why are our cleaning fish dying??

lucylu

We have a fish tank with 3 cold water goldfish in it and pump
We got 2 small sucker loaches help to clean it and both died within 6 weeks

On Saturday we got a Pleco and he seemed to be doing a master job and he died last night. We also got pleco food for him

What are we doing wrong???

Jimkel

lucylu wrote: »

We have a fish tank with 3 cold water goldfish in it and pump
We got 2 small sucker loaches help to clean it and both died within 6 weeks

On Saturday we got a Pleco and he seemed to be doing a master job and he died last night. We also got pleco food for him

What are we doing wrong???

Plecos are tropical fish, as are most sucking loaches requiring temperatures between 23 - 27 degrees. Although some of them can be acclimatised to cold water, this is a gradual process. You are buying tropical fish from nice warm water and putting them in coldwater, thats why they are dieing.

The only scavanger cleaning fish I would recommend for a coldwater tank is the Japanese Weather Loach. Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, these are colwater fish and one of the best tankmates you can get for goldfish, Just make sure you have a secure fitting hood/cover on your tank as these guys are prone to jumping out of the water when startled.

Oh , what a mistake. He is right above you have tropical fish in cold water .

lucylu

we were told that the plecos and loaches would live in a cold water tank... :mad:

thanks for the advice....
on my way to a fish supplier and NOT a pet shop or Garden centre

Jimkel

lucylu wrote: »

we were told that the plecos and loaches would live in a cold water tank... :mad:

thanks for the advice....
on my way to a fish supplier and NOT a pet shop or Garden centre

A common problem in petshops, poor advice or info. wether its to make a quick sale regardless of the animals welfare or is just out of sheer ignorance there can be no excuse for a petshop hiring staff who are responsable for animals they dont even understand. If you wouldnt mind which petshop told you that?

as I said go into a good pet shop and ask for Weather Loach - Misgurnus anguillicaudatus It's your only choice for a coldwater cleaning fish, Don't risk another loss, Take advice from someone who knows.

lucylu

I just rang an aquarium centre and they told me that its illegal to have a Weather Loach in an coldwater tank

Jimkel

lucylu wrote: »

I just rang an aquarium centre and they told me that its illegal to have a Weather Loach in an coldwater tank

That the most ridiculious thing I ever heard.
there are several species of Weather Loach all Tropical Bar 1, he probably thought you were gonna put a tropical fish in coldwater, and Hit ya with a waffle to stop ya doing it.
Look I don't normally say this but just go into wackers and buy 1 ya don't need to tell them anything. I've had Loads of weather loach, in ponds and everything and I bought 1 recently with no problem for a goldfish tank .and I've never heard of this law, thats madness! I think the petshop is talking a load of BS to be honest. If you must tell them you are looking for a coldwater Loach whos latin name is Misgurnus anguillicaudatus. write it down and show it to him if you want, or spell the name over the phone. God Thats like saying It's illigal to keep Goldfish in coldwater when they are scientifically classed as a coldwater fish!! meteorological Companies all over the world use them to guage minute electrical changes in the weather, and they keep them in coldwater ponds, Hence the name.

Are you in Dublin if so tell me and I'll tell exactly who has one today.

lucylu

Thanks Jimkel,
I am a Citywest Commuter..
Any info would be great...:o

Jimkel

I cant believe it it was the truth, just talked to a freind of mine who owns a pet shop and they are banned, something to do with people releasing them into Irish waters, Shame they are one of my fav fish. I bought 1 about 5 months ago and I had no problems but hey there ya go, funny auld world.

So...

If you really want a Cleaning fish with your goldfish you have two options

1: Go to Northren Ireland (Not likely lol) and buy one

2: Get a heater and fully immerse it in your tank, set it to 1 degree above your tank temperature and raise it by 1 degree every second day untill it's at 23 degrees. Add a little Aquarium salt when raising the temp .

This has to be done gradually or you will kill your fish, if done exactly as I said they will be fine. This is called Acclimatisation and will allow you to keep many different species of tropical catfish. Particularly the hardy Pleco's. You will also need a good thermometer (Alcohol or Mercury) and place the heater, fully immersed at a diagonal angle at the opposite end of the tank to the pump outlet. This placement makes the heater more accurate as the flow of the pump can confuse the thermostat as it may be cooler then the actual tank water.

Give it about a week (or 2 is better) after reaching your final temperature before adding the Catfish, goldfish produce allot of ammonia and this is more deadly in warmer water, so give your filter time to adjust to the increased levels.

If you have fancy goldfish like Black Moore's and Oranda's then they will be happier in the warmer water, however if you only keep Shubunkens and common goldfish then they may not take the change well.