Please Help!! I'm Worried About My Loach!

[PlecoCollector]

I have a Chinese Hillsteam Loach/Butterfly Loach/Hong Kong Pleco (Whatever you want to call it). He looks like the one pictured in my avatar, but he's coloured a little lighter.
Anyway, he loves hanging out on my filter (a Whisper In-Tank) and doesn't go anywhere else. He's usually on the bottom of it (Or in it), but today he was on the side where the eletrical cord enters on the side. His upper left flipper thing (Sorry, I don't know any technical terms) was beating up and down, which seemed odd since he usually just glides, and he wasn't moving too much. Out of worry, I took my net and gave him a little nudge, which eventually caused him to move. (Though at first he just sort of twitched) He glued himself to the side of my tank and I noticed a red spot under him where his first flipper thing ends. I'm assuming he was caught in the filter, though I really can't see how. It looks like it's irritated and he's breathing a little faster than normal. I'm very worried that it could be serious. (This is the first time that I've ever seen anything like this, so I'm nervous) Does anyone know what this could be, and/or if there is anything I can do for him? I'm terribly worried about my little Leecheh!
Thanks!

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

The red thing in his belly is most likely his heart, which you should be abel to see beating. His side fins should flap almost constantly, as they use these to move water out from underneath of them to help create a vacuum of sorts which keeps them glued to the surface they are on.

 

[PlecoCollector]

I know that his heart is in the middle of him, but this spot is off to the side, and has a darker colour than his heart.
I grabbed a picture off of a site and marked the area where it is:

Also, when his flipper/fin was moving, it wasn't in the usual flutter manner, it was really beating up and down further than I thought he could move it. (But I'm not sure)
Thank you very much though, you're probably right about him just trying to stay attached to the filter. =) The red spot it still a worry to me, but it doesn't seem quite as bad as it did yesterday.

 

[Salty Fishes]

It might just be a small injury/irritation. If I were you, I'd add some Melafix to the tank and keep a close eye on him.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

One of my hillsteram loaches developed some red at the tips of his fin on one side, but it looked more like a color maturation, albeit asymmetrical, than an injury.

Who are his tank mates? Also, what do you feed them? I have heard that fish need lots of protein to do fin repair. And I have personally seen cories grow back ripped fins faster when I have them on a high protein diet. Good food goes a LONG WAY for health of fish.

 

[PlecoCollector]

His tank mates don't even notice him, I don't think I've ever seen them interact with him at all. I feed them normal Tropical Fish Flakes and the occasional Algea Chip.
My one pleco was nearly eaten by my turtle (no longer together x-X) and his fins grew back beautifully within a month, so I'm hoping because of that, that they're getting enough protein. I'll go out tonight and get them another variety of food so they don't always have the same thing. I need to get that Melafix stuff anyway =)

I was able to get a blurry (Sorry) pic of him today. You can see the red mark in his reflection. Please pardon the quality.
Leecheh and His Red Mark

Thanks again for all your help

 

[Lotus]

Do you have a sharp substrate he may have hurt himself on? A little Melafix will help with the healing, but other than that, there's not a lot you can do.

By the way, if you need to catch a hillstream and he/she is stuck on the side of the tank, put your net over him, and with the other hand use a credit card to slide under him and flip him/her gently into the net. It seems to work better than bashing them around with a net.

 

[Erik]

Do you have a sharp substrate he may have hurt himself on? A little Melafix will help with the healing, but other than that, there's not a lot you can do.

if you do have sharp substrate you can take it out and add sand, my loaches love sand

 

[PlecoCollector]

Well, he seems to be doing better today. He's gone back to his usual spot on the bottom of the filter. I'm still checking on him constantly to make sure he's alright, but it looks as if he's improving.
Thanks again for all the suggestions, I appreciate them all!