Pleco Fish

Question
Hello, I have a few questions about pleco fish. To start with, my tank has been set up for 2-3 months. It is a big ten gallon tank. I have a pleco fish, an albino frog, and a apple snail and a black mystery snail. I have a regular tetra filter (5-15) I don't know what the PH levels are but last time I checked, (one week ago) they were pretty high but no terrible. I change my water at least once a week. I replace about 1-2 gallons at a time.

Anyway, I recently bought a pleco and it hasn't been moving around. I know that they don't move around that much during the day, but when I go to sleep, it will still be in the same place when I wake up. I just wish my fish would be more active. Also, I haven't seen it eat lately but I feed it at least one algea disk a day. Is there anything I should do or anything that is wrong? Thank you very much for all your help!

Answer
Hi Alex;

Sometimes plecos just don't do well in certain tanks. One critical thing is that plecos are tropical. If the water is not consistently above 76f all the time, he won't do well in there at all. If your tank doesn't have a heater, that's probably the trouble. He will be lethargic and just eventually die because his metabolism is not fast enough in the cool water for him to survive. Plecos also become infected with the parasite ich quite easily. Especially in cooler water. It is a common cause of death in plecos. Your frog and snails are not susceptible to the parasite so the infection won't spread to them. Ich looks like little white salt-specks. There are remedies for it at the fish store if you think it's a problem. However, your frog and snails might be harmed by treatment so check the label carefully to be sure it is okay for amphibians and invertebrates.

Something else about plecostamus that is very important is a 10 gallon tank is not large enough for him. The common type of pleco grows to be over a foot long. Even the smaller species that grow to be only about 8" are too large for a ten gallon tank. They just need plenty of space to move around and they are a messy fish so a large tank is needed to keep them from fouling their own water. Good filtration, water above 76f, and a large tank are necessities.

I hope he's okay...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins