Mary Jane

I just got back from vacation, and I had a friend take care of my fish. Well, I don't kow much about fish, and neither does my friend. But as the picture can show, my pleco has an odd white/silvery/transperant thing spreading on it's head. My other fish are unaffected. I moved my pleco out of the tank for a better picture of the illness. Can anyone give me some pointers? I have never had a problem with my fish before.

Attached Images

	He's sick!.jpg (73.9 KB, 68 views)
	Ill Pict.jpg (74.4 KB, 58 views)

Mary Jane

I got back from vacation, and found my pleco looking like this (see pictures) Neither my friend who was changing the water and feeding my fish while I was gone know what happened, or what is wrong. my pleco has an odd white/silvery/transperant thing spreading on it's head. My other fish are unaffected. I moved my pleco out of the tank for a better picture of the illness. Can anyone give me some pointers? I have never had a problem with my fish before. Than again, I have only had fish for the last five months.

Attached Images

	He's sick!.jpg (73.9 KB, 41 views)
	Ill Pict.jpg (74.4 KB, 35 views)

kra-z-fishmumm

first,,, even one h. pleco is gonna get too big for a 10g tank. second they are HUGE waste producers,,, so your ammonia and nitrites are probably way too high. Do you test your water? API master water tester is great. You need to take the healthy pleco and molly back to the store, or buy a 55g + tank for each pleco. They can get up to 18" and the rule of thumb is 1" of adult fish to 1gallon of water, but since these guys produce so much waste, triple that. that can cause nitrite and ammonia poisoning. The health of your other fish you really need to take them back or find new homes for them.

COBettaCouple

I'd recommend getting an api master freshwater testing kit. In a tank that size, a pleco is going to put strain on his internal organs from stunted growth and the water chemistry is probably going to have ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

What do you treat his tap water with, how often do you clean the tank and what's his diet?

susitna-flower

Hi Mary Jane, WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

What kind of Pleco is this? Just so I can figure how large it should get.

I would say it is Body Fungus, which is described as a bacterial infection that is gray-white covering most or part of the body, or white or gray patches. It is Columnaris bacterial infection. and can be treated with Maracyn. The active ingrediant is erythromycin.

Sorry your fish is sick, I hope he recovers.....

Mary Jane

I guess I will be heading to the store as soon as I can. I'll be picking up a bigger tank and a water testing kit. Before I went away on vacation, I was changing the water (50%) once a week. I feed them three algae disks a day plus a pinch of flake food that was given to me by the old owner. Not too sure what kind of flake food it is because it is in a plastic bag. I have changed the water (50%) twice since I first posted my problem. All the fish seem to be eating well and swimming around as if nothing is wrong. Even my pleco seems to be happy. Oh, Tank is a suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus).

Maracyn, is that a brand name? I was hoping to pick it up (just in case) when I get the new tank.

susitna-flower

Mardel is the brand name. As I stated Maracyn is the medicine name, but the ingredient is erythromycin. There are other brands that produce this for aquarium use, I just particularly like the Maracyn as it is formulated in such a way as to be absorb-able by the fish.....

Butterfly

Welcome to FishLore Mary Jane! We have people of all ages and experience levels from all over the world so welcome again.
Even with two H. plecostomous three algae disks a day seems to be a bit much. Since feeding in the wild is so oportunistic fish tend to eat while they can in case there isn't any food later. Most fish don't eat every day in the wild and even though our fish are not still in the wild I feel this characteristic is still there in their genes somewhere making them eat all they can while they can. So a disk broken in half(1/2 for each) given in the morn and evening every other day and a piece of fresh veggie about 2x a week would be good. Now all that to say, the more they eat the more they..... contribute to the bioload of their tank. Those 50% water changes are difinitely a good idea but maybe 2x a week until a larger tank can be cycled would be a better idea.
Most plecos enjoy a bit of fresh veggies occasionally too. here is a thread I think you will enjoy
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/fi...cucumbers.html
Carol

Mary Jane

Thank all of you who replied to my post. I have been doing a lot of reading since I found this sight.

I am not giving up on Tank (my sick sucker fish), but I gave away his buddy, 'Ncleaner (the other sucker fish). This is only temp. till I get a bigger aquarium.

Butterfly

Very wise decision. It's not always easy doing whats best for our fish. Keep up the water changes and keep us posted on how he does.We really are interested
carol