I think my Pleco is dying?

Question

Hey I am kind of new to the fish thing and I have two plecos with goldfish catfish and other fish, one of the pelcos is laying upside down and whenever we tap it it swims away slowly before floating back to the top, i didnt know what to do so i just put it in a mini tank and am kind of holding it in captivity until it gets better for a few hours. it swims then floats again, we feed it once at night. does anyone know whats happening? the temp is 80 and the water is filtered and this just seemed to have happened, alot of my fish keep dying, i lost 3 catfish over a few weeks and i lost goldfish and angel fish i beilve, am i doing the right thing? anything i can do to help? pelase answer the question

Answer 1

check your water perameters: ph, ammonia, nitrates, nitrite.  

When did you set this tank up?  if it was recently (up to 4 weeks) it is likely new tank syndrome.  Or if you thoroughly cleaned your filter, it has to reculture its bacteria and is going through new tank syndrome.

Do they look like they have a disease (salt like spots, etc)?  

How big is your tank and how many fish are in it - this may be the issue secondary to the tank size?   First goldfish produce a lot waste, being a bigger bodied fish the inch fish to gallon of water doesn't apply here (one ich of goldfish is way more than one inch of tetra), two they require different temp, ph, etc than many tropicals (angels).  

The large loss of fish in a short time suggests a water quality issue or disease.  

If the fish are at the top constantly there may be a low oxygen content, add an air stone immediately.  Try lowering the temp to about 73-75, 80 is a bit high and oxygen levels are lower when temp is higher.

Good luck.

Answer 2

They're probably really stressed out. Goldfish aren't supposed to be mixed with tropical fish! Goldfish are cold water fish! You also probably don't have a big enough tank. Maybe you should research BEFORE you buy fish!