Common Large Pleco Illness?
Three days ago I notice my large (18 inch) common pleco upside down in his tank. He looked like he was on deaths door. I removed him from that tank and re housed him in another tank. His nitrate and ammonia levels are fine, temp was a little low. Brought up the temp level w/ the new tank change.
I immediately went to google to try and diagnose what he might be suffering from. He had white cotton looking stuff on his nose and under his tail, sunken eyes, torn fins down to the bone and up side down, breathing shallow and slow. Not too much as way of info for his exact problem and combo of them online. No good pictures either to help me. I think I narrowed it down to Fin Rot, Fish Fungus, and Ick.
I then hit the petstore for some type of medication, I want to save him.. I bought Melafix for the open wound, white stuff, and mouth fungus. I also bought Lifeguard All-In-One for a plethora of fungal, bacterial, viral, and parasitic problems. I have since been administering it as prescribed on the packages.
Yesterday he was a least up right but just laying there, Today he’s sucking again and slowly moving about. I don’t think he’s eaten since 3 days ago. He definitely looks like he’s accepting the meds I’m using well. I was excited t wake up this morning and find him sucking against the glass.
Now I’m worried how long it’ll take him to eat? Can he smell the food in the new tank? Does anyway have any other info on what might be his problem? How long will or if he’s fins will regrow? I guess any extra info would be great to help relieve my panic. I’ve had him 3 yrs and have grown him from 2 inches to his full length at 18. I love him and would hate to lose him now cause of something other then old age. Am I on the right track? I’ve also added the best pictures I could take of him today.
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad39/YahooanswerUser/Mobile%20Uploads/1254676245.jpg
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad39/YahooanswerUser/Mobile%20Uploads/1254676482.jpg
Update:
Okay now it’s day 5 and the meds seem to be helping.He’s more active, finally watched him eat:) I did notice his nose is now bloody or so it seems. The spot under his tail looks a lot better, but now the nose is concerning me. My BF did startle him and he was bumping into things so maybe that aggravated it? I know this tank is too small for him but I can’t place him back in his original tank till I cure him.
BTW thanks for the aerosol heads up. NO aerosols are used in my house so that’s not the problem but good idea. I can safely rule that out. I’m not too worried about figuring out why but rather how to cure him. Thanks for the encouraging words so far though, I really appreciate the help and kind words.
New pictures of his nose, I know not the best:
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad39/YahooanswerUser/Mobile%20Uploads/1254780922.jpg
http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad39/YahooanswerUser/Mobile%20Uploads/1254781492.jpg
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You seem pretty dedicated to getting him well; that’s amazing man. More pet owners need to be like you. I know you probably knew this already but when it comes to feeding him all you can do is offer him food. It’s up to him if he wants to eat it or not. I suggest putting a big algae wafer in there for him. The stress of the chemicals used and being transfered to another tank could simply make him not want to eat.
By the sounds of it you’ve done pretty much everything right, it sounds from the description that there was something in the tank, and that a lot of the white stuff could possibly have been slime dropping off the fish, fish slime up when there’s an irritant in the water they become stressed leading to secondary infections and so on, however the fact that he couldn’t get his balance would suggest a toxin in the water from somewhere whether natural,it being 18″ and a real messy eating machine could have infected the water, or someone has been near the tank with an aerosol which a lot of people seem to ignore, this initially will form a layer on the surface but the agitation from the filter will force it to break up into the water and drop down into the lower levels.
Do a 50 pct water change on the original tank, remove the gravel and give it a good cleansing or better still replace it if you can. then the following week remove half your filter medium and replace before reintroducing.
well, plecos sometimes only eat once every week. try adding big algae pellets or “waffers”
and btw, awsome pleco. nice colour/pattern.