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pleco not moving but breathing

The first thing you should consider is whether the pleco has died or not. Hopefully, that wont be the case for your fish. They won't necessarily be dead yet, but they'll be struggling to try to breathe. A fish dying during the night doesnt necessarily indicate that something happened the very night that it died. Vote. Sometimes plecos will just float near the top of the tank when the oxygen levels arent sufficient. However, many times, the death of a plecostomus is avoidable by some simple changes in their care. Change the Tank Water Frequently. Check to see if anything is causing the fish stress. Remember to do regular tank maintenance. Cloudy eyes in fish appear as a white cast or film over the eye. If the fish appears to be sick, then it might not be moving because it has some type of disease. Depending on the species, feed a varied diet of both vegetables and protein-rich foods that sink to the bottom. Adding an oxygen source also helps. Hi, my name is Sean, and Im the primary writer on the site. When you try to touch the fish, its going to react and swim away. Abdominal swelling can be caused by many things including the following: stress, tank conditions, and constipation. If an injury is to blame, then it might get better on its own if you keep feeding the fish and monitoring the tank conditions carefully. These fish simply arent active during the day. He was struggling really hard, and ended up tipping upside-down, fighting his way up to the surface, and all kinds of things. Some even buy them specifically to try to keep the fish tank clean. They like to hide normally so he is quite happy. Although some plecos do like to eat algae, not all of them do. If the fish is breathing, its likely that its simply resting. If it was dead youd know it, lol. I don't know what ever happened to him, but he was ONE TOUGH FISH. Just a thought Sayuz. Quarantining fish is putting them in a closed-off environment for a couple of weeks, before putting them in your main tank. New pleco -- not moving. Problem? | Tropical Fish Forums #3. You may see this in plecos that don't get enough to eat. What's wrong with him? Pleco upside down and breathing but not moving. It is a disease that causes fluid build-up in the eye socket, resulting in the eyes protruding out of the socket. Keep the filter, heater, and lights on for long enough periods of time to ensure their comfort. I hope he recovered. He is starting to show his age but. LL, yes I just moved, but the pleco has been in this water for almost a month. If your pleco is sleeping: They will typically be in a motionless or relaxed position, with their fins and gills not moving as much as usual. If the pleco doesnt respond to you moving it around but still breathes, you have to provide it will clean water as soon as possible and test your water. Im experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. It is the most common disease in tropical fish, like plecos, and is likely caused by poor water conditions. This disease is called ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) and can be fatal if not treated. This parasitic infection causes white spots to appear all over the fish. Issues with water quality can stress the fish and make them sick. Sick goldfish not moving but breathing/alive. Often, its very hard to tell whether your pleco is sick or not. Fish are fascinating creatures, and although some are easy to take care of, that doesnt eliminate the possibility of them developing a sickness. If you have an aquarium with plecos and/or snails at, Many aquarists doubt they can keep plecos and shrimp together. Do you notice your pleco has no clear eyes, but a white milk-like color? Im not sure if somethings wrong or not. Hello, and thanks for visiting Avid Aquarist! Just laying on the bottom. This can be a sign of an internal infection due to injury or the food its been eating. Do you see the gills moving at all or are they truly motionless? For plecos, most types need a tank thats 30 gallons in size, but there are smaller species (like bristlenose & clown plecos) that can live in a 20-gallon tank. Paralyzed pleco - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community While in fact, there are hundreds. My pleco has started acting as if he's on fire! 3. My pleco did the same thing, he still hides in his cave for long periods of time but if I sneak up on the tank he is usually swimming around. It was a bristlenose pleco. My male sits in his cave or in front of it to attract the ladies. Sometimes fish will get like this when theyre sick. How To Know whether your pleco is dying, and the solutions for it. Just keep an eye on him. I still don't know for sure what happened, but I'm going to blame the CO2. Checking your tanks levels and temperatures will help you determine if the tanks conditions are unsafe for your pleco. Check your water