Swollen sixteen year old pleco

I have seen some threads about swollen plecos but they were all in regards to new tanks or young plecos.I have a sixteen year old approx. 8" long ,pleco. This is the first time it has swollen up like that it almost looks like a puffer fish. It is not listing to either side and still moves around gracefully. It lives in a 30 Gal. octogon tank with two gouramis. The water temp is at a constant 78 degrees. I feed it tropical fish flakes and Wardley shrimp pellets.
Is it just old or is there something I can do for it?
Like I mentioned, I have had it for sixteen years and I did not change the diet or brand of food.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to FishLore! I'm sorry it's not for a better reason.

I believe diets high in protein can cause constipation in herbivores and omnivores. Unless there is a really high amount of algae in your tank, it sounds like your pleco is eating exclusively protein-rich foods. I'm definitely not an expert, but in most constipation cases, usually it is recommended to fast for a few days, then try feeding cooked and skinned peas to act as a laxative - though obviously such a large pleco will require more pea than most of the fish this is recommended to!

Hopefully someone with experience with large fish will be able to offer more advice. Best of luck with your pleco!

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

What are your water parameters? Make sure there is no measurable ammonia or nitrite as they can compound the bloating/constipation issue.

I agree with the above. A long term diet of protein rich foods is not good for an herbivore. Definitely withhold all foods for 3 days. Then feed shelled peas exclusively. Hold frozen peas in your hand to thaw them. Then pinch the skin so the fleshy inside part comes out. This is what is fed to the fish.

After he recovers, as well as with your other plecos, foods that should be offered are small piece of cucumber or zucchini; pea pods; green beans; broccoli; romaine lettuce. Fresh vegys are good for these fish. I'd supplement the fresh foods with algae or vegy wafers and spirolina based foods. Definitely stop the flakes and shrimp pellets.

If this doesn't help to get his bowels moving again try an Epsom Salt bath.

Do you know what type of pleco you have? I ask because he appears to be a common pleco. At 16 years of age he should be 2 foot or longer, so appears to have been stunted in a 30G tank.

Hopefully you've caught this in time and he is able to recover.

 

I think the stunting has finally caught up to the poor fish. It can be hard to tell with plecos but that looks like dropsy, aka, organ failure.

 

I have sad news, I found Plucky dead this morning. But before I buried it I opened it up to see the source of the inflammation. When I made the incision a light yellow liquid drained out of the stomach cavity. After further examination I found the intestine almost transparent and I think I even saw a part that was ruptured.
Thanks to all who responded.

 

Very sad. Sorry for your loss

 

I'm sorry for your loss

 

sounds like a fluid build up from organ failure. Caused more then likley by stunting. Sorry for your loss