Our plecostamus has been “hanging” under one of the tank decorations for the last three or four days. Normally we find him hanging from the side of the tank or resting, dorsal fin up, on the bottom of the tank. Lately, he has been under one of the decorations, dorsal fin down. (We have been wondering how he could remain in this position but think we have discovered the answer…) Today when I happened to see him moving about the tank (50 gallon community with about two dozen mixed tetras and a pair of African dwarf frogs) he seems bloated and also seems to bo positively buoyant. He was on the glass of the tank just below the surface but in an unusual position. Normally, he hangs from the glass face up but today he was parallel with the surface of the water. He seemed not to be “stuck” to the glass, so that the current of water from the power bottom filter started to push him downstream. When he tried to recover from this, I noticed that his abdomen is bloated and that he seemed to be struggling to reach the bottom of the tank, suggesting that maybe he is bloated with gas. We feed the tank frozen blood worms (primarily for the frogs), frozen brine shrimp and miscellaneous food flakes (for the general population) and algae flakes (for the pleco.) Help?
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What has happened to our Pleco?
Posted on22 July 2011.
111 Responses to “What has happened to our Pleco?”
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Too much high protien food for the pleco. Causes constipation and bloating.
You can try feeding him some fresh veges, cucumber, cooked peas or zuchini, but it may be too late to save him.
Common plecos will eat practically anything, but need to have a high percentage of their diet made up of vegetables to give them the roughage they need. Sink large chunks of vege into the tank and leave it there overnight. The pleco will pig out on it overnight and get a gut full of vege goodness. You will need your gravel vac the next day!!!
Feed them chunks of fresh vege and the sinking algae tablets to keep their digestive system healthy.
Ian
Normally, primarily herbivorous species will get bloat from having too much protein. This might be the case. My plecostomus used to hide when I first got him, but now he swims during the day time. Most catfish don’t like bright lighting. Check during the night to see if he is still hiding.
ide kinda have to see it to be sure, but most of what you said sounds normal , mine hang upsidedown and sideways allthe time. but ive never seen em float, if thats what your saying he did. maybe you over feeding? i would feed my five inch plec half a wafer every other day. maybe hes constopated. or has swim bladder problems? try feeding him some boiled peeled peas and hold the algae flakes for like a week,