Brutish06

I'm kind of a noob aquarium owner, and only came into contact with this one through inheritance. It's a 55 gallon tank, and I have the pleco sharing it with two mollies, two platies, and two tetras. They all get along fine. I've had the tank for about a month, and I was (apparently wrongly) told that I wouldn't have to change the water in it or anything like that.

But when I came home earlier today, my pleco was laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. Probably the first time I've seen him without his face stuck to the glass. He wasn't moving, but he was still breathing. Probably pretty stupid of me, but I very gently nudged him with the net to see if I could get him to move; it worked. He went kind of berserk and swam away from the net, except his fins didn't look like they were working. They're...like, tucked in against his side, and sort of stiff looking. They're kind of whitish around the edges, and they look smaller than they used to be, like something's eating away at them.

Since then, he moves occasionally, but his fins still don't seem to be working, and he's spending a lot of time laying on his back. I'm not really sure what to do about this. I've tested the ammonia levels and the pH balance, and it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong in that regard, but the water's awfully cloudy lately.

Is there any saving him?

Beth1965

Sorry to hear you're having issues with your pleco. What were the readings of the amonia, nitrate and nitrites?
Beth

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!! Im also sorry about your sick plec

heres some links you can read up on that might help you along the way

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm

ask any questions you might have after reading those..we have allot of members that will gladly help

Brutish06

nitrite is 0ppm, and nitrate is 10 (people at the fish store told me that was okay). Ammonia, though, is apparently about .5, and I'm not really sure what to do about that. Could that be what's giving him issues?

Lucy

I'm sorry your pleco isn't feeling well.
Ammonia could be causeing it since it's toxic to fish.
I'd suggest daily water changes until your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite with some nitrates showing.
You might want to consider getting your own test kit. The API master kit is very accurate and more reliable then the strips.

What chemicals/salt are you adding to the tank?

Shawnie

yes deffinately the ammonia can do it...if you can find some prime, amquel+ or ammo lock, do daily 40% water changes until you are cycled again ...it will make him feel much better and the product will detox the ammonia for 24 hours until your next water change

Brutish06

Okay, did the ammo-lock thing and changed out a good bit of the water. Vacuumed some up, and it was pretty dirty. Gonna do so again tomorrow! Is there anything immediate I should notice?

Thank you guys so much for your help as well. I was worried I was gonna get run out for being a terrible fish owner!

aquarist48

Hello and Welcome to Fish Lore. Sorry to hear you're having some problems. As mentioned above, keep doing the water changes until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-10 nitrates. Then your tank is cycled. Adding the amo lock or Prime or Amquel + will help detox the ammonia for 24 hours until it's time for the next water change. This may take a while but it will help to keep your fish alive. Even though you've added the amo lock or other chemical mentioned above you will still get readings of ammoina but not to worry for at least 24 hours.
Best of luck and I hope everything turns out ok. Anytime you have questions by all means ask! We're here to help.

Brutish06

Sorry, I don't mean to spam the forum or anything.

But I vacuumed and changed out some water again today. It's really cloudy and gross, which is probably due to it not being cleaned out for a long time before I got it. Ammonia still showed up when I checked the water, so I added more ammo-lock.

Poor pleco got nudged accidentally with the hose, though, and he's having a -really- hard time swimming. He was struggling really hard, and ended up tipping upside-down, fighting his way up to the surface, and all kinds of things. Since yesterday, he's just been laying on the floor of the tank, so I don't think he's eaten anything. His fins and tail look like they're getting worse (I can't be absolutely sure about this), and he has a few white patches on his nose that I'm not sure about. It also seems like he's breathing really fast, but I don't know how fast he breathes normally.

I'm really worried about the poor guy. Is there anything else I can do?