Hey there fish folks. I'm in a bit of a pickle here. I find myself to be the caretaker of an abandoned pleco...and I could use some advice. I was looking at an unoccupied retail store as a possible rental space, and found that the owner had left a tank of fish in the building with no heat or electicity.

All the fish were dead, except for what I now know is a plecostomas. The water in the tank (it's maybe a 10 or 15 gallon tank) was mostly evaporated, but here was this pleco, about 8 inches long, still alive. So my coworkers and I absconded with the tank and it's now in a place of honor in my office, with just the pleco in it.

Knowing less than nothing about fish, my coworkers and I filled the tank with tap water, added a new filter, pump and heater, and haven't done much else. There are two pieces of what look like petrified wood in the tank, and the pleco (we've named him J.J. - or Jackass Joe - after the man who abandoned the tank) mostly hangs out upside down sucking on the wood. He does occasionally take a swim around the tank or suck on the side of the tank, but it's rare.

Robyn, I looked at the pleco section of your site, but could use a little extra help making this tank livable for J.J. Specifically, is he okay in a tank with no plants and no other fish. I don't really have the time here at work to do much maintenance, but I want to be sure his environment is sufficient for his needs.

Also, the gravel (sort of natural color rounded stuff) in his tank looks pretty dirty, although the water is clear. The gravel has some dark rusty brown colored crud - feces? - and I'm not sure how to clean it. Can I clean the gravel while it's in the tank? And does the pleco need plants to survive? Or can I just feed him the wafers you mentioned?

Also, I noticed in alot of your pleco pictures, the fish was swimming about acting fish-like. Is it normal for this pleco to just hang out upside down under his wood?

Any help you could give would be so appreciated. I would love to take proper care of this fish!

Plecos are amazing at staying alive! They can even live out of water as long as they are kept wet. He's lucky you found him in time. It's too bad the other fish weren't so lucky.

An 8" pleco would ideally have at least a 20 gallon tank. Petrified wood is hard like a rock. If it's not like a rock, it's probably driftwood. Plecos need driftwood to suck on. [I'm not sure how his previous inept owner would have known that or cared.]

The pleco can do fine without plants or other animals. In fact, he would probably eat any plants. You can feed him with sinking algae wafers and maybe try some vegetables (see my site at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pleco.htm for more on feeding plecos).

The gravel probably has feces, uneaten food, all those dead fish parts, and bacteria on it. It will also have some good bacteria. If you've set up a new filter that has a biological filter component (like a biowheel or undergravel filter), then I would wait until the good bacteria are growing on that (maybe a month, maybe less) before cleaning the gravel. Gravel is not expensive at the fish store so it may just be easier to buy new if the old gravel is really yucky. Otherwise, you can either partially clean it or fully clean it. The gravel can be cleaned in the tank with a gravel vacuum (basically just a tube). For a more thorough partial cleaning, put the gravel in a bucket with water. Swish it around, lifting the gravel up and down. Dump the filthy water and repeat until the water is clear. It's easier if you only do a little gravel at a time. For a full disinfecting of the gravel (which also kills the good bacteria), you essentially do the same thing but add a capful of bleach to it. Let the gravel in dilute bleach sit for a day (it may take multiple buckets). Rinse, rinse, and rinse some more. Then, let the gravel sit in fresh water with added dechlorinator (also called tap water conditioner that deactivates the chlorine in city tap water).

Plecos do act "fish-like" sometimes since they are fish! Plecos are nocturnal which means that it's normal for them to hide and lay there during the day. At night, once it's dark, they should be out swimming and sucking more actively.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm going to the pet store tonight for algae wafers, and J.J. will get his first chance at cucumber tomorrow night! And I'll try to ascertain what kind of wood is in his tank, and be sure it's the driftwood he needs.

As for the gravel cleaning business, where the heck is J.J. during this process? If I vacuum the gravel with him in the tank won't that scare the fins off him? And if I take the gravel out to clean it, how to I avoid hurting him?

I warned you - I know absolutely nothing about this fish business. But isn't it amazing how personable they are? I've grown attached to J.J. in his short time with me!

Again, thanks so much for your help. The folks at my local pet store are very nice, but not very knowledgable! They never even mentioned that a pleco would like veggies.

