pleco problem

Question
I have a 20 gallon tank with a few fancy goldfish and a small pleco. lately we've noticed that the pleco doesn't clean the sides of the tank. he doesn't move around too much anymore and seems to just sit on the bottom of the tank and doesn't stick on the sides. we cleaned the tank yesterday and everything to see if that would help get him moving again. we are new at the whole fish thing and are afraid that we might lose the little guy. Is there anything we can do?

Answer
Hey Mike,

You've seem to fall into the trap most gold fish keepers fall for. Plecos are not a cold water fish, goldfish are. The difference in required temperature leaves you with a choice: A) cool the tank to 65*F where it belongs for a goldfish, and lose the pleco (or move him) or B) warm the tank up to 75*F where it belongs for the pleco, add some aquarium salt (raise the salinity to 1.015-ish) and risk losing the goldfish. If the gold fish survive the first month in the new conditions, they will certainly not survive to the ripe old age of 35, and you'd be lucky if they lived to about 3.5 years.

If the tank is already warm for the pleco, check the water quality. Ammonia and Nitrites are really the only way to kill a pleco. They're amazingly tough little suckers, and will take a lot of hurt before they start to hurt. I had one live for 3 days on the carpet of my dad's old house in LA after the 1994 earthquake destroyed our huge show tank. After 3 days, we found him sucking the water out of the carpet, and kept him in a medium sauce pot for 3 weeks before we got our bathtub filled for him. He lived another 3 years after that before we gave him away. Regardless, if the water quality is bad, get AmQuel and NovAqua. Dose as recommended on the bottle, and use AmQuel once a week thereafter until the water tests seem to stabilize.

This outta cure your fish problem! If your water tests out perfect, and he still seems a bit sluggish, let me know and we'll work out other possibilites. Check his body for odd patches of fuzzy material, white lumpy spots, tearing or missing fins. If you notice anything that doesnt seem right, include it in your next question, and we'll address the problem as quickly as possible.

Good luck!