- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If yes, what is your ammonia?
- 0
- If yes, what is your nitrite?
- 0
- If yes, what is your nitrate?
- <5 ppm
- If I did not test my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
- Do you do water changes?
- Yes
- What percentage of water do you change?
- 21-30%
- How frequently do you change your water?
- Every two weeks
- If I do not change my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
Our BN Pleco, McFlurry, has stopped eating and become lethargic. At first we suspected bloat as she was looking very round. We've been offering deshelled peas to help with the bloat, but she was totally disinterested in peas. It was close to 2 weeks since we last saw her eating. Yesterday she seemed a little more alert after our routine water change and we saw two small poops! So, today we decided to offer her one of her sinking wafers. After a couple minutes she came out of hiding like she was looking for food, but her movements were so quick. She was darting in circles around the wafer flicking up substrate like she wasn't capable of slowing down and kept overshooting where the food was sitting. Before I could record this behaviour, she gave up and stuck to the glass for a while, did some flashing, and then went back into hiding. It feels like there's something more than bloat going on, but we're at a loss at what the problem could be.
McFlurry lives in a 15 gal fresh water tank, at a temperature of 27 degrees celcius. We know the tank is a little small for these Plecos, and we're planning on upgrading as soon as we're able. She's lived in this tank for around three months before the issues started to arise, alongside her tank mate the other BN Pleco, Meringue (who appears happy, hungry, and healthy.) They have anubis driftwood plants in their tank and their regular diet is cucumber, deshelled peas, and sinking wafers. We give them other things to try but they're always slow to try new foods. Our filter is an AquaOne IFXE100 internal filter, and we always vacuum the substrate during a water change.
This is how she's been for the last couple weeks: sitting on the filter at an odd angle.
This was her tummy two weeks ago (I haven't been able to get a photo of her tummy more recently because she won't come up to the front):
More recent shot of her from the top, day of the last water change:
McFlurry in her usual hiding spot, in the bubble stream. This is where she sits currently:
McFlurry lives in a 15 gal fresh water tank, at a temperature of 27 degrees celcius. We know the tank is a little small for these Plecos, and we're planning on upgrading as soon as we're able. She's lived in this tank for around three months before the issues started to arise, alongside her tank mate the other BN Pleco, Meringue (who appears happy, hungry, and healthy.) They have anubis driftwood plants in their tank and their regular diet is cucumber, deshelled peas, and sinking wafers. We give them other things to try but they're always slow to try new foods. Our filter is an AquaOne IFXE100 internal filter, and we always vacuum the substrate during a water change.
This is how she's been for the last couple weeks: sitting on the filter at an odd angle.
This was her tummy two weeks ago (I haven't been able to get a photo of her tummy more recently because she won't come up to the front):
More recent shot of her from the top, day of the last water change:
McFlurry in her usual hiding spot, in the bubble stream. This is where she sits currently:
