LeahElizabeth123
11-30-2008, 08:35 PM
Hi all,
I've just joined this forum. First, thank you for your help! We have a well established, immaculate 150 gallon tank with African cichlids ranging from 1-7 yrs old, most around 5. The tank is perfectly healthy and we have no issues with our fish.
This being said... we had three algae eaters in the tank. Two were large and old and were adopted, one 8 years ago and the other 3 years ago but he was larger than the one adopted 8 years ago. The first one (adopted 8 yrs ago) died six months ago without any signs of struggle - he just died. He had no sores, lesions, spots, or anything. We assumed it was due to old age. Two days ago we came home and our second adopted one was dead in the corner - and his fins been picked at by the cichlids a little bit, but not enough to kill him. I didn't see any signs of concern and his fins were perfect that morning, so I know he hadn't been killed. I'm assuming he has also died due to old age.
So, this brings me to our third algae eater. He just showed up one day at the front of the tank - either he was hidden in a bag of fish we bought (which is strange since we haven't bought any in over a year - the other young ones are babies of our older ones), or he is in fact a baby of the other two which I think is very rare. In any case, he's grown up to be big and healthy. As a baby algae eater, he had some very light spots all over him, but they weren't very large. They've remained as he's grown but haven't been huge or really a concern. Now, today, I notice those same spots are very large and very white/pale and almost look like stripes. He is the regular, cheap pleco - not a fancy one - so I am concerned this is a health issue with him. Since the second one died, I've noticed a few small algae spores coming around the glass which I've never seen before. I've actually had to be cleaning the tank with the scrubber. I think the little guy isn't big enough to keep up. Anyway, my concern is about his color. Does anyone know if this is normal, a birth defect, or a sickness? Any help you can provide will be much appreciated!
Thanks!
I've just joined this forum. First, thank you for your help! We have a well established, immaculate 150 gallon tank with African cichlids ranging from 1-7 yrs old, most around 5. The tank is perfectly healthy and we have no issues with our fish.
This being said... we had three algae eaters in the tank. Two were large and old and were adopted, one 8 years ago and the other 3 years ago but he was larger than the one adopted 8 years ago. The first one (adopted 8 yrs ago) died six months ago without any signs of struggle - he just died. He had no sores, lesions, spots, or anything. We assumed it was due to old age. Two days ago we came home and our second adopted one was dead in the corner - and his fins been picked at by the cichlids a little bit, but not enough to kill him. I didn't see any signs of concern and his fins were perfect that morning, so I know he hadn't been killed. I'm assuming he has also died due to old age.
So, this brings me to our third algae eater. He just showed up one day at the front of the tank - either he was hidden in a bag of fish we bought (which is strange since we haven't bought any in over a year - the other young ones are babies of our older ones), or he is in fact a baby of the other two which I think is very rare. In any case, he's grown up to be big and healthy. As a baby algae eater, he had some very light spots all over him, but they weren't very large. They've remained as he's grown but haven't been huge or really a concern. Now, today, I notice those same spots are very large and very white/pale and almost look like stripes. He is the regular, cheap pleco - not a fancy one - so I am concerned this is a health issue with him. Since the second one died, I've noticed a few small algae spores coming around the glass which I've never seen before. I've actually had to be cleaning the tank with the scrubber. I think the little guy isn't big enough to keep up. Anyway, my concern is about his color. Does anyone know if this is normal, a birth defect, or a sickness? Any help you can provide will be much appreciated!
Thanks!