Phosphates?

[Trillianne]

So 9 days after adding a clown pleco... and this morning he was deceased. :(

Tested my water, had good parameters, so I took his body and a water sample to the lfs.

While waiting for their tests to finish up, two of them started to have a short conversation about phosphate levels. One thought it was an issue, and one did not.

Of course when I checked out, they told me my "water checked out fine." :sconfused:

From what I have read in the past few minutes on phosphates it could be the carbon in my filter, so I removed the carbon for now and will do another water change.

Are phosphates something I should be regularly testing for in my water?

All my other fish are happily swimming... but I know plecos are more sensitive to water issues. :help:

[rich311k]

Phosphates might cause algae, they would not harm a fish.

[Lady Hobbs]

Not due to phosphate but has he been eating anything? Pleco's are not good fish to add to a tank that has not been cycled throughly. "Almost" cycled doesn't count so was your water 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and less than 20 nitrates?

[Trillianne]

Not due to phosphate but has he been eating anything? Pleco's are not good fish to add to a tank that has not been cycled throughly. "Almost" cycled doesn't count so was your water 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and less than 20 nitrates?

My water was testing:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates between 5 and 10ppm

Prior to adding my pleco.

I had done a 25-30% water change yesterday and this morning after taking out his little corpse my water tested:

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates between 0 and 5ppm

He wasn't a big eater, he'd only eat about half of an algae wafer or zucchini slice overnight, but it did seem like everytime I saw him he was pooping, so I assumed he was supplementing with some algae growth in the tank and the wood in the tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

Then I suspect the little guy was ill when you got him. Darned shame. Did the pet store give you a new one?

[Trillianne]

Yes, they gave us a replacement pleco.

Just bummed to lose the first one and based on their conversation vs "the water checked out fine" wanted to make sure I wasn't inadvertently harming my fish through ignorance.

[jimw/oscar]

Yes, they gave us a replacement pleco.

Just bummed to lose the first one and based on their conversation vs "the water checked out fine" wanted to make sure I wasn't inadvertently harming my fish through ignorance.

Sorry about your loss, good to see you're conscientious.

[Zilla]

As Rich stated, phosphates don't kill fish. Sorry for the loss.

With that being said, checking your phosphate levels on your own isn't a bad thing. Fish food contains phosphates and the cheaper the food ( I'm not suggesting you feed cheap food. Frozen foods also contain phosphates) the more phosphates are added.

It's a good kit to have should you have a algae outbreak. If you can't find a kit locally, they sell them online. I order my kits from Bi Al's, but lots of places sell them.

[Trillianne]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I've been feeding my fish Aqueon Flakes, with occasional treats of Hikari Bloodworms and Blanched peas for my tetras.

And Hikari Algae wafers or blanched zucchini slices when I got the pleco.

When I bought my first fish, I didn't see NLS at the store, the Aqueon looked like it was better than the TetraMin.

I will say all of my fish are so much more vibrantly colored in my tank than they were at the fish store! (Even if my water is slightly colored from wood tannins :banghead: )

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Clown Plecos are not really a great algae eater, they do however need wood in the tank as they are a great wood rasper. Do you have any driftwood in the tank?

[Trillianne]

Yes, I do have wood in my tank.

Here's a picture of the end with two pieces of wood. (Pay no attention to my title its wrong for this picture because I did a multiple upload)

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When I took back the clown, we ended up with a rubberlip this time around. They were looking a bit better shape than the couple clowns they had. (I swear they never have BN for sale here @.@)

[gadget228]

Sorry about losing your clown, you have a nice looking tank. :ssmile:

[Trillianne]

OK so.... finally was able to get back to town and pick up a phosphates test.

Today was a water change day (parameters ok, but part of my schedule and to keep removing tannins from the water). I did a 30% water change this morning.

Tested my water and my phosphates were over 5.0ppm :ssuprised:

So I tested my tap water, and it does not appear to be my tap water.

I've already taken the carbon out of my filter media (back when I started this thread.) But I know my flake food (Aqueon Brand) has phosphorus listed on the label. So I think its mostly from fish food and fish poop with a bit of trying to establish some new plants.

So.... at this juncture I am thinking new fish food and more frequent water changes to try and bring it more under control.

Am I missing anything?

[Sursion]

That's a shame. Sorry about your Pleco.

[Lady Hobbs]

All fish food has phosphates. Apparently you just need to cut back on the feeding schedules. But switching to a pellet may be best at least part of the time. You can also add a phosphate sponge but really something is wrong to give you that range of phosphates. I also feed Aqueon flakes without that problem and my phosphates come from the tap at 2.

[rich311k]

I would do the test again, that number is extremely high. I doubt it is coming from the flakes, unless yopu are making a snow globe every time you feed the fish.

[Trillianne]

I would do the test again, that number is extremely high. I doubt it is coming from the flakes, unless yopu are making a snow globe every time you feed the fish.

Hmm retested this morning and its more closer to 2 than 5 on my color chart... still high but less than my original thought.

And no... I've not been making a snowglobe. I'll let you know what it comes out after I finish my water change today. :ssmile:

[Trillianne]

Did my large water change 75%+ and retested. I'm now testing at about 0.5-1.0 ppm.

I took out my driftwood and rocks to make sure I got a good gravel cleaning water change. Was a bit surprised to see just how many amazon swordlets I had growing off the main plant. I had about 9 of those buggers.... and one baby bleheri sword.