75% of my new L201 dead! Help!

[samuelgoh]

Hi all,

I had always frequent NKS for my plecos and my colony of L134 and L190/L191 which I bought from them are all healthy and looking great.
I just bought 4 x L201 last evening from NKS and 3 of them were found dead in my tank a few hours back.
They were kept in an Angelfish comm tank.

Rather than blaming NKS (which I find would be unreasonable, based on past experience), I really want to know what might be causing the deaths.
Note that the colony of L134 and L190/L191 are in different tanks.

I usually changed my tank water on Saturdays and so changed the tank water before I proceed to acclimatise the fish.

How I acclimatise the fish
1. As usual, I leave the bags in the intended tank for about 30 min to allow the plecos to get used to the temperature.

2. After which I open the bag and let them out, into a pail. I used the drip method (at around 2-4 drops/second) to acclimatise the fishes for around 60-90 min.

3. Get the fishes in.


Readings of the tank
PH - 6
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Temperature - 29.7 degrees
Bare tank with driftwoods and


Filtration
Eheim 2217 + Eheim Pickup 2010 (purely mech) to power up a 190 litres 3x1.5x1.5 ft tank. There's also a airpump powered Gex sponge filter.
Filter media from bottom up - Blue coarse pad -> Biohome Plus -> Mr Aqua CR -> Mika white fine pad


Some possible causes
1. 2x pleco had a sunken stomach (1 which had red marks also had a sunken stomach)

2. 2x pleco had red marks on their skins (1 which had red marks also had a sunken stomach)


Can any pleco keepers help out with the situation here?
Will coral chips help? I have them in my L134/L190/L191 tank, and all's awesomely stable.
Could it be KH/GH? Was doing a test with my test kit and it seems the reading is higher than the L134/L190/L191 tank.


Thanks in advance all

[onlyyouknow]

Is the tank cycled? If the L201 had problems, why did you buy in the first place?

[Kfc]

Originally Posted by onlyyouknow

Is the tank cycled? If the L201 had problems, why did you buy in the first place?

sorry to heard that

[bro*1043]

Originally Posted by onlyyouknow

Is the tank cycled?

How much water did you change?

[bro*1043]

Originally Posted by bro*1043

How much water did you change?

The question is meant for TS. Can't edit my post.

[canopy]

IMHO, your tank not mature and once the poo machine come in you dun have enough BB to convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. Apart from the acclimating methods, you must make sure your tank can take the bioload. Please dose some artificial BB next time.

[bro*1043]

Originally Posted by canopy

IMHO, your tank not mature and once the poo machine come in you dun have enough BB to convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.

If what bro canopy is true then ur pleco could have die due to high levels of ammonia.
As you already mentioned the pleco have red marks ( symptoms of ammonia burn ).

[samuelgoh]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies,

1. I changed about 30-40% of the water on a weekly basis (learnt that should just change 30% max)
2. I don't think the tank ain't cycled yet, my colony of Angelfish are doing wonderfully well with almost zero casualty (think there was 1 that went down). Anyway nitrite level is at 0 ppm, sign of cycled tank is present.

Well, I think i kinda figure out the issue on my own and will love to share my experience, hopefully it will benefit future fishkeepers.

PH SHOULD BE THE CAUSE

I used API series of test kits to understand my tank's water parameters.

The API PH test kit in particular, only measures PH range from 6 to 7.6 (iirc).
I kept assuming my tanks are at PH 6 (according to what was shown on the result slip) but it actual fact, they don't meant PH 6 but more like PH 6 and below. Noticed the stark difference.

Did some research www wide and found out that a low PH can slow or even stall the growth of the beneficial bacteria in aquariums. Apparently, a PH under 6 will significantly slow the growth of bacteria.
I think this also explain why a bro thought that the tank was not cycled as well as the red ammonia burnt mark.

What I did (and still in process of proving my findings) is that I bought 8 KGs of coral chips. Added 3KG each to both my affected tank, as well as my L134/L190/L191 comm tank (which already had some CC in it previously).

So far all seems good, both tanks had increased PH, from PH <6 to PH 6.4 - PH 7.2. Optimal recommended PH for the mates that I had in both tanks.

I am still letting the tank run in, testing out PH, KH, Nitrite and Ammonia values on a weekly basis. Should be giving it a month or so before I proceed to test it out with a pair of L201 or something.

Will be updating the thread.

I guessed we all learn from time to time.

Was never one to be bothered with chemical parameters but I guess it is a good time for me to start on this route.

Anyway for absolute newbies, it will be good to cycle the tank with feeders, test it for PH, KH, Nitrite and Ammonia to ensure the basic parameters/conditions for the mates that you are looking to keep is met.
Always re-visit your basics!

[samuelgoh]

thanks bro canonpy and bro*1043 for helping out on the thread

[onlyyouknow]

At least you know what happened.
pH shock is one of the main causes for sudden deaths.