Right before lunchtime today I got a very upset call from Brandy.
One of her two pleco fish, which she’d had for around six years, had died overnight.
She had spent a lot of time and effort and love on these two plecos. Gotten them when they were like an inch long. They had grown to over six inches long. They had survived when a disease wiped out all the other fish in her tank in Pennsylvania. They had survived a long harrowing trip from Pennsylvania to Florida in a cooler. They had survived many days without electricity for their water pumps and filters after the hurricanes, and were still thriving.
We’re not sure exactly what happened. He had seemed fine. There had been no signs of problems, and all the other fish still seem fine. He might have gotten stuck behind a rock. But that rock hadn’t moved for months, and there had never been the slightest problem before and they can get out of tight places. Chances are we will never know. In the end though, the reason doesn’t matter, we lost a memeber of the family.
For those of you thinking “its just a fish”… Plecos have personalities and character and interact with each each other and are very charming creatures. They are just nice and sweet, and help take care of the tank by eating the algae that builds up naturally. There were many hours spent watching him do his thing. They are so cute.
He was a sweet pleco.
When I got the news from Brandy I rushed home earlier than I normally do for lunch, and we spent a couple hours mourning and comforting each other, and we buried the poor guy under a bush in the back yard. These guys have been with Brandy for years, and been through a lot with her. It is especially hard on her.
After they lived through everything in the last year and seemed to thrive and be happy, we were so sure they would live for years and years and years. I am so sorry Brandy.
It is a sad day today. And the other pleco is lonely.
Goodbye sweet pleco. We will miss you. You were loved.
Edit: Brandy says I got the wrong pleco. I am so sorry. I tried. But they do look alike. :-( Here is the best picture I had of the correct pleco. He didn’t want to look at me…
Did this pleco have a name?
No. There were two, and they looked alike. Sometimes one would be bigger, and sometimes the other, but there were times they were the same so you couldn’t tell them apart. One would get crabby every now and then and chase the other from under the castle. THe chaser is still with us. Amy had named all my other fish in PA, but I couldn’t name these guys. No right. So I just called them “My Guys” and watched swim and float and play every day.
No. Brandy said that she didn’t want to give them names. I suggested naming them a couple times, but she said they were fine as they were. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t important!!! He was a good fish! Poor fishie. :-(
Yeah, they look alike. I had pictures of both of them and went to pick the picture of the right one, but they are hard to tell apart. I went to look at the guy left in the tank for distinct markings before I left to come back to work, but he was hiding under the castle and could only see the end of his tail. So I might have got it wrong. But I tried!
It was really fun to watch them play. They really would play. And eat. It was fun to watch them eat and run up and down the sides of things.
The one in the picture is the one that is still alive, I think.
See the edit above. Sorry Brandy. :-(
Well, I am sorry your nameless fish died.
Thanks. Me too. The other one doesn’t look too well now either. He appeared perfectly healthy the other day, but now isn’t swimming around as much. His color is okay, and there is nothing screaming sick. He’s eating and sucking and all that, but I think he is lonely. For the better part of a year they were the only fish in the tank and they played together every day. The tetras do nothingfor him, probably since they are the size of one of his fins. I am thinking of looking for a friend for him this weekend, so he’s not alone. I was at a local pet store yesterday, but all of their plecos looked sick and well on their way to dying, and they (the humans responsible for the fishies) seemed completely oblivious, so I am certainly not getting one there. I will try Pet Smart. Their creatures tend to be healthier.
We’ll get him a friend this weekend for sure. He needs a friend in there. Even if it is a littler guy with a different pattern and not an identical twin like before.
And I got one! Definately a littler guy. He’s only like 3 inches long! It’s a baby-pleco. And he’s a slightly different color. Way more
orange in the spots than white. Cool. He’s really scared of me right now, but I hope that fades. “Cause you can’t really sit and watch the fish do fishie things when they’re hiding from you. Big change from the little tank with lots of siblings to the big tank with a giant. He follows the big guy around. it’s cute, but he’s beginning to branch out a bit on his own. At least they seem to get along. Which is a good thing because otherwise I might have had to provide another cave. But they don’t seem to ind sharing the hole under the castle. I wish the other guy was still around though. The little guy is cute, but not the same. But now I have to name them. I is time. I will call the big one Sampson, becuase he’s all huge and strong. Or maybe Heracles because he’s all huge and strong. Or hell, both. It’s not like he’ll actually respond to either name. And the little guy can be Icarus, especially now since he seems to prefer the upper half of the tank (while Heracles likes the lower half), and he’s fast.
Of course the whole plummeting to his death thing kinda sucks…
ii think i shall just ingnore that part.
I will second the cuteness of Icarus. He seems to be adapting well. He hides a lot where we can’t see him, which is sometimes troubling. But it is in their nature to hide in caves and such.
Heracles/Sampson is going to take a little while to learn his new name I think. :-)
Icarus is still TERRIFIED of humans.
Herecles could care less. “Wha choo lookin at?”
He lookin’ at choo!
We lost the other one a couple weeks ago. Sad. Icarus is still doing well though.