My pleco has white marks on him , ? Water is fine, temp normal hes on black sand, with 6 angel fish and six tetras and a Cory cat fish
Pleco white marks
- Thread starter Carol jewell
- Start date
Welcome to AC!
Hard to tell. It might be columnaris. I think you might treat him with erythromyacin but we should both look it up.
Tell us all about your tank. please. Tank size? How long it's been set up? I see pleco & neon tetras, do you have other fish? Did you cycle the tank before you got fish? What temperature do you keep it?
I love that you have live plants!
I'm sure we'll have many more questions but we want to help
Hard to tell. It might be columnaris. I think you might treat him with erythromyacin but we should both look it up.
Tell us all about your tank. please. Tank size? How long it's been set up? I see pleco & neon tetras, do you have other fish? Did you cycle the tank before you got fish? What temperature do you keep it?
I love that you have live plants!
I'm sure we'll have many more questions but we want to help
Thank you for your comments, we check the water every week, regular water changes, he has for company 4 Angels and a Cory, who is rarely seen! Temp is in range of 26- 28, we have a co2 system in place and have bubble sponges that come on at night, it is a Juwel 350 all water parameters are within range the tank has been set up 2 years and newest fish was the Cory over a year ago . The marks he has seem to fade and come back each day? Not sure, he seems happy enough?
Columnaris is normally a pretty contagious disease. Some strains are so virulent and contagious that fish are dying before you see any external symptoms. It can infect the gills. So I would expect other fish to show symptoms if it is this disease.
I had a pair of L66 many years ago. As they aged they began to look like this. I shot this picture when I was getting ready to send them to a new home. So I pulled them to this small tank to get pics.
These two fish were in a tank with a pair of wild caught P. compta and a couple of zebra plecos. All of those fish were healthy. The P. comptas went out with the L66 and the zebras were parked in a discus tank for several years.
I am think your pleco is not sick and that sort of spotching is not all the rare. The fish in my pic had beed caught and moved from their home tank to the photo tank and were stressed for sure. So, my first instinct is to ask what size the angels are because once they get old/big ebough a pair can have form? One sign that this is happening is that the angels will stop hanging out together.
I had a pair of L66 many years ago. As they aged they began to look like this. I shot this picture when I was getting ready to send them to a new home. So I pulled them to this small tank to get pics.
These two fish were in a tank with a pair of wild caught P. compta and a couple of zebra plecos. All of those fish were healthy. The P. comptas went out with the L66 and the zebras were parked in a discus tank for several years.
I am think your pleco is not sick and that sort of spotching is not all the rare. The fish in my pic had beed caught and moved from their home tank to the photo tank and were stressed for sure. So, my first instinct is to ask what size the angels are because once they get old/big ebough a pair can have form? One sign that this is happening is that the angels will stop hanging out together.
My thought is you have something sharp in there or hte tank is too small and it is scratching itself and it is just a touch of fungus which is normal and will go away in a couple of weeks but if it is scratching itself you might try removing whatever is sharp. Look closely where there are white patches and see if there are missing scales.
I disagree with 2tank, I have had the more "chronic" form of columnaris not the extreme virulent form he had. It doesn't kill fast like he said his version of columnaris did. Mine was chronic; months or more, not a few bloody ulcerations days before fish death.
Look up saddleback disease. You might turn down the temperature a bit, that seems hot for the fish you have. That can make the chronic form of columnaris worse. Neons, most corys & some plecos are fine at a 21-23C (estimating from low 70Fs). I'm not sure of your pleco's species but it doesn't look like the "high temp" species 2tank keeps. Meanwhile change water as much & as often as you can (always my first step with any possible disease or injury. It always helps even if it doesn't cure).
I see by your tank, measurements & equipment you're not in the US. Where are you? That will matter when we suggest treatments that may (or not) be available to you. Can you buy antibiotics in shops? What 1s? What other fish "treatments" can you get? Dyes like malachite or Victoria green? What else?
I don't have experience with co2. What plants do you keep that needs that? The 1s I see (java fern & anubias) are very easy without it...But it shouldn't matter for the pleco patchiness. Just curious...
Look up saddleback disease. You might turn down the temperature a bit, that seems hot for the fish you have. That can make the chronic form of columnaris worse. Neons, most corys & some plecos are fine at a 21-23C (estimating from low 70Fs). I'm not sure of your pleco's species but it doesn't look like the "high temp" species 2tank keeps. Meanwhile change water as much & as often as you can (always my first step with any possible disease or injury. It always helps even if it doesn't cure).
I see by your tank, measurements & equipment you're not in the US. Where are you? That will matter when we suggest treatments that may (or not) be available to you. Can you buy antibiotics in shops? What 1s? What other fish "treatments" can you get? Dyes like malachite or Victoria green? What else?
I don't have experience with co2. What plants do you keep that needs that? The 1s I see (java fern & anubias) are very easy without it...But it shouldn't matter for the pleco patchiness. Just curious...
Thank you for your reply, I am in UK, the Angel fish are about the size of the palm of my hand they can be quite aggressive to each other, due for a change tomorrow, so excuse the poop .
He's a Bristlenose pleco he was only 2 inches long when we purchased him, he's now about 6-7 inches
Well, your pleco isn't a bn. They have very small dots & max out at 4 inches or so. At 6 or 7" he's probably not done growing...he's 1 of the "common" big plecs but I'm not sure & don't feel like searching planetcatfish for an id right now. It doesn't matter to his white areas. (sorry, a separate topic, lol). Big fish, big poop. Really your tank looks quite clean.
Are these new pics? I don't see much white splotches. Is that how it looks in real life now? I only see 1 rock & 2 pieces of wood. Does he try to hide in a very small space where he might get scraped? If he does you might move the rock or the wood away from the back/sides & each other so he can't do that. Plecos often like to have their eyes in the shade, try to make sure he has, if not a full body cave, some place(s) he stick his head when your lights are on.
I would just go with frequent large water changes for now. Every day if you can, as much as you can. I think you can't get antibiotics in UK shops. Let's think about your next step while you change water.
Are these new pics? I don't see much white splotches. Is that how it looks in real life now? I only see 1 rock & 2 pieces of wood. Does he try to hide in a very small space where he might get scraped? If he does you might move the rock or the wood away from the back/sides & each other so he can't do that. Plecos often like to have their eyes in the shade, try to make sure he has, if not a full body cave, some place(s) he stick his head when your lights are on.
I would just go with frequent large water changes for now. Every day if you can, as much as you can. I think you can't get antibiotics in UK shops. Let's think about your next step while you change water.
