For some reason for the past 2 months i bought 3 spotted rubbernose pleco they are about 1 to 3" (bought them sepeartly after each one dies) for some reason they seem to be fine at first and they suddenly just died. i just found the newest rubbernose died today he only lasted for a week or so. he was fine yesterday too. i havn't been feeding him because the glass had algae but its still weird how they just all died. did i do smth wrong???
nitrite 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 30 temperature 78
they are with a couple goldies in the tank ~~!!
does anyone know whats wrong or have u had that happened??
i'm starting to be disappointed with the rubbernose plecos i like them more than bristle nose cuz i don't like their "mustash" .
i'm thinking if i should get a new one or just move on with something else???

and a ph of 7.5

I don't know what could be happening. What a bummer. Do you have places for them to hide like terra cotta pots or tubes? They are pretty shy. I have 2 that I bought from PetSmart about a month ago and they are doing fine. Maybe you should get them some algae pellets and give it one or so a day. I don't know whats going wrong for you. Sorry that I wasn't much help.

thx .. its hard to tell they are unhappy or sick (not like goldfish)... yeah its just weird how they just died !! yesterday i saw them sticking on the glass and this morning i see him just sitting their though he was just there around and about but then i realized that he wasn't blinking and he is a bit hovering .... he likes to hide on the rock in this corner but he wasn't as shy usually they are shy in the beginning and then later they r fine just going all over a the place. i was wondering its either he didn't have enough food? or smth else cuz the water condition is just fine i adjust it just for him cuz previous ones died probly cuz it was too warm .. i had to crank up the heat cuz there was a ich crisis couple weeks ago... anyone that can help???

I have read about this so often. It seems that even though they are technically "algae eaters" they still need supplementary food. The algae is not enough. Starvation is the most common cause of pleco death I have read. Usually the plec dies after they have finished up the algae in a tank because the owner doesn't notice there is nothing left to graze on. With no food the immunity of the fish takes a big dive down.

Plecs should be fed: wood, algae, algae wafers, vegetables like zuchinni, cucumber, pumpkin, fruits like apple and grapes and peach. A big variety.These are only some ideas. Stick them on a suction clip at the side to see which they go for.

If you don't feed them enough they can become aggressive and attach themselves to other fishes slime coat which is yummy to them.

I suspect your plecs were already starving when they came to you from the store. I am so sorry and wish you luck with any others.

thx !!! i was just thinking about that !! the thing that sucks is the local stores always sold out the alge walfers !!!! i was piss that they have nothing even though that "store" is the best store for fishes but it just makes me mad!!!! ok i give it another try .. i was thinking the water temp was a bit too high !! but then i saw they can go up to 78 degrees and was planning on getting another type of algae eatter like butterfly loach ... but i heard they are even harder to upkeep !!!! so i give it another try and maybe order some online or something !!!

do you happen to have that article??? i would love to read it to build my knowledge !!

That article hun can be found here at kokos. Read back every page of the tropical froum. Years and years of experience of people keeping plecs in there

x_x hahaha alrite thanx alot !!!! wish me luck on another rubbernose !!!

something to also think about,. Ask your LFS what there PH is just a .3 off of yours and you float them in your tank, the ph will kill them. With plecos of the rubber and bristlenose you need to float them, then add 1/4 cup of your tank water to there bag, do this every 10 mins for an hour to get them used to your tank, they are very sensitive to ph changes.