I think my pleco needs help...

[hotelpro]

All,
In the past 2 days, my pleco has developed 2 "spots" on his (male gender bias) body. One is simply a raised white dot on his right side towards the rear of the body past the dorsal fin. He has what looks like "pores" in regular intervals and this one is a bit swollen and white (size of a pen tip).

On the opposite side, same story...but you can see the flesh around it is red and enflamed.

All the chemical levels are good. Zero nitrites, Zero nitrates, less than .25 ammonia, water is hard, PH is 7.8-8.0.

He lives with an emerald cory, 4 neon tetra, and 2 sunset gourami.

Help if you can. Thanks

 

[FL22]

Maybe get some pictures for us if you can....but do a water change to get the ammonia back down to zero.

 

[krytan]

nitrates should not be 0 as this would indicate that the tank is not cycled and any ammonia at all is dangerous.

 

[jpappy789]

I agree. Sounds like your tank is not fully cycled with no nitrates and ammonia present. Ammonia could be causing the abnormalities, but it is definitely not helping your loach combat any infections it could possibly have. You MUST get the ammonia down to 0.

pics would help immensly

 

[hotelpro]

I agree. Sounds like your tank is not fully cycled with no nitrates and ammonia present. Ammonia could be causing the abnormalities, but it is definitely not helping your loach combat any infections it could possibly have. You MUST get the ammonia down to 0.

pics would help immensly

Tank is not fully cycled, I am doing a fishy cycle.

Pics cannot get up, due to some issues with my host site. I will try reloading them tomorrow.:wall:

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Plecos and corys are not good cycling fish as they are very sensative to ammonia and nitrite.

 

[Animallove]

Plecos and corys are not good cycling fish as they are very sensative to ammonia and nitrite.

:iagree:

Doing a fish cycle is also basically torturing a fish - its better to add ammonia by some other means.

 

[krytan]

Fishy cycles can require almost daily water changes.

 

[wataugachicken]

the spots on your pleco could have started off as simple scratches that under other circumstances would have healed without incident. the presence of ammonia and just generally being in a cycling tank is irritating the skin and wound, causing the problems you are seeing. clean water is always the best solution to heal skin/fin problems quickly.

 

[Fishy_Fun]

i agree you shouldn't have a pleco or corys in a cycling tank.