BradFromAus

Hey,

I have a 30cm pleco, have had him for around 5 years and the last few days he has stopped eating and become really bloated. He also does crazy swimming up to the top of the tank and goes whole head out of the water then just goes back to sucking the side of laying on the bottom.

Water tests fine and tank is well established and cleaned every 2 weeks or so.

He lives in a 120L tank with 2 black ghost knifes and 4 clown loaches and some 4 gourami.

I have started a treatment for internal parasites. It is a white powder I got from the fish shop, I can't remember the name but it started with Z and ended with zole.

Images for tank and healthy pleco

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4159/dscf1101.jpg

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9241/dscf1113.jpg

Any advice would be good.

Thanks

Brad

Melissawater

At almost a 32 gal tank that is really to small for a pleco they really need 55 gal or 208L or bigger for a tank. He is a very beautiful Pleco though I not really sure of exactly what it is, but have you done any research on constipation or dropsy( not positive on spelling)? A bloated tummy is a symptom in both, as well as other factors.
Have you added new fish recently or changed anything in the tank? I am sure there will be some more experienced aquarists coming along that can give you some more ideas. I hope he feels better soon and welcome to FL

Aldric

do you have any bogwood in there for him to nibble on? I know bristlenose need it for their digestion

BradFromAus

Thanks for the replies.

I am saving up for a larger aquarium at the moment for him (hopefully he gets better)

I have added the boat ornament about 3 months ago and I took out some drift wood because it wouldn't fit. I heard they needed drift wood so I put in a new smaller peice 2 days ago.

kribensis keeper

it is possible that he is just gone off his food try searching up for new things to feed him

aquarist48

Hello Brad and Welcome to Fish Lore. Just in case your Pleco (and he's beautiful by the way) is constipated, feed him some thawed frozen (not canned) peas. Remove the skin and let them sink to the bottom. Peas act as a natural laxative and high in protein. My Pleco loves peas and other veggies such as zucchini and cucumber. Too he gets algae wafers from time to time.

You mentioned that your water tests fine. So I assume you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and under 20 nitrates?

Your Clown Loaches can reach 12 inches so i'm glad to hear that you are in search of another, larger tank.

Best wishes and I hope your Pleco has a full, quick recovery! Beautiful tank too!
Keep us posted and have a good weekend.
Ken

BradFromAus

Hey Aquarist48,

Thanks for the reply. I have tried the peas and zucchini the trouble is he is not eating. He has decided to just sit right near where the filter head goes back into the tank.

I have uploaded some photo's I just took tonight. This way you can get an idea what he looks like. It looks like his eyes are 'popping' out.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7618/dscf1604.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2638/dscf1606o.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7347/dscf1607.jpg

aquarist48

Oh wow! I'm so sorry to see that he is so ill. He is truly bloated and a bad case of PopEye or something. When was your last water change? I would go ahead and do a 50% change and add some Prime or Amquel +.
What test kit or strips are you using? What is the ammonia level?

Edit: Dropsy could very well be an issues here as well. If this appears to be the case then I think Euthanasia may be necessary. I hate to give you this bad news. Here is a link you may find necessary, I hope not but....

Humane Fish Euthanasia - how? (post #3)
Wishing you and your fish the best!
Ken

BradFromAus

Hey,

Yeah it is breaking our hearts seeing him like this.

I just did a 20% water change tonight and I don't have prime I have stability. I have added some melafix and going to buy some pimafix tomorrow.

I have Freshwater masters test kit
Has 4 test tubes and 7 different liquids to test pH, high range ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

I retested the nitrates and it read 10. Yesterday I tested ammonia and it was 0ppm

So sad for him at the moment

aquarist48

Brad I edited my post #8 that you may not have seen. I'm glad you're testing with liquids and not strips. Below are a two links on dropsy.

Ken

http://www.flippersandfins.net/Dropsy.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_dropsy

BradFromAus

Thanks for the link.

Such a silly disease dropsy.

aquarist48

I know. It's awful and the way it causes them to suffer is so bad and sad. I think most aquarists have been there. Too, no one knows the cause.
Best wishes and please keep us posted.
Ken

BradFromAus

Thanks everyone for your advice unfortunately our Pleco just died.

Atleast he is not suffering anymore.

aquarist48

Hello Brad. So sorry you lost your Pleco. I know it isn't easy. You are correct that he's not suffering and hopefully he's swimming with the big fish in the big pond above!
Ken

Melissawater

Oh I'm so sorry about your baby, I love plecos Hopefully he is with my pleco (Brain) in the big tank now

Diggly

I am so sorry you lost him I am sure he knows you did everything you could for him and loves you for it, he is at peace now.

Aldric

really sorry to hear u lost him

BradFromAus

Thank you all for your kind replies.

Just a question, which section of the forum is about black ghost knife fish?