skinny royal

[wwildcats04]

I have had a royal pleco for a while now and all of a sudden I have noticed that its been moping around. I got a chance to see that its stomach is sunken in. What can I do? I have drift wood in there, I have algae, I feed algae wafers of which he did eat. Tomorow I am going to get some fresh zuchini and peas and put those in there hopefully those will get him interested.

 

[daveedka]

Metrondizanole.
A sunken belly especially with a pleco is almost always a sign of an internal parasite. If he is still eating at all treat him while you still can. get some met powder, mix it in a small quantity of tank water and soak his food in it. A royal should also be eating a fair amount of driftwood. you should see him scraping it on a regular basis. On that same note, it would be uncommon for a royal to allow himself to get hungry in a tank with wood. they actually do consume the wood. My royal will go out of his way for cucumber and brine shrimp, they seem to be his two favorites.
Dave

 

[wataugachicken]

cook veggies with a clove of garlic, i think that helps to kill off some internal bugs. someone correct me if i'm wrong.