Sick huge pleco

Amything

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Oct 31, 2001
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Hi,

I have a fully grown pleco in a 130 gal tank. This morning I noticed that his scales are not as they should be.

I have a picture here: http://www.finna.is/amything/upload/images/fish/pleco1.jpg
and here:
http://www.finna.is/amything/upload/images/fish/pleco2.jpg

It looks pretty serious. His behaviour is also noticably worse, hangs out near top of tank and I can actually hear him breathing air from above the surface somtimes.

Other fish in the tank look and act normal.

There is another big pleco in the tank who is the boss, but it has never been so serious that he could have hurt him so bad but I can't be sure I guess.

Any ideas what this could be?
 
How's the water quality?
What are the other fish in the tank besides the other pleco (anyone who maybe beat up on him)?
How old is he?
Is he eating much?

His scales definately look raised, could be dropsy. And the fact that you can hear him breathing air at the top of the tank kind of worries me...

I'd say put him in isolation, if he's the only sick looking one in the tank, but do you have a spare tank big enough for him to be comfortable in?

~Tara
 
Thanks for the reply.

Water quality:
My wife and I change water relegiously, I don't have any measurements atm but tank has been up for 3 years with no problems.

There are 2 Oscars in there as well, but the only fish that bothers him is another pleco. He kind of bullies it alot. My wife thinks it's because of him. I'm not so sure.

He is about 6 years old. Got him when he was somewhere around 3 years old. Might be +1 or +2 years.

I have a spare 30 gal, it's a very low shaped tank, should be ok for him, in the process of putting him there now. Plan on changing water 2x a day but should I add any medicine in there?
 
Adult plecos are territorial. My guess is that the other pleco is the cause. If you see the one pleco bullying the other, it is probably much worse at night when the plecos are active.
 
I would put him in the 30 gallon tank, once it's ready. Just put a thin layer of gravel, and a hiding spot for him to feel comfortable (don't want to take up too much room in the tank, being that he's so big!).

This is a total guess on my part, but judging from his scales, I'd guess he has dropsy (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I found these that cures dropsy:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=28063;category_id=3427
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=28141;category_id=

I love Melafix, but don't know if it's effective for dropsy (if that is indeed what the fish's problem is). Go to your LFS and look at all the different medications and see which ones are labelled for dropsy.

Anyway, yes, I'd remove him and add some medication to the tank. Do big water changes (30-50%) every day or every other day (because he's such a big waste producer in a small tank).

I also think Clay may be right, that if you see the other pleco beat this one up during the day, at night when the lights go off, the gloves come off! You may want to consider getting rid of one of them when this one is all better (to prevent recurrence).

Good luck!

~Tara
 
It does not look like dropsy to me. In all my years of fish keeping, I've only seen dropsy twice. I've never seen any outward signs of disease on a pleco, and I have been keeping them for over 20 years.
I think it looks more like a wound of some kind, or a scrape incurred by the fish as he tried to wedge himself where he was too big to fit.
One characteristic of plecos is that they get listless and turn a whitish color just before they expire.
I hope that is not the case here. Isolating him in a tank where he is not harrassed and has some time to recoup is the best idea.

Bill in WI
 
Bill... dont' his scales look like they're kind of sticking out, like a pinecone... isn't that a tell tale sign of dropsy? I could very well be wrong here Amything... but it can't hurt to add some Melafix to his isolation tank.

I hope he pulls through.

~Tara
 
he looks beat up a bit to me too, but not because of dropsy..... he just doesn't have that fully rounded pine cone look in my opinion...... the scales look to be too isolated for that..... BUT he also looks pretty skinny in my opinion......
Amything, are you sure both pleco's are getting enough food and not one over the other? At this point< i would say separation is a must for this guy, especially because the reason for his scales looking this way is not so obvious.... as well as the spats with the other pleco in the tank. Then, if you cannot keep him in his own tank permanently, I would look into giving him up once he's healthy again.
 
I'm a little confused by everyone talking about the Pleco's scales.

I thought all catfish were either naked(scaleless) or covered in bony scutes (armoured), not scaled.

Is that not true?
 
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