Bristlenose Pleco with blisters (?)

[shookyjr]

I just finished my monthly 50% water change/gravel vac, and noticed my bristlenose pleco has blisters or something on her face and side fin, and she is breathing rapidly. She was fine yesterday but I didn’t see her right before the water change. I isolated her with melafix and low light but I’m not sure what’s up with her. Any ideas/suggestions?

There is some algae growth in the tank (you can see it on the driftwood), but nothing ridiculous. It’s a 29 gallon tank with air stone and Aqueon Quietflow 50 filter. The tank had a rough patch- recovered from Cyanobacteria over the summer and ich about 2 months ago, but parameters and temperature are now fine. Nitrate was a little high but not crazy before the water change. She shares the tank with 2 snails, live plants, a betta, and 4 platies. She’s about 4 years old. Nothing new has been introduced into the tank. Her behavior had changed over the last week or so - she stopped hiding in her usual spot and has been out more, but I thought she was just happy that the tank was doing well.

 

[Colin_T]

Absolutely no idea what caused that but it could be blisters if the fish got burnt by the aquarium heater. Bristlenose sometimes sit on the glass under heaters and can get burnt.

There are no diseases I know of that cause blisters to appear overnight. Cysts can appear over a few days to a week but the fish don't normally get a bunch of them, they might get one and that is it.

There is a disease called Dermocystidium but it normally affects tetras and produces small clear blisters with a white worm thing in them. This is not Dermocystidium.

Melafix isn't going to help with this so stop using it.

I would do a big (75%) water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week to reduce any pathogens in the water and monitor the fish. If it changes, post more pictures.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the aquarium.

Maybe increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen level in the water.

 

[shookyjr]

Thanks for the input! I have her in QT but I’ll keep doing water changes in the main tank and will stop melafix. There’s no heater in the tank - water stays between 70-72°F. These are pics of her 2 days ago; I don’t think I see anything amiss in them. She jammed herself under the driftwood when I was vacuuming the gravel today - I wonder if she hurt herself?

 

[Colin_T]

The latest pictures show a big improvement with the blisters gone. I would monitor and see how it goes over the next few months. If it comes back then update this thread.

 

[shookyjr]

No, she looks the same today…those pics are from a few days ago. Happily, she is more active and she made it through the night though!

 

[Colin_T]

Ok gotcha. latest pics are before the blisters.

Just monitor and keep an eye on them and see what happens.