parameters as this is the most likely cause. Most of the day, he is there. Please help! Touch the fish and see if you can get it to spring up. As I said, the other fish are showing no signs of stress. How long have you had the tank? I know that this thread was posted in 2003 but I just wanted to revive it as we had an accident with 2 of our pleco's today, a bristlenose and a dwarf clown pleco. If your plecos fins start to rot or decay, it is important to act quickly as this can spread to the fishs body. Like fin rot, Ich may appear due to poor tank conditions. Check the water quality and try to fix anything that is wrong. Youll also learn about why plecos might die so that you might be able to turn things around moving forward. Huge plecos like this need A LOT of broccoli to survive ;). Breeding pleco catfish isnt as hard as you might think. Always supply food in the presence of light to the baby fish. Yes this normally happens with Plecos. The fish could have been on the verge of death for some time. We have this ugly plastic reef wall thing that I want to take out that he used to hide in and we checked if he was alive and he moved to his current spot. Make sure to add plenty of caves and natural hiding spaces if you keep multiple males in the same tank. It's good to get confirmation as to what happened. Use an algae pad to clean the sides of tank, and siphon out the water left inside. Make sure that you dont have improper tank mates in the fish tank with your plecos. There are other reasons why a pleco might start floating, but its possible that the fish could be dead. If you want your plecostomus to be more active, one suggestion is to provide it with live plants and driftwood to use as hiding spots, feed it live insects and invertebrates, and offer it a variety of tank mates. This post may contain affiliate links. The most common cause of this is poor water conditions. Plecos turn white for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: poor nutrition, disease, stress, or inadequate tank conditions. I also asked my lfs and he said they are MOST active at night. These fish enjoy hiding and they often stay in the same place at the bottom of the aquarium. Once mouth and gills are open, you'll need to resuscitate the fish by flushing water over the gills and there are a few ways of doing this. Weve touched a little on improving the tank setup for your pleco catfish. Contests including the Tank of the Month, Take action by doing water changes and adding an air pump. You can feed the fish foods that are high in fiber to clear it up. (+ 11 Ways To Stop Your Pleco From Eating Plants), Breeding Bristlenose Plecos (With Pictures), Pleco Size: How Big Do Plecos get? Plecostomus fish, commonly called plecos, are relatively easy to take care of. 3. It could simply be that the pleco fish succumbed to an illness during the night. Plecos are supposed to be fairly hardy fish, other reasons why a pleco might start floating. Check out the FishForums.net Monthly It's just another misleading thing that pet stores advertise. The symptoms you describe are exactly what I saw happening to mine. 7 Signs Your Pleco is Dying and How to Treat - Pet Owners Adding fish without acclimating them causes shock. Thats because theyre quite withdrawn fish that dont want to show when theyre sick (otherwise, predators will notice). Try touching the fish and see if it reacts. It can hard to know whether your pleco is stressed, as theyre quite withdrawn fish. I have seen bottom dwelling loaches just get very pale and colorless when there is too much CO2 in the water. Most of the time, a pleco laying on its back or side is normal as they sometimes rest in this position. The signs above have a lot of things in common. Although water conditions are the primary cause of these symptoms, low water temperature can also be a cause. Monitoring your water levels and performing weekly water changes will prevent this from happening to your fish. Make sure to take notice of this behavior, and to check your water parameters to know whether there might be a cause for this. I think it may be that the paleness is a better indicator of excessive CO2 than the gasping at the top is. This can happen to any fish if it does not have enough oxygen in its environment, if it is too cold or hot, or if the water quality has deteriorated. he sound fine, try touching himand he will probably swim away. However, they still require feeding two times a week to have a balanced diet. I had a big common pleco that lived for over 10 years in a 30 gallon tall along with. We might get a modest commission at no extra cost to you. