Pl*co help needed

Seacon

AC Members
Aug 18, 2003
21
0
0
Visit site
Well, if you have been following the saga of my aquarium in "Newbie questions, a mixed bag" this is old news if not, continue on with this background info.
Background: Had a rough time cycling my 20 gal. Many fish deaths, also realized I had ICH after the pl*co was the last one left. So, now I have 1 fish in a 20 gal. I treated for ICH with RID ICH+, didn't seem to bother the pl*co, he's back to his normal activity level now.

Question: He's pooping an insane amount! I looked in the aquarium today (and I do look daily), and it looks like a can of silly string went off in there! And he's hanging out in one of his usual spots, pooping! I feed every other day, either half an algae tab or small slice of veggie. He looks redish by his anal fin (more towards the tail. In that same area on the sides he looks a little white-ish. He also has a small patch on his back and nose. He had these during the ICH treatment, I though either he was rubbing himself raw (I have never observed it) or that the ICH treatment was "burning" him. The patchs are completely flat, not fuzzy/furry. I don't know if I have some other disease working in there. Every level (nitrAte, nitrIte, ph, hardness, etc) are fine. I treat water like I'm supposed to, to remove Cl2, so I don't know what the cause could be. Any help would be appricated, as he's the first and now last fish in the tank. He must survive and thrive!

Thanks,
Eddie
 
I cant help you with the wounds, but the poops in normal, whatever they eat gets multiplieds by like 10 is the waste.
 
Can you give us numbers rather than saying that they're fine?

Plecs are famous for pooping and causing worse tank problems with defecation than the ones which they were bought to mitigate!

I wouldn't recommend an ich-killer unless it's "catfish safe" if you have a Pleco...that might be causing the sores.
 
Hmm

Well, that was my thought too, about the ICH med, so I will continue to watch my pl*co.
As for the "fine" numbers:
NitrAte: 10 ppm
NitrIte: 0 ppm
Total Hardness: pretty close to 120 ppm (hard-ish)
Total Alk: 120 ppm
pH: 7.7

Thanks again for all the help.
Eddie
 
AquariaCentral.com