Hi, I'm hoping someone can give me some info on how to save my Pleco. He's 5 years old lived with a black moor who passed away last week suddenly. There were no signs of stress. I recently cleaned the 40 gallon tank, set up the same as I always have. He's now alone in the tank and is getting almost fungus looking marks on him. Do I change the water again in case it's the water? or move him into a smaller place to medicate?
Sick Pleco
- Thread starter AmyKc
- Start date
- Tags please help sick fish
hi there. welcome to mft! let's get started with a few more questions..
- when you said you recently cleaned the 40 gallon...was it a complete water change? and you completely cleaned the filters too?
- can you take a picture? what color is the fungus?
if you opt to medicate, you need to do it in a smaller tank.
- when you said you recently cleaned the 40 gallon...was it a complete water change? and you completely cleaned the filters too?
- can you take a picture? what color is the fungus?
if you opt to medicate, you need to do it in a smaller tank.
My official guess is that the cleaning was maybe too vigorous and took out a bit too much of your beneficial bacteria, so the tank is cycling again. What are the ammonia / nitrite readings? If you have ammonia showing up, do a water change again and/or add an ammonia detoxifier such as Prime or AmQuel. Another water change is not going to hurt anything.
If you are sure the issue with the pleco is a fungus, there are medications that can specifically target that. A lot of times, just good quality water and a low-stress environment is enough to help a fish fight off / heal from a lot of maladies.
If you are sure the issue with the pleco is a fungus, there are medications that can specifically target that. A lot of times, just good quality water and a low-stress environment is enough to help a fish fight off / heal from a lot of maladies.