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Do your best to give your plecos the right food based on what is recommended for their species. The assumption is that plecos will simply eat the algae in the tank. Wouldn't the fish survive for at least a few days even if it was suffering from a disease? All my knowledge comes from experience and reading forums and a lot of informative sites. I feed my Plec bloodworm, cichlid diet, sinking pellets, flakes and he eats algae. He does not even move if I touch him with a net, he just moves his tail a little. If they are desperate enough, they will turn upside down in their search for food at the surface. If your fish is showing a loss of color or turning white, this may be a sign your pleco is dying. It very well might be dead if it doesnt appear to be moving at all. Bloating isn't that difficult to identify. Then the water got cloudy and that is when they started breathing heavy. Small anekdote: I have a tank of zebra plecos (L46) (the fish that costs $200+ a piece). Leaving things alone could cause the fish to die. 1 - Loss of Color. Why is my fish laying on its side at the bottom? You might need to address water quality issues. Hello, and thanks for visiting Avid Aquarist! If your pleco fish doesnt appear to be moving, youre likely going to be incredibly concerned. Provide adequate space and decor (ornaments and positioning of objects) so there is no danger for your pleco. Do Plecostomus Need A Filter / Air Pump? {Why Is My Pleco - HelpUsFish Any animal needs some time to get used to a new home and small lizards are often prey for bigger things. My Pleco Catfish doesn't MOVE or EAT? - YouTube Are you noticing that your fish doesnt have a lot of pep? It's scared and it's stressed and it's hiding, because it's in a strange place after being caught and boxed up and moved. In addition, there are specific treatments you can purchase to help your fish suffering from diseases like rotting fins and ich. You might notice the pleco fish swimming erratically. If your fish is stressed, you may notice the loss of color in addition to the loss of appetite and abnormal swimming behaviors. The better stores will do, so in that case you dont have to. Plecos need to be kept in fish tanks with high oxygen levels. I haven't added any decor nor moved anything. Why is My Pleco Not Eating? How big of a tank do they need? You can tell if a pleco is dead by looking to see if its breathing. If you want fish that are livelier during the day, youd be better off looking for a different type of fish. The impaired buoyancy in fish is caused by a malfunction of their swim bladder. Plecos living in an environment with other fish could also be stressed. Although a cloudy eye most likely isnt deadly, it is an indicator that something is wrong and should at least be examined. . To have a healthy Pleco fish, owners should keep assessing all these factors and keep maintaining a quality life for the Pleco for it to survive. You might need to do a better job of doing regular water changes. All Rights Reserved. If your pleco is gulping at the surface, it doesnt have enough oxygen and is suffocating. JavaScript is disabled. Its possible that your pleco is feeling threatened by the filter, so its hiding behind it to feel safer. It creates an environment where the disease cannot grow or spread. Ensure you follow the package instructions to ensure proper dosing for your fish. My pleco is not sucking anything please help!!! My Albino catfish does this all the time. Pleco males usually fight to assert dominance and defend their territory. Poor pleco got nudged accidentally with the hose, though, and he's having a -really- hard time swimming. T. Swearingen, http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=126, S.Barbatus & Black C. Schultzei breeding tank. He could still be in shock from the move. As long as nothing appears to be wrong with the fish, its not necessary to worry. Most of them can be caused by poor water conditions in the tank. Many conditions that have the potential to kill plecos can be fixed with the right treatments. In pursuit of becoming a professional, I also want to inspire as many people as I can to pick up this hobby and keep the public interest growing.Read more about Sean.Please join also my Facebook group. There are some cases where the pleco might have been injured by another pet in the tank, but most of the time they will recover on their own. ), -Research nutrition based on specific pleco species, fin edges turn black or brown and look frayed, have white dots (another possible symptom of ich). Clean the gravel at the bottom of the tank with a gravel vacuum, and make sure any decorations are clean as well. You must log in or register to reply here. Youve learned so much about signs that your plecos are dying. 