PDA

View Full Version : My Pleco Floats

s72450
04-19-2009, 03:34 PM
The past two days I've noticed something very strange in my pleco. He/She isn't very big, maybe two inches at the most, but I've had him/her for a few months now. I recently put three albino cories, the pleco, and a halfmoon betta into my 55 gallon to keep it cycled. It's planted and I have three large pieces of lava rock in the tank.

Yesterday was the first time I noticed the pleco just floating on top of the water, upside down, as if he/she were getting air, although there was no suction going on. I studied him/her for a long time thinking it might be dead, but I tapped the tank and it suddenly swam off.

I come in this morning to notice it doing the same thing. I've just never seen this before, but this pleco does alot of swimming moreso than sucking the sides of the tank I've noticed.

I'm just curious if this is a bad sign, sickness, or just an odd character quirk because I've never seen any of my other plecos do this before.

Tank Levels are as follows just in case you're curious.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 40
mommy1
04-19-2009, 03:38 PM
it might be a quirky fish or it might be stress. your nitrates are high. do a water change to bring them down, and see if he keeps floating.
i had a pleco that used to gulp air. it was an odd sound. but not float at the top like that.
Cameron
04-19-2009, 04:26 PM
it might be a quirky fish or it might be stress. your nitrates are high. do a water change to bring them down, and see if he keeps floating.
i had a pleco that used to gulp air. it was an odd sound. but not float at the top like that.

I agree, the nitrates don't help the gills too much so he could be trying to get more oxygen, do any other fish look like they are gasping? do a waterchange and run an air pump if you have one.
s72450
04-19-2009, 04:39 PM
Nope, none of the other fish seem to be having any trouble, in fact even the betta doesn't really grab air from the top very much.
Gayle
04-19-2009, 06:46 PM
My pleco does some odd floating things too, he hovers in one place alot and does not move anything, I have wondered if he was dead as well. But he has never done it upside down.
Oscar_freak12321
04-23-2009, 02:49 AM
Maybe he's scanning the surface for food...? I've never heard of anything like that before.
Crispy
04-23-2009, 08:13 PM
try handfeeding him when he's up there... I had a large pleco that would come float on surface and wait for me to feed him...