i was looking up some plecos from aquabid and glanced over and noticed him near my end and out of his normal cave and bout 5 min later noticed his very end of his fins where turning pale but by then it was too late and his right eye was clouding over but his left was still intact staring at me coincidence ? you tell me

usally my temp for my tank i keep them around 76-84 mostly near 84 to help with ick and other backtera from growing on them and a week befor my buddy today passed my knight gobby also passed im hoping its the weather my temps right of now are at 74 and thats with my 60 dollor heater going

every budy seems to be alittle sad hes gon as they where around him looking as in a depression and wanting some answers every one got along fine just some territorial issuse during feeding but mainly every one shares his belly seemes very normal for him ot bloaded and not anorexic hoping its just the cold or old age

havent been on in like ever for the forum and i remember when i was a freshmen on the other forum that shut there doors down and later heard of pleco planet

sorry for the sad news every one just wanted some others to share what they think the issue was i certantly have been doing this for years now and not sure what did it just wondering do you guys have bad luck during winter ?
as soon as i can get a ride i will be picking me up another test kit from my local fish store as today my ph, amonia, are out as i wanted to test just this second

 

[zeebo]

sorry to hear you lost your sultan , your buddy. That is tough. I am sure he will be missed, I know the feeling. Hopefully you can figure out what happened. Hear Fla is nearly as cold as CT lately. But you got a heater so...not sure about that ,humm.
Hang tough , and let us know if you are able to discover what happened if you can.

sorry again, Georgie

 

[smiley]

sorry to hear

the big plecs become like true family pets

pete

 

[JoePlec]

How old was the sultan?

 

[bre]

Sorry to hear that your buddy died

Firstly tank questions
When was the last water change?
What is the ph?
Size of the tank?
Has anything been added to the tank in the past 2-3 weeks? Fish, ornaments, anything?

Fish Questions
Have you changed the food you feed them at all?
Had he been pooping ok?
Any symptons prior?
How was the gobbi prior to his passing?
Sorry for all the questions but it's best to make sure that nothing else is going on in the tank rather than hope it's just the cold weather.

 

[Big-B]

:imsorry: for your loss.

 

[dony2020]

he was 4 would be 5 in march when i got him dont know exactly his true age from being spawned

last water change was saturday 12/11/10 i usally do water changes every other week and if the was extra food wast laying around i would do a water change the soonest i could mainly saturday is the day i get to actually do water changes my water here where i live is very bad so i go to my local fish store and get filtered water they use for there freshwater tanks iv tested it to make sure there ph amonia and nitrates arnt up and usally leave the water in the bucket with a heater and a little stone bubbler to match the water temps so they dont get shock from a temp swing


PH is 7.0-7.2 colors are very simillar looking for both numbers of my tester tube

tank size is a 55 gl

nothing new has been added to the tank


fish food i have them on a diet of sera catfish chips 2 usally by the time the chips start expanding there mostly gone but for 1-2 of them where the corners are betrin rocks and the tetra will nip at it and finish it up before it turns to wast-- also i pick up zucinie the organic ones they say no pesticides used and clean them with warm water for a 1 1/2 min each and slice it in thin slices for the suction cup clip can hold for them -that is like once in a blue moon i feed them produce i dont like to feed them it because if it has pesticides that would be real bad to get in my tank

2 days befor he passed he was pooping good i think lol um it was a dark long string bout 3 inches longer then his body

no symptoms prior - he has had ick before like 2 years and every one in the tanks got it but got lucky and only lost 2 clowns and a common 3 tetras and a 5 danios since then no infections

the gobbie looked really pale the day he died and didnt really want to move alot and soon after he died and quickly took him out and he had allready been starting to rot but that was lees then an hour i saw him pale and moving alittle

 

[Hypanaddict]

I'm sorry to hear what happened mate,its always sad to lose something that is so special :cry:

 

[FF MkII]

The poo doesnt sound good.

 

[MermaidMelanie]

It's so sad when you lose a fish that you've had for a long time, they become so much a part of your daily life.

 

[bre]

Fish poop can tell you alot about the health of a fish.
Healthy looking poop should be the same colour as the food they have eaten and be short in length and not trail from the fish.

Long thin poop is usually caused by stress in the tank and/or poor diet.

Your buddy could just have been stressed out and not feeling well.

The water you get from the LFS is it used water from their tanks? Or water they have shipped in specifically for them to use on their tanks and they sell some to you before it's used?

Fish do not rot as quickly as you have said with the gobbie. If he was in there longer than you thought it is possible the plec started feeding on the body. Plecs are scavangers and whilst most will not eat meat it is not uncommon for one to feed on the remains of a dead fish in the tank.


What symptons did your gobbie have in the few days leading up to his demise? I'm sorry to ask these, but the fish turning pale and then rotting within an hour makes me want to know more about his death.