0. If there are no good bacteria, harmful levels of ammonia can build up quickly as plecos produce a lot of waste. Also, algae is starting to grow on the glass so I dont think that hes roaming around much at night either. Its normal for these fish to hide and be very wary of venturing out. People dont monitor the water parameters closely enough, which winds up killing the fish. A pleco dying is often the result of bad information and lack of knowhow about the species. There might not be anything wrong at all. Many things can cause stress such as poor water conditions, overcrowded fish tanks, and incompatible tank mates. Pleco catfish don't move . We finished breaking down our multiple tanks, loaded the moving truck, drove it for three hours, spent two more hours waiting for the moving helpers, got the truck unloaded, started setting up the tanks, put the decor back in, added the fish. and the bristle nose swam out of the wood when we put in algae wafers. A long, long, long time ago when I was young my friends and I always had tanks. Fish laying on the bottom of the tank and breathing deeply require action as soon as possible. Pleco not moving | Pleco - Plecostomus Forum - FishLore Aquarium Fish Forum He's doing good now. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more! Fast forward to the next day. Today, I found him lying on his back on the floor of the tank but he is still alive. Problems can occur when caring for plecos. They will hide, or just freeze like a rock if they think they are in danger or are freaking out. My Pleco Catfish doesn't MOVE or eat and I'm worried. When using tap water you need to use tap water conditioner. Nighttime is when these fish can take their time exploring their tank to find food, which they often do by keeping their skin touching the substrate (or other objects in the tank). All you need to do is solve the issues that are making the fish sick. 11 Signs Your Pleco Is Dying [+ How To Save It] | Keeping Catfish Why is my Pleco Floating Upside Down? (4 Quick Solutions) To revive a dying pleco, perform a big water change and make sure the water parameters are optimal. Usually, rapid breathing is caused by some pollutant or toxic in the water. Plecos do not have scales and they tend to rot really fast when they die, so as was mentioned above, you. We are a family friendly community with an incredible resource of information for fish owners and enthusiast alike. Add an airstone if your filter doesnt create enough surface movement. It might be normal to see a pleco breathing but not moving. By entering this site you declare Its also important to clean the fish tank and do regular water changes to avoid throwing the water parameters off. There has to be something wrong. Tank mates: one guppy, one otocinclus.. in a 20 gallon tank. You see, plecos are nocturnal fish that like to hide and rest during the day. I doubt this is the issue, but my pleco was acting odd, curving and swimming like he was intoxicated flying from one side to the other, no CO2, regular parameters, but I checked the temperature, like yours mine was breathing up a storm, but I raised the temp 4 degrees up and he was fine my temp dropped to 72, and he was going bananas, but after about 20 minutes I guess he caught a warm front and hugged the heater damn near. If it truly isnt moving at all, then there is a good chance that the fish is dead. Ensure that youre feeding the fish appropriately. Low immune system. Vampire plecos need to be fed meaty foods such as shrimp and snails. You should be able to keep plecos alive for many years with proper care. Loss of color, rotting fins, and white spots on its body are some of the common signs that a pleco might be dying. My pleco is laying on it's side still breathing but not movi By entering this site you declare If you dont already have some in your tank, consider putting in some real. Aggression in fish leads to erratic swimming and crashing into the tank. How Often Should You Take Your Bearded Dragon Out Of Its Cage? Fish Lore is an amazon affiliate and some pages may contain links to aquarium related products on amazon: Affiliate Disclosure. Sometimes the fish might even be upside down. Generally he is pretty active but sometime he just stay on one stop and don't move at all, even for like 1-2 days. They like to eat shrimp and bloodworms. Many enthusiasts say that plecos will play dead sometimes. Not related but kind of funny: I also have a Whiptail Catfish, if you're worried about fish that don't move, don't get one, they will just sit there even if another fish sits ontop of them or you touch them or anything. My name is Jeff, and my goal with this site is to share everything I've learned over the years about caring for aquatic life. Loss of color is a common sign that something is wrong with your plecos. Nutrition might be playing a role in the fish dying as well. Temperature levels, chemical levels, and pH could be contributing factors to poor water conditions. I know Elbert, that handsome fellow over there in my avatar really loves shrimp pellets and occasionally freeze dried blood or tubifex worms. He may also fall sick due to anxiousness. My pleco is laying on it's side still breathing but not moving. However, if you tap the fish tank, itll likely spring up and start swimming. If you offer them a place where they can feel safe, such as a dark spot under an