Help identify white spot on pleco head?

It almost looks like a scrape? Is it possible he get his head stuck someplace tight.....does it look like the outer flesh is missing?

What size is the tank? What other fish are in the tank with the pleco? Have you tested for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate recently and if so, what were your test results? And, how often are you doing water changes, and how much water are you changing out?

The temp. at 84 is good, don't take it any higher. You might want to drop the water level down a little to create more splash and by doing so you're aerating the water better while the water temp. is elevated. A lot of people use salt to try to treat ich, I'm not convinced that it works and I wouldn't try it because it takes so much longer to rid the tank of ick than medications. Time, in my opinion, is of upmost importance in treating sick fish. The longer it takes to cure the illness, the weaker the fish gets. I shudder every time I read that someone has treated their fish with salt for ick and the fish dies anyway. I would suggest to you to use Quick Cure which contains malachite green and formalin, a very good combination for killing ick quickly. As for the plecos head, my first line of defense would be to keep the water extremely clean to try to head off any infection, it is is truly a scrape wound. But you'll be medicating for ick so you don't want to dilute the ick medication. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to use Quick Cure for ick. If you think you could possibly do it, the best treatment for the pleco would be a bit of iodine applied directly to the wound and put him back in the tank. Take a cotton swab and just barely dampen it with the iodine and then touch the swab to the wound. Plecos are usually pretty easy to handle but he won't like the iodine so put him on a flat surface or hold him firmly.

ldymcbeth6 said:

The quick cure won't hurt the pleco? It has warnigns about scaleless fish so I was afraid to use it. Also, is there a way to entice him to eat? I tried a peeled pea, but he isn't interested in that either. Of course, after I peeled it, it was more like smooshed pea.

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check the med label..often times they may recommend half dosing for skinless/sensitive fish.
for peas..try par boiling them .I usually place them in a dish of water and nuke them for 30-45 seconds..the pea is not fully cooked.

you can try garlic with the peas too,,often garlic is used to increase the appetite.

Also, see if you can identify exactly which pleco you have. Take a look over at planetcatfish.com or plecofanatics.com. That way you'll have complete information on the plecos diet, they don't all eat the same thing. You'll see how large they get, what temps they need,etc. Most plecos are nocturnal and it's best to slip some food into the tank right before you turn the lights out. Go easy on the flakes if the other fish don't appear hungry while they are sick. It's real easy to pollute the water quickly with excess food. And I agree with star_rider, check the instructions about sensitive species. But I do believe there was a recent thread here where it had been used successfully full strength and half strength with plecos.