i recently purchased this pleco (purchase date 02.24.05). at the petstore he was in a 10gallon and looked stressed but not too bad. i noticed some of his bristells were missing, and asked the store owner to move him around so i could see how it looked. when he jostelled this fish it seemed really energetic and lively. well i decided to go ahead and purchase even with the damage on the side of his face. but in all the excitement i forget to check for hollow belly. well i get him home and sure enough, hollow belly. his breathing seems rather labored, almost panting like a dog. he doesnt move much at all and his mouth seems to droop a bit aswell.
i imediately supplied some food to the area he seems to like hanging out. he did eat shortly after i put him in the tank. although he would only eat if the food got right under his mouth, he would not activly search for the food(hikari bloodworm and omega freshwater flake). well its 2 days later now and i fed some more blood worm to his general area and he seemed to eat more this time and search out the food a bit more.
so my question is, what are his chances of survival do yall think? and what else should i do to help him recover?
tank stats:
-55gallon tank
-peguin emporer filter
-millenium 3000 filter
-temp 78F
thank you so much, and i can take more photos if needed.
i imediately supplied some food to the area he seems to like hanging out. he did eat shortly after i put him in the tank. although he would only eat if the food got right under his mouth, he would not activly search for the food(hikari bloodworm and omega freshwater flake). well its 2 days later now and i fed some more blood worm to his general area and he seemed to eat more this time and search out the food a bit more.
so my question is, what are his chances of survival do yall think? and what else should i do to help him recover?
tank stats:
-55gallon tank
-peguin emporer filter
-millenium 3000 filter
-temp 78F
thank you so much, and i can take more photos if needed.
