PLECO DYING PLEASE HELP

My Pleco has been hanging out by the filter, and his one side appears to be raw. I told my husband I thought he was stuck, so we moved the filter and he did swim out, but it seems like he has no suction. He went right back over to the same spot in the tank, it's like he is using the filter to keep him pushed against the glass. If anyone knows anything about this please let, me know. We have had him for over five years, and I want to do anything to help. DESPERATE!!!!!!  :'(

 

Can you post your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? What other fish are in the tank? It may just be age. I see you have another post on this. Are you still trying to medicate with the maracyn? You may need to medicate with maracyn I and maracyn II combined to keep him from getting secondary infection while allowing him to heal.

 

I know this will sound bad, but I have nothing to test the water. We have a 20 gallon hexagon tank and we only have our Pleco and one other fish in there and I am not even sure what the name of the other fish is. (I know I'm completely uneducated when it comes to the fish world) I have recently been starting to read more about aquariums and different types of fish. My pleco's belly also looks like it is swollen, any ideas there?  ??? I'm sorry if I sound like a bad fish parent :'( I never expected to get this attached. I bought some stress coat for his raw side, do you think that will help?

 

The stress coat might help a little bit.  How often do you do water changes in the tank? A small water change right now might also help.

 

Thanks for getting back to me, we just did a 50% water change tonight and put in a new filter along with the stress coat. For now he is floating on the top of the water with his belly up, this is nothing new, he has done this since the day we got him. There have been times if he is calm enough he lets us rub his belly.

 

How often are you changing your filter media? That media is a vital key to the stability of your tank. You really need ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests to determine a lot about what's going on in your tank. I recommend an aquarium pharmaceuticals master test kit which can be bought online for around $15.00. Sometimes you can get them for that price locally on sale, or copy the PetSmart site page that shows the kit and the price, take it with you, and they should honor it at your local PetSmart. When you change the filter media, you also discard a lot of the good bacteria your tank needs to maintain control of ammonia and nitrites. If you are changing this media every week or month, that may be part of your problem because you could be causing "minI cycles" to occur in your tank which is hard on your fish. Unless your water flow is sluggish or restricted, keep the nasty ugly filter media in place, and then if you can clean it by swishing it in old tank water when necessary to keep the water flow good going through it, your tank will continue to have a good bacteria colony. Now that you have new media in there, it will have to start over, and your ammonia and nitrites will rise. The master test kit will help you by letting you know when to do water changes. Before you get the master test kit, I'd continue to do at least 20% water changes every day, (don't vacuum the gravel everyday) just to keep the water super clean.

 

I can't thank you enough for all of your advice, this morning when I woke up he was fine. He now has his suction back and is not staying in the same spot. Thanks again and I promise to have myself better educated on this stuff, I never knew there was so much to learn. Thanks again, I truly do appreciate it.