Clown Pleco Looking Kinda Funny? Or Maybe I Am Paranoid...

Hi! I've had my clown pleco for a while now, possibly just passing a year with it. A few weeks ago, my betta of two years died, and now I have become a little anal about my tank and checking on the plec more often than I had before.

I had been wondering for a while if they both had velvet... they both had gold flecks. Eventually I calmed myself down and concluded that they both had natural sparkles since I have seen pictures of fish identical to them with the same sheen. Now that the betta has passed, I have become more worried about this. Just as well, I have noticed small spikes of the tail area of my plec. Maybe I have just never noticed them but they were there the whole time? Or is he stressed? He does not resemble a pinecone (I never thought I would say that lol) and it has been about a week with no additions nor alleviations of the current state of his tail...

Any thoughts?

 

I'd say it is natural coloring.

 

What are you feeding him? Likely you are being paranoid those are his natural colors.

 

I have two pieces of driftwood in there for em' and occasionally some algae wafers. Thanks guys! What do you think about the spikey tail though?

 

I have two pieces of driftwood in there for em' and occasionally some algae wafers. Thanks guys! What do you think about the spikey tail though?

When you google pics there are several pics where the tailfin is kind of clamped to me.

 

Males get spikes (odontodes) on their tails.

 

Males get spikes (odontodes) on their tails.

Thank you so much! Glad to know i'm just paranoid and he is healthy