I think my pleco has a bacterial infection. He has lost some color and developed red spot's on the tips of his fins.he is also slightly more sluggish then the other pleco although it's barely noticeable[ and no,my plecos are getting along just fine and are only three inches long] he is still eating well,i have some green algae, a big clump of java moss, and 3 pieces of driftwood.tankmates are,1 red claw crab,10 rosy red minnows,1 golden dojo loach,1 six inch goldfish that i have not identified,1 female Betta, and a second pleco. tank is a 10 gal with a waterfall filter and heater.temp: somewhere between 76 and 78. none of the other fish seem affected and i hope it's not a parasite becuase i have no hospital tank and most parasite medication's will harm crustacean's such as my crab.PS:before anybody asks...it's a 3 year old tank so it's definitely not a cycling problem.
HELP!:my pleco has lost some coler and his fins have red spot's on the edges!
- Thread starter hydraloveingman
- Start date
what are your tank parameters
while it may not be cycling it may be just getting old and starting to crash
to me it sounds most likely that it was your crab attacking your pleco
you really will need a bigger tank and the crab will eventually try to eat more thing or get eaten
sorry for the bad news but increase your water changes and keep feeding him well and he should turn out ok
p.s. what kind of pleco is it
while it may not be cycling it may be just getting old and starting to crash
to me it sounds most likely that it was your crab attacking your pleco
you really will need a bigger tank and the crab will eventually try to eat more thing or get eaten
sorry for the bad news but increase your water changes and keep feeding him well and he should turn out ok
p.s. what kind of pleco is it
Your tank is waaaaaay overstocked. I expect water quality is the main cause of the infections.
How did you cycle?
How often are you changing the water?
Even noticed the crab going after the fish?
How did you cycle?
How often are you changing the water?
Even noticed the crab going after the fish?
my tank parameters are 0 nitrite,20 nitrate,water is "very hard"[going to soften it to "hard" soon] pH is high alkaline [going to take it down to neutral after i soften the water],i do weekly water changes.when i bought my tank i,like an idiot,listened to the pet store guy and added my fish on the same night that i filled my tank up and did not buy testing strips,is this going to be a problem in the future? and last but not least my crab,i noticed the loss of color a month before i bought the crab so i do not think the whole thing is his fault,but the red marks are also on the other pleco and he is not showing any of the symptoms of the infection so i think the crab is doing a little fin pinching, but the red fin tips have only shown up in the last two days and I've had the crab for a week now,so maybe the red marks are a different infection that's more contagious then the other one,i do not know, and the crab has never chased another fish in his time in my tank, peacefully shares his favorite cave rock with a minnow,and backs up when any fish ,including the ailing pleco,approaches, so i don't. know thanks for the advice. EDIT: i almost forgot to tell you,they are both common plecos
Last edited:
DAVIDFBT
Extinct? Since when?
Is this the smae tank with your sick dojo loach? If it is, I suspect the crab being the problem. The tank being overstocked wouldn't help much either.
yes but the mark is not a wound.....it is a mark,it has simply grown and the loach is acting perfectly normal, in fact he just learned to come up to the surface at feeding time instead of picking up scraps,so i believe this trait is normal for this type of golden dojo.
I think your tank is terribly overstocked and inappropriately stocked and that is your main problem. I don't understand how you can have a 10G with all those fish (including 2 plecos and a goldfish) and have nitrates at 20 unless you are doing like every day 50% or more water changes and running a huge canister filter or sump (which perhaps you are doing both of those things).
Common plecos grow to a maximum size of 18" to 24" long, he is probably badly stunted from being in a 10G tank. Stunting is when the outside of the fish stops growing, because the tank is so small it makes it impossible for them to grow anymore, but their internal organs do NOT stop growing. So it makes for a small and painful death, in the process the fish is much weakened as susceptible to any number of diseases.
I don't think the crab is the reason your pleco is sick, but a crab does not belong in that tank, not only will he kill/injure some of your fish, but he's not going to last very long unless you have a spot for him to climb out of the water and get air.
Unless you can upgrade to a 125 gallon plus tank ASAP - rehome the 2 plecos, the 6 inch goldfish, and the crab at the very least. Not trying to be rude, but your tank is like a recipe for disaster, if you don't do something, none of your fish are going to last much longer. Red on the tips of fins can be indicative of a bacterial infection, or ammonia poisoning. I noticed you did not give your ammonia readings? And what test kit are you using? And how old is it?
Common plecos grow to a maximum size of 18" to 24" long, he is probably badly stunted from being in a 10G tank. Stunting is when the outside of the fish stops growing, because the tank is so small it makes it impossible for them to grow anymore, but their internal organs do NOT stop growing. So it makes for a small and painful death, in the process the fish is much weakened as susceptible to any number of diseases.
I don't think the crab is the reason your pleco is sick, but a crab does not belong in that tank, not only will he kill/injure some of your fish, but he's not going to last very long unless you have a spot for him to climb out of the water and get air.
Unless you can upgrade to a 125 gallon plus tank ASAP - rehome the 2 plecos, the 6 inch goldfish, and the crab at the very least. Not trying to be rude, but your tank is like a recipe for disaster, if you don't do something, none of your fish are going to last much longer. Red on the tips of fins can be indicative of a bacterial infection, or ammonia poisoning. I noticed you did not give your ammonia readings? And what test kit are you using? And how old is it?
I second that ammonia posing may be the case. If it is an infection I would think that poor water quality has weakened your fish's immune systems. Are you using test strips or a liquid test kit?