Burnt Pleco!

laurac94 · May 1, 2013

My pleco has been sitting against the heater for hours and has been burned, it looks worse than yesterday
Any advice??!
The first pic is from yesterday and the second from today. Luckily it has moved to the other side of the tank now so shouldnt get burnt any more, should I leave him or treat with something? Never had a burnt fish before :-(

fluttermoth · May 1, 2013

If you keep your water in tip top, pristine condition, he might very well heal up perfectly alright on his own; fish really do have amazing healing properties!

But you must keep a look for for any secondary infections that may take their chance; especially fungus, which commonly attacks wounds where the fish's slime coat, that normally protects it, is thin or missing.

If you see any white fluffy growths around the wound, then you'll probably need an anti fungal medicine, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

And will you make sure you get yourself a heater guard? Plecs are daft about sitting next to heaters, so he'll most likely do it again at some point. Heater guards are usually very cheap

laurac94 · May 4, 2013

This is him today, it has gone pink from a white flaky color, should I be worried or is it healing?
He also seems not to be eating as I've had a little build up of algae on the back pane of glass.
I have given him his own cave which he seems to have taken to and got a heater protector.
Any advice?

This Old Spouse · May 4, 2013

Just follow what fluttermoth said, and make sure the water is very clean. Keep a close eye on him, treat as she recommends.

laurac94 · May 5, 2013

I've put him in a hospital tank now on his own with an anti fungal and anti bacterial tonic because it started to get a white fluff growing on it :-(

I plan to do 20% water changes every day so hopefully it will clear up soon ;-)

fluttermoth · May 5, 2013

Oh no; I was hoping that wouldn't happen

He may still heal up, if you can stop the fungus; best of luck with him.

laurac94 · May 6, 2013

Ok so just another quick question, I've currently got him in a 40litre hospital tank, I plan to change 10 litres of this everyday, do I then 'top up' the medication? The bottle says to dose every 3-4 days but I want to keep the tank clean

so do I put 10litres worth of medication in the tank when I do the water change?

Supraman · May 6, 2013

I would assume yes.

By adding new water you are diluting the recommended dose so it would make sence to me to add 10L worth of meds. To me it would be like when you do a water change and add X amount of declorinator to treat the new water.

Oh and best of luck with the pleco I hope he gets better

laurac94 · May 6, 2013

Yeah that's exactly what I thought but it's always best to check ;-) thanks!

Supraman · May 6, 2013

Not a problem

laurac94 · May 12, 2013

Hi again
So I've been treating my pleco (fluffy) for a week now and the infection has cleared up, but now there is a rather large gaping hole where it was and it looks to be around twice the size it was to begin with. So im not sure how to go ahead now, should I continue to treat with the medication as I have been until it completely heals? And can I add anything else to the water to promote healing?

Kinda got a blurry pic..

fluttermoth · May 13, 2013

Sorry he's not improving, laura

I would carry on treating him, for the moment. Burns often look worse before they get better, as there can be a lot of dead flesh that takes a while to come off

Maybe give him a week, as see how he's looking then? If he's still not improving, it might be time to think about euthanising him :-(

laurac94 · May 13, 2013

Yeah that's what I was thinking because he must be in alot of pain :-(

atleast the infection seems to have cleared up though so that is promising ;-)
I'll give an update in a week or so ;-)

Thanks.

Axyadbad · May 13, 2013

I've been looking at this from when it started (I commented in when you posted in the pleco section). Fingers crossed laura it must be awful for both of you

laurac94 · May 19, 2013

Looks like I've got some really good news ;-) the wound looks to have laid down some new flesh and the skin looks to be closing up. It's kinda like the equivalent of a scab at the moment, im still doing daily water changes and have lowered the dose of the meds ;-) hopefully he will be back in the main tank in a week or 2, can't wait because I can't believe how fast algae grows!
Thanks for the support guys! ;-)

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