unexplained Emperor pleco death

**fishmommie** · 11-16-2012, 01:13 PM

I woke up this morning to find my beautiful emperor pleco dead. I have no idea what could have happened.
I've had him for 2 months, he's seemed healthy, eating algae like crazy, always made Zucchini available.
Tested water immediately this morning. Ammonia: trace which I suspect is due to the dead pleco. Nitrites 0. Nitrates 5. Ph 7

I'm starting to think he was actually dead all day yesterday. He had moved from his usual upside down position on a rock or munching on algae and was lying on the bottom of the tank. I was happy to see some new behavior - guess he was either dead already or dying.

The ONLY thing I can think of was that last Saturday I took out all the rocks and plants and soaked them in a 10% bleach and 90% water solution to remove a lot of nasty diatoms. But I thoroughly rinsed each rock and plant then soaked them in tap water mixed with a quadruple strength dose of Prime for at least 20 minutes before replacing the items back in the tank.

Please tell me that's not what killed him. I can't believe he starved because he was mowing paths through the lush green algae on the driftwood.

The only other change in the tank was I added a small royal pleco and 3 apple snails 3 days ago. The royal has pretty much been hanging on the glass or the HOB intake tube since I got it.

Any thoughts on what might have happened? I'm broken hearted over losing him.

**ddavis1979** · 11-16-2012, 02:08 PM

That is heart breaking to lose such a woderful fish, so sorry to hear that.

I am no expert, and the bleach solution would be my first guess as well. I am hesitant to use any chemicals like that, but its not unheard of and it sounds like you took all proper precautions.

When it comes to living things, there is a luck factor. Just like people there are 1,001 ways to die and a lot of them are inexplicable. Old age, internal disease. A lot of people, and fish, die of stupidity. "Hold my beer and watch this." or for fish, "Lets eat too much and explore in places too small to get out of."

Again, sorry for your loss, and I hope you find some answers.

**jeffs99dime** · 11-16-2012, 02:40 PM

fishmommie, did you smell the rocks to make sure you couldn't smell bleach residue on them? It's also possible it was out of your control. Maybe he was sick when you bought him. He wasn't in QT beforehand right? Sorry to hear that. Does your petstore have have a return policy, some do.

**fishmommie** · 11-16-2012, 02:43 PM

Thanks ddavis. And yes, it's pretty upsetting.
I just brought a new royal home the other day. So far, he's pretty much latched onto the back of the HOB and stays there. If he comes out at night, he's not eating any veggies. I've dropped some algae wafers in at lights out hoping he finds them. They're gone in the morning but it doesn't mean HE at them. And i've rarely seen him munch on the algae on the driftwood

I'm seriously rethinking the wisdom of having a pleco in this tank and wondering if I should forget about bottom feeders all together and return the royal to the LFS. The swimmers stocked in this tank are aggressive eaters. I tend to overfeed to make sure the plecs get food and then I have an algae/phosphate issue. just got my phosphate test in the mail today. it's running a solid 1 when it should be 0. Know I can control it with phosphate reducing products but hey, if I could avoid the overfeeding issue all together and give up on the pleco, maybe that's what I should do. I'll just be happy with my little bn in my 30 and call it good.

anyone have any thoughts on that or is this just post pleco loss depression setting in? laughing - sort of...

**fishmommie** · 11-16-2012, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by jeffs99dime

fishmommie, did you smell the rocks to make sure you couldn't smell bleach residue on them? It's also possible it was out of your control. Maybe he was sick when you bought him. He wasn't in QT beforehand right? Sorry to hear that. Does your petstore have have a return policy, some do.

Hi Jeff. And yes -- I did smell them. And I really rinsed them well and soaked them, as I said with a ton of Prime in my kitchen sink so I can't imagine that was the cause but still ... it seems the likely culprit. :o(

**jeffs99dime** · 11-16-2012, 02:46 PM

Yeah, the prime should have taken care of that, I was just trying to think of what "could have" caused it.

**fishmommie** · 11-16-2012, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by jeffs99dime

Yeah, the prime should have taken care of that, I was just trying to think of what "could have" caused it.

I know. Believe me ... my thoughts went in the same direction. I still wonder if it was the culprit even though it shouldn't have been. thanks

**Rocksor** · 11-16-2012, 02:51 PM

I rehomed my plecos because they were not getting enough to eat with the silver dollars in the tank. Overfeeding the other fish (because they were faster and aggressive at eating) to just get the plecos to eat was no longer an option.

**fishmommie** · 11-16-2012, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Rocksor

I rehomed my plecos because they were not getting enough to eat with the silver dollars in the tank. Overfeeding the other fish (because they were faster and aggressive at eating) to just get the plecos to eat was no longer an option.

Thanks for weighing in . And I'm seriously considering doing just that.. Returning the royal and maybe getting some more BPs or trying another angel to see if I can have 2 in the tank - or, as you have, adding some silver dollars and forgetting about the bottom feeders. It would solve my algae and phosphate issue too.

**~firefly~** · 11-16-2012, 03:10 PM

20 minutes doesn't seem long enough to me for the dechlor soak. I recently went to an aquascaping seminar where the speaker described how he regularly cleaned his CO2 pipework (all glass). He soaked them in bleach solution and used brushes on them. Then soaked them for 24 hours in several baths of water and decholrinator (at about 3 or 4 times the strength).

I wonder if any of your ornaments was slightly porous, and thus, soaked up some of the bleach. 20 minutes (I would imagine) would not be enough to neutralise this.