# pleco KILL OFF!!! HELP high nitrate 10ppm how to bring it down?



## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

I had about 12 busheynose plecos and 8 of them Died last night!!!. they look like they have ich. any advice on treatment or do I cut my losses. It don't look good. They are in their own tank together.

any insight or help would be great.

an update as of nov 20 2010. did a water test and found that nitrate levels were very high. 10ppm. all other tests were good ph 6.8 ammonia 0 and nitrite 0 as well. now how can I reduce no3?


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Doug,
what is your water like have you tested it?
crank the heat up a little bit to 86.
i would say add salt but plecs don't really care for it.
could help more if you could show a pic of one or two and give your water parameters.


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## stingraylord (Jun 18, 2010)

Ich doesn't kill fish in one day, unless they had it longer then that may be the case. Just turn up the temp and add salt as plecos are sensitive to meds.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your crash, Doug.
My bristlenoses handle 3 teaspoons of salt to 5 gallons without any apartment distress. Not full therapeutic levels, but a start.


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

will try that. with the temp and salt. 2 more gone today


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

no3 is way high how can I bring it down 10ppm???


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

water change.. plants also work but that will take a lifetime


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

I read that tap water contains a high nitrate content and can sometimes counteract that process. I have done several water changes so far and still high no3. I have a few plants but ya that could take a life time!


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## Aaron (Apr 21, 2010)

10 ppm is not high. Sounds normal to me.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

Dough said:


> I read that tap water contains a high nitrate content and can sometimes counteract that process. I have done several water changes so far and still high no3. I have a few plants but ya that could take a life time!


unless your on a well, if your getting water from metro vancouver its extremely low nitrates and minerals
do you have a nitrate test kit? if so you can test the tapwater for peace of mind
10ppm isnt overly high tbh, just try a 25% water change for now


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

I will try that. and I am not on well water. I just want to figure out what happened so it don't happen again. I have been doing 25% water changes about 2 times a week so I will just have to give it an other go with fish and see what happens.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree with some of the others. BNP's are very hardy, so something else is going on. If you really have ich, they can be very devastating to plecos.


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

the last one died and the flesh seamed to be almost melting off of him. kinda like he was sheding his skin. and his eyes were very recessed in to his head. looked like a very bad way to die.


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Could have been columnaris, a rather nasty and fast acting bacterial infection.
Commonly starts on the backs of the fish hence sometimes called saddle-back disease.The fish commonly end up with a whiteish patch on their backs. Once the infection takes hold it spreads very fast and literaly eats away at the skin of the fish, almost melting it away. If this is what your fish have raising the heat is the worst thing you can do, it actually makes the bacteria grow faster and does more damage to your fish.
If it is columnaris it is better to lower your temp down to at least 75 Fahrenheit and treat the whole tank with a gram negative antibiotic like furan2 or maracyn 2.

Good luck.

Do you have any pictures of the affected fish to help with diagnosis?
As well 10ppm of nitrates should have little effect on your plecos.

Here are a few pictures I found online


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

I didn't take any pic I should of. The tank is empty. how long should I wait to restock. and what precautions should I take in resetting is back up. ?100%water change clean rocks replace filter cartridge wash glass and heater. what now?


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

Sorry to hear you lost them all...


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## rescuepenguin (Apr 21, 2010)

I would bleach everything bleachable. as for the die off I don't think it is the nitrates. It must be something else, maybe something that got into the tank, or something on your hands when you handled something that went into the tank?

Steve


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## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestions!


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

I agree sterilize and start fresh.


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

I use saline solution to disinfect my tanks, i dont like bleach. just use table salt in warm water untill the salt no longer disolves in the water.


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## Death's Sting (Apr 21, 2010)

No3 40ppm and under is perfectly safe for *most* fish.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

you can treat the tank with potassium permanganate, which will kill off anything in the tank. Do a 75 o 100 % water change and run some activated carbon in he filter after treatment. This way you don't have to dismantle the tank.


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