What is going on with my pleco?

FryingPan

FryingPan

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Jun 20, 2007
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Ormond Beach, FL
www.ormondphotography.com
This pleco is the only fish in the tank. I recently did a total rescape of my 20 gallon- and subsequently this happened.

Currently, he has a layer of white scum on his skin, several red lesions on his sides, and his fins are disintegrating at an alarming rate.

Water parameters are ph 6.8, nitrate 0, nitrite 0.

The fish threw himself out of the tank the first night and he ended up on the concrete floor for a few minutes. Is this injury sustained from the fall and the somewhat rough handling of putting him back in the tank?

Overall water clarity is not very good right now, and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm going to do a 50% water change tonight using bottled spring water, as I have a sneaking suspicion the water from the tap has something in it.

Suggestions?

DSC_0581resized.JPG
 
By the looks of things i'm pretty sure we can rule out that this was caused from the fall. I've had my 12" pleco land on the floor several times and he's fine, probably helps that they're armored. It seems to me like your pleco has an infection. It's possible that this is parasitic type infection. Keep in mind bacteria attacks from the inside out and parasites from the outside in. If it is parasitic you usually can spot the problem earlier. With bacteria it's often hard to tell until it is almost too late. API offers a good range of products to treat those infections but i would go with several water changes before resorting to medicine. I hate to put medicine in my tank if i don't have to. What concerns me here is that you said this appeared just shortly after setting up your new tank, almost without warning. It's possible that your water could have contained something. Is it well water? Distilled water might be even better to use than the spring water. It's also probably not a bad idea to add some conditioning salt to your tank if you haven't already. This is much different from sea salt but it will help take some of the stress off of the fish as well as help him with his slime coat. One more thing. How often do you do water changes in your tank? Frequent water changes as well as gravel vacuming will help to keep that water clear.
 
Last edited:
cbau45 said:
By the looks of things i'm pretty sure we can rule out that this was caused from the fall. I've had my 12" pleco land on the floor several times and he's fine, probably helps that they're armored. It seems to me like your pleco has an infection. It appears to be of a bacterial nature. Keep in mind bacteria attacks from the inside out and parasites from the outside in. If it is parasitic you usually can spot the problem earlier. With bacteria it's often hard to tell until it is almost too late. API offers a good range of products to treat those infections but i would go with several water changes before resorting to medicine. I hate to put medicine in my tank if i don't have to. You didn't mention anything about your tank size or water temperature though.
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It's a 20 gallon high, 77 degrees.

I also forgot that I've been treating the tank with Melafix. I'll swing by the store and pick up some Pimafix while I'm at it.
 
I would think ammonia, my pleco jumped out of the tank too when the ammonia was high during a cycle (newbie times). When mine jumped out he did look bad when i put him back in, but he ended up being fine.
 
His back fin looks awful. I'd medicate for fin rot/fungus.
 
i had a pleco and two jds have that exact same weird fuzzy white coat. that came from a product i was using. bio coat something. unfortunatly even with great treatment all fish died. its like an infection or fungus.
 
does it look liek this? cause i had high ammonia and my pleco was twitching out now he still seems slow but the redness ahs almost diappeared i have just been doing water changes ...no white scum tho

fish tank 005.jpg
 
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