ornamental plant, they will often come out to visit with you. As long as they are damp or wet they can live for probably 20-30 minutes. Check the tanks temperature to ensure it is between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I love my animals. You should be changing 15% of the water on a weekly basis. My fish is breathing slowly and is laying at the bottom of his tank on his side. You always want to do the best job that you can when taking care of fish. This is normal behavior when the fish is just introduced to a fish tank. The fish might be very sick and it feels unable to move. Fixing constipation issues will be easy. Another option is giving it an Epsom salt bath, which will help remove the fluid build-up in the fishs abdomen. The fish could be just fine since its resting during the day. Now the tank is in pretty bad shape (were working on it!) Most likely, the fish have fin rot due to poor water conditions in the tank. If this is the case do a 25% water change as soon as possible. A filter is a must. just keep an eye on him. They will float uncontrollably to the top of the aquarium, turned upside down, while still being alive. Some will also cause fish to have a hard time breathing. Does he look as tough he's thin or sick? I have one Bristlenose Pleco in a 55 gallon aquarium along with some other fish. Fixing the water conditions will usually be enough to get the fish to become more active again. Does this mean that something happened during the night? he has been banging in to the top of the tank really hard. Continue reading to learn about reasons why plecos might stop moving. His very favorite food though is fresh raw zucchini. Did you add any new fish recently, particularly any wild caught or F1s? Increasing the temperature in the sick fishs tank is another way to combat the disease and aid recovery. Common pleco not moving after tank flush! Of course, itll be prudent to try to touch the fish to see if it moves. Thanks, Tex Gal. It is usually an injury if it only occurs in one eye. Ammonia and nitrites build up then bacteria build up to convert them into something less harmful to fish. They can also take advantage of other opportunities that come with darkness, like avoiding predators. Theres nothing wrong with a pleco than has a rounded belly (its in fact healthy) but if it looks bloated, this is bad. Its wise to isolate the fish during the treatment process by setting up a quarantine tank. If the pleco is not moving but breathing, then there are several things that could be happening. Forum and expert information on caring for Bristlenose Catfish I have had him in this tank and the fish with him for over a year. When the water quality is poor, it'll weaken the immune system of the plecos. Tap water contains chlorine and chlorimine that are toxic to fish. If your pleco has seemingly rips/cuts in its fins, its most likely fin rot. I went and asked to the shop from where I got that pleco. Ich is a condition that involves the fish being infected by parasites. Vicki, I think it was the CO2 as well. I did my weekly 50% water change with my regular EI dosing which didn't bother him at all. There is a possibility that something happened in the tank, though. My Pleco Is Laying On It's Side Still Breathing But Not Movi You might see a pleco fish laying at the bottom of the tank motionless. This process involves floating the bag on top of the tank. My drop checker had pretty much all of the air OUT of the "exchainge" area, in it's place was water. I have heard of RTC living out of water for 45 mins!!! Young animals are sensitive to too much protein. They arent necessarily fish that will swim around and show off for you during the day under normal circumstances. Pleco catfish are often kept in the aquarium hobby because, Plecos and cory catfish are two extremely popular catfish species, Pleco catfish are one of the most popular fish in, Pleco spawning Plecos are cave-breeders, and they spawn exclusively in, For a limited time, you can download our FREE pleco catfish ebook, 2022 KeepingCatfish.com - Privacy policy Webdesign by Websmart Websites. There are many things to consider, and you dont want to ignore signs that your fish are in trouble. Plecos arent known death, although they sometimes sleep on their backs which gives this impression. It looks like he is taking his last breaths in only a day and that too without showing any symptoms of any disease. You shouldnt count the fish out completely just yet, though. A lot of pleco types also benefit from driftwood in their tank. This means that this fish only comes out a. If you want to know everything about setting up a pleco tank, you can read our full guide on it. I had similar problems when I had a faulty regulator. Physical damage. What should I do?! If this isnt the case, check your water parameters for a nitrite spike.

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pleco not moving but breathing