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a death in the community (aquarium)

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Somehow, for the first time in my checkered aquarium keeper's career, I've lost a plecostomus.

I'm not sure what happened. The fish have generally been in terrific shape (excepting two of the "baby" loaches, which failed to thrive in the aquarium with so many larger fish) and the water is certainly stable. Moreover, I've long found plecos to be the hardiest of fish, surviving even in bouts of unstable chemical composition or temperature when I'd badly placed a tank or was cleaning it incorrectly. And there certainly was no shortage of food for the thing: in addition to the wafers I'd put in, there was a fair bit of "good" green algae in the tank (not the beard, brown, or cyano-bacteria varieties) for the critter to eat.

Pretty sad day. I apologize, little fish!