Lindsay

Hi everyone, many of you know of me in here already. I'm the one with the panaque fish. He had some kind of infection a while back and was pooping a lot, and didn't move around a lot. Well now, he's still not moving around much but he is moving around a bit more. And now, he's making these strange movements with his body. He spreads his fins far from his body almost like he's stretching? Does anyone have any idea what this means? He also seems to stay by the heater a lot of the time. Does this mean he's cold? The tank is about 80 degrees which is what's suppossed to be I thought.

I'm still changing 25% of the water almost daily and feeding him greens like cucumber, zucchini, and algae tablets.

Please help!

Thanks, Lindsay

Butterfly

Is he stretching his fins like they feel cramped or is he stretching to look bigger and more aggressive to the other fish? Mine flips all his fins out and looks bigger and the other fish will scoot off and leave him alone.
carol

Shawnie

im not familiar with them but could he be trying to get air also? with the tank not cycled yet that could be also whats going on ...good job on the water changes...did you get your kit yet to test it?

Butterfly

OOOPS missed that. That could definitely be the case.
Carol

Lindsay

Hmmm no I haven't gotten the kit. I haven't had one before while having this fish. I am changing the water almost daily, feed him almost daily and clean the filter weekly. There is only him in the tank at this point. I wanted to get him some friends but I wanted to wait until he was 100% better before I bought anymore.

Butterfly

You really need a test kit so you know what is going on in your tank. It will give you a better idea of when the cycle is finished and when you can stop doing daily water changes.
Good for you for not buying more fish yet. That was an excellent decision.
Carol

Lindsay

Well how will I know when he's better? I mean he's moving around more, he turns upside down, he eats. He's almost back to normal it seems.

Butterfly

If your tank is not cycled yet and he is continuing to add waste to the tank the ammonia will spike. This will keep him from getting better. With a test kit you will know whether you need to do a larger water change or if a smaller one is good enough. When he is in a stable environment he will act more normal. Not knowing what kind of Panaque he is makes it hard to know what normal behaviour is www.planetcatfish.com is a good place to go for ID. Keep us posted.
Carol

Lindsay

I actually knew the exact name of him, he's Panaque nigrolineatus. Royal Pleco I believe with red eyes.

I will go and get the water tested as soon as I can.

Butterfly

Thanks for the Scientific name. According to www.planetcatfish.com he needs some wood to rasp on. Those Plecos that need wood need it to aid digestion. It also sys their very secrative so maybe they don't move around al ot. Very beautiful Pleco. Here's the profile
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=151
Carol

Lindsay

I've actually provided him with wood to chew on already. Thanks for the profile. :-)

Butterfly

Great! I bet he appreciates you taking such good care of him
When you get your water tested, if the LFS does it for you ask them what the numbers are. So many times they say "Oh, it's fine" and don't give you any information. welcome for the profile, didn't know if you had seen it or not. So many pics of the gorgeous royal.
Carol

Lindsay

I don't speak the language here so will have to bring a local with me to the store to ask them for me for the specs. Thanks for all your advice, and once I find them out I'll be sure to let you know.

Butterfly

Where is here? Must be interesting being somewhere you are having to learn a new language.
Glad to help
Carol