I'm going to suggest going the antibiotic route on this one although to be honest I've never had to treat something like this. It's likely that there was a wound that allowed a bacterial infection to set in. A dual approach might be a good idea. You can treat the wound topically with neosporin or another type of triple-antibiotic ointment.
You'll want to back that up with some internal medicines as well. Metrondiazol (Metro) works well for a lot of parasites and protozoans if you suspect that, I also personally prefer Furan 2 as a general antibiotic since it treats gram negative and gram positive bacteria. I've had no complications using it in combination with metro but pay attention to the dosages.
I've read some suggestions of adding some salt as well, but I don't know that it's more than a chicken-soup type treatment once you've shifted to heftier antibiotics
If you can treat your pleco in a bare bottomed quarantine tank that would be best since there would be less of a chance of the substrate continuing to irritate the wound. Once it's open, even nice round gravel can cause some irritation.
You'll want to back that up with some internal medicines as well. Metrondiazol (Metro) works well for a lot of parasites and protozoans if you suspect that, I also personally prefer Furan 2 as a general antibiotic since it treats gram negative and gram positive bacteria. I've had no complications using it in combination with metro but pay attention to the dosages.
I've read some suggestions of adding some salt as well, but I don't know that it's more than a chicken-soup type treatment once you've shifted to heftier antibiotics
If you can treat your pleco in a bare bottomed quarantine tank that would be best since there would be less of a chance of the substrate continuing to irritate the wound. Once it's open, even nice round gravel can cause some irritation.
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