Pleco died again

[Mercury]

I bought another rubber a couple days after the fist one died, and it died too! What's the deal? Should I wait until the store gets a new shipment so they're healthier?

 

[Lakea]

Did you notice anything odd about the plecs? Like their bellys, did they look sunken in or anything? Also how are you acclimating them, I know plecs are pretty hardy critters, but a major change in pH, hardness, or other water parameters could harm them. You may try to drip acclimate the next one, or at least test the water he came in to see if it is a close match to yours. (accuracy won't really matter, so you could just use strips, you just want to see if they match) Other than that, I don't know what to tell you...

 

[Mercury]

Only the second one had a sunken belly, but I think it lasted longer than the first. I acclimated by floating the bag in the tank for 10 minutes, then added one cup of tank water, ten minutes, another cup, ten minutes, another cup, ten minutes, put the fish in.

 

[Pure]

Personally I would do a longer acclimation. Bout half a cup 6-8 times.

If you purchased both fish from the same store, wait until they get more before you try again. They probably had some sort of extreme stress during transit to the shop making for a bad batch of fish.

Never ever ever ever buy a pleco with a sunken belly..Least not until you are more skilled in bringing them back from this condition. Acclimating a new plec in that bad a condition can be lots of work. They often refuse food once they are that emaciated.

 

[Mercury]

I was going to wait for petsmart to get a new shipment, but I settled for a bristlenose from a good dealer.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

I've heard Rubbernoses are sensitive to temperature, too, that they prefer it below 76 degrees.