help, pleco with saw nose

[Cal]

need advice, my pleco has a snore nose, clearly from were he has been swimming against the glass. back and forth, without making any progress,

i've had him for 8 years or so and hes about 11'' long. and i've never had anything like this before, only happened in the last few weeks.

bit worried obiously as i've had him for a long time and don't want him to develope and infection via the wound.

tank is 4 foot 1x1

thanks for advice

 

[Blinky]

Unfortunately there's not much you can do when they get hurt like that, other than keep the tank very very clean, add a little salt to prevent bacterial/fungal infection, and keep an eye on the wound. If your pleco gets an infection, you'll need to medicate him, but I wouldn't add anything other than salt and maybe some MelaFix to the tank unless you need to.
Did anything in his environment recently change? Is it possible he's not getting enough to eat and is trying desperately to find some food? If this behaviour is new you might be able to find out what's causing it and stop him from hurting himself any more.

 

[Cal]

i think he may of been startled and nocked himself in a panic, but it seems to be healing up ok.

just out of interest how much food should he be getting each day, obiously it's hard to know what he does eat, as he does it in the middle of the night.

and i don't really want to pollute the water