i have a 55 gal fish tank 1 algae eater and some goldfish, my algae eater came down with ick, and we treated the water per the instructions and now my algae eater is dead. its a Plecostomus (black with white) his fins started to "rot" away and he turned whiteish. can someone please tell me what happened?
2007-02-22 17:07:45 · 11 answers · asked by Amanda P 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
The very disease you treated for killed the fish. Probably he was already too sick to recover, necrosis (the fins rotting) is a sure sign that other parts of the fish were going as well.
2007-02-22 17:14:31 · answer #1 · answered by Blitzpup 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First of all, dirty cloudy water isn't what you get an algae eater for. Chances are there is a cause to your cloudy water. Without knowing what size tank or what filtration you have it's hard to say the cause but typical ones are a lack of filter or overfeeding if you do have one. It could be that your tank chemistry is a mess. You should have your water tested before trying to add another fish. Typically goldfish are extremely dirty fish. They require at least a 20 gallon tank PER fish to stay healthy. If the water chemistry was off it could have killed the algae eater. Two other possibilities are that you didn't have any algae for him to eat or that you don't have a heater on the tank. I would stay away from buying an algae eater until you have green algae growing in things in your tank. Typically if your tank chemistry is poor the algae will be red or brown instead.. this is not going to be fixed by buying an algae eater. You need to fix the water first. Hope this helps!
2016-05-24 01:18:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To start with, those fish don't mix. Goldfish and tropical fish, like the algae eater, need entirely different water qualities.
The problem you described is ammonia poisoning. The first sign is fin rot. Goldfish produce a ton of ammoina. So much so that to keep a balance you need a tank large enough to provide 10 gallons of water per goldfish. 5 goldfish would fill you 55 gal tank.
2007-02-23 00:59:20 · answer #3 · answered by .... . .-.. .-.. --- 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
others have covered this, but it's likely your plec died from water quality issues, which also causes fin rot.
plecs are tropical fish, not coldwaer, so shouldn't be in the same tank anyway, and shouldn't be kept with goldies for the following two reasons:
1. goldies poop a LOT, and the amount of ammonia in that poop messes up the water to fatal levels if the cleaning is not kept on top of. plecs are more sensitive to this and will succumb.
2. plecs, as well as chinese algae eaters, have a habit of sucking on the side of larger slower moving fish, such as goldfish, and damaging their slime coats. and a damaged slime coat means more susceptable to diseases and water quality issues.
2007-02-22 23:13:12 · answer #4 · answered by catx 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had the same problem with goldfish and algae eaters together. The goldfish will eat the algae too, leaving the algea eater with no food to survive...I went through 4 before I realized the problem!
2007-02-22 17:14:54 · answer #5 · answered by Catlover 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, it didn't sound like ich at all. Rotting fins usually is just that, Fin-rot, due to bad water quality. Check your parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate).
He may have died because most ich meds contain malachite green, or other ingredients, that scale-less fish are very sensitive to. That's what I think. Check the ingredients or the warnings on the package.
If a fish ever comes down with the fin-rotting again, treat with an anti-bacterial med. Ich is small white spots that resemble salt grains.
2007-02-22 17:14:42 · answer #6 · answered by Tazwell 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Could be some form of parasite, introducing new fish that are not quarantined are a good place to start, I believe they can carry all sorts of organisms and they love to share!
When you say you treated the water if it was only a purifier or chlorine neutraliser that you used, check your pH levels alkaline and acid levels, to much either way plays a major part in keeping a healthy happy fish
2007-02-22 18:11:43 · answer #7 · answered by Josey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plecostomuses don't live very long. I had a fish tank for 16 years and one fish lived the whole time (Gormi cat named Oscar). The average life span of the Plecostomuses were about two months but two did manage to live 5 years. They were the biggest and were constantly fed store bought algae.
Was the rotting before or after his death? Based on your info the fish may have eaten some of him after he died.
2007-02-22 17:15:40 · answer #8 · answered by Tyree D 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
he died from ick.
you shouldnt have goldfish with pleco's/ Gold fish are cool water fish while plecos are warm water
im sure he was glad to die after those harsh living conditions.
2007-02-23 00:03:28 · answer #9 · answered by Return of the Snatch 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"plecostomus don't live very long?" Perhaps you just shouldn't be keeping fish. Plecs live for decades.
2007-02-22 18:03:50 · answer #10 · answered by Billy Fish 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