That is such a great thing you did. I have two Plecos and I just love them. Infact one of them eat right out of my hand. He will Love the waffers and if you drop them in you will find that he will find them quickly. Big daddy and mick are very active night and day and hang upside down all over the place. They are a very enjoyable fish with lotsa personality but both have very different personalities. The big one will suck on my finger where little mick wont come near.

I vaccume the bottom all the time and doesnt seem to phase them at all. Remember when adding tap water to add some water safe to take all the chlorine that tap water holds. very ez to do and found in the fish section of the store. I am attaching a pic of big daddy sucking on my finger wanting his food



C2

When you use a gravel vacuum, the fish stay in the tank. You move slowly and the fish usually don't mind too much. I use a Python Clean N' Fill system which is basically a hose with a tube for the vacuum (gravity fed) and a venturi (water pressure thing) if you don't have gravity on your side. If you decide to totally clean the gravel, then you would have to move the pleco to a fish-safe bucket or something while you worked on the tank. It's important to not really stir up the gravel while the pleco is in there IF the gravel if totally filthy. That could release noxious gases and even kill him. If the gravel is just somewhat dirty, you can go over it with the gravel vacuum slowly and try to suck up any gunk (releasing as little as possible into the water column).

If the tank setup is really bad, you may want to tear it down and clean it all. See
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/fcare2.htm#tear

I'm heartbroken to say that J.J. didn't make it through the tank cleaning today. We did our best to follow all the rules, and he was fine in his temporary bucket with his cruddy water and gravel. But once we transferred him back in his clean new tank, he declined quickly. We did use water conditioner, and we did let the temperature come up, but I'm really afraid we didn't rinse the gravel thoroughly enough and there was too much residual chlorine for the conditioner to treat.

As soon as I saw him not doing well we put him back into his temporary bucket, but he didn't survive. I feel awful about losing J.J. after all he went thru - and what he survived - and now I have this clean tank with new plants and nobody to put in it. Feels really crummy, and makes me feel guilty just to look at it.

Thanks for all the help though; I do appreciate it.

Ahhhh that is soo sad. you tried

This is what you do rinse out the tank real good let it air out and all its stuff for a day and go by a new Pleco and call him something else.

Not sure if you washed the wood but i would just throw that away. that may have absorbed the cleaning products but add some life to the tank look through the posts and educate and you will be amazed of the joy you get from keeping fish.

C2

I am sorry JJ didn't make it.

I was impressed that you took the fella in and tried to make the previous owner's wrong right. He surley would have died if he was left were you found him. You really did do a good thing and tried to help. Your heart was in the right place. :)
We all have been through this in one way or another so you are not alone in how you feel.
C2 is right, you should educate yourself. Read and post questions just like you did. Then when you feel more confident get another Pleco so it can have a good home. :)

tia

I'm so sorry about the pleco. I wish I could have been there to take care of him. So, you used chlorine to disinfect the gravel? How much? Did you swirl it and let it sit with fresh water and a double dose dechlorinator after as well? I've never had a problem with residual Chlorox after disinfecting things and then using fresh water and a lot of dechlorinator.

Did you try to bleach the wood too? I failed to mention it shouldn't be treated as the wood will absorb and later release chlorine even if dechlorinated. If so, you can now throw it away, drain, rinse, and refill the tank again with a full dose of dechlorinator. You can buy a chlorine test kit (sold at pool stores) to be sure none is left if you want to try to add a new fish.

I feel so bad that my idea to help the pleco backfired. I feel like I killed him.

I am sure the stress alone may have done him in All attempts were tried and fish die I wouldnt be to hard on yourself. :)

C2

Don't give up Newtothisfishstuff. That was a great thing you did for JJ, but I think dieing knowing someone cares for you and knows you're alive, is better than the slow miserable death he would have had if it weren't for you. But I know (and so do most people who read this website) how you feel now. But get a JJ jr, and think of that fish as a rescue that you would have never gotten if it hadn't been for (Daddy) JJ (which is probably true!). Because you sound like a great fish (and pet) owner, and JJ jr would be real lucky to get someone like you. -And really at the beginning all this fish care, seems harder than it really is. But once you learn the basics, it isn't that hard. See if you can find other petstores in your area (or people with aquariums) with more fish care knowledge. And keep reading this website.
Best wishes with your new rental place too!
Christina2lehner that was a great picture of Big Daddy sucking on your finger wanting his food. My two plecos wouldn't think of doing that!