Plecos and Ich...Is There Hope?
- Thread starter elinore
- Start date
The longfin died last night. I am beyond sad. He was so beautiful, and so healthy and happy. Salt is being dosed at 1 tbsp per 5 gal, and daily 30% water changes will continue to hopefully save the last remaining pleco. She's not as sick as the longfin male had been, so maybe there's hope that she will pull through. I'm going to call the lfs that sold me the ram and have a little discussion about this situation. Thanks everyone for all the advise.
Here is "Imhotep" about a month before the disaster struck. I know it's a horrible picture, but I had hoped to get some better ones over Thanksgiving...which of course is impossible now. He was just such a pretty fish. I live in far Northern Wisconsin, so finding him was kind of a miracle (The Foster-Smith retail warehouse is in a town 40 minutes away, and they had received a few of the longfin bn plecos as a happy accident, and the guy in charge of ordering knew I'd love one, and sold it for the normal pleco price-$3.99). Anyway, an extra airstone has been added for the remaining female. The report from home is that she's still covered in spots, but not as badly as her boyfriend, and she's eating well. Fingers crossed!!!
What a beautiful fish. I can not begin to express how sorry I am for your tragic loss. I hope you know that you did everything possible for him, though that may be little comfort right now. I'm so sorry for the hurt you are feeling.
I know how overwhelmingly sad you feel, and especially since you trusted the lfs and they truly let you down.
Someone here on AC breeds those beauties... I can't remember if it's Pinkertd, or who it is... but someone will be able to tell you. Maybe you can get another male for your sweet girl.
I hope that she will be able to fight this and come through with flying colors. Please keep us posted.
Again, please know how sorry I am... we all are... for your loss.
I know how overwhelmingly sad you feel, and especially since you trusted the lfs and they truly let you down.
Someone here on AC breeds those beauties... I can't remember if it's Pinkertd, or who it is... but someone will be able to tell you. Maybe you can get another male for your sweet girl.
I hope that she will be able to fight this and come through with flying colors. Please keep us posted.
Again, please know how sorry I am... we all are... for your loss.
Thanks so much for the kind words. I called the lfs yesterday, and spoke to a gentleman who was absolutely the opposite of helpful. The man didn't even throw out a sorry, but just kept saying "you must have bought a sick fish." Um, duh. Then he'd use big words and try to impress me with how smart he was, and as a well-versed fishkeeper and English major, big words really don't impress much, especially when they're used incorrectly!
When I use salt as a treatment I use 2-3 times the recommened dose (1 tbspn per 5 gallons). But it is a catch 22 since, as stated before, pleco are scaless (but they are really hardy!!)
And i'm sorry for your loss =( that was a beautiful fish.
And i'm sorry for your loss =( that was a beautiful fish.
Wow, there is a new development in this ich saga...my female betta, who has never been NEAR the other sickened fish, has a bad case of ich! I don't know how she could have gotten it, but the two cases just have to be related. She lives with me at college, in a 2.5 gal on my desk, but I brought her home for Thanksgiving break, and now 2 days after I got back to college, she is covered in ich spots and her fins are clamped. AAAHHHH! I don't have a heater for the tank, since the room temp stays at 80 all year, so the water temp is usually 78, but I do have a 15 watt incandescent bulb that came with the tank that emits a lot of heat. Just a few hours after plugging it in, the temp in the tank is up to 84. I do have a small ammount of aquarium salt with me, but I don't want to dose too heavily, since the tank is so small. Parameters are perfect, but I could do vacuum water changes if it would help and not stress. Thoughts? I can't imagine how she got this! I'm sure she's a little stressed from the 4 hour car ride, but we were incredibly careful to keep her tank far away from the diseased tank, equipment, and the sink. I have a male plakat that also lives with me at college who is just fine, no ich spots or strange behavior, and his tank was right next to hers, in a different room than the diseased tank. This is just really horrible 
Oh - sorry to hear that about the betta and sorry for the loss of your pleco. He was very neat. I'm sure you'll locate another one sometime when your tanks are back on track. They're getting more common. Did you accidentally use the same fish net in both tanks, or did someone else? It could also just be stress related. He may fight it off much easier than your plecos. Good luck!
I have used API Super Ick Cure as directed, with my bn pleco in the tank covered in ich spots, and it has worked very well without issue.
That being said, I don't want to recommend doing this. I wasn't aware at the time that the medication could end up harming plecos. My pleco and I may have gotten lucky, and I'd hate to offer any advice that harms when it's meant to help.
That being said, I don't want to recommend doing this. I wasn't aware at the time that the medication could end up harming plecos. My pleco and I may have gotten lucky, and I'd hate to offer any advice that harms when it's meant to help.
Thanks for the advice. We were very careful to keep anything we'd used in the diseased tank far away from my bettas. The only thing I can think of is they both got fed the same food, and maybe the ich pathogen somehow got transported from hand to food to betta. I suppose it could be a completely unrelated case that flared because of stress, but she's never had any problems at all, and the water quality was pristine. I really hope my betta girl can pull through. She's been with me all semester on my desk and I'm particularly attached to her.
