Common Pleco Constipated For One Week

[CJ_Snooze]

Hi All

I'm new to this site, I've been keeping fish for nearly a year and my common pleco is my main fish - I absolutely love him!

Tank: 180 Litres,
Filter: Undergravel and Fluval 4 maintained regularly
Air: 3ft long bubble curtain
Fishmates: 8 Pakistani Loaches, 3 Histrionic Loaches, 1 Hong Kong Pleco, 2 bristlenose pleco
Water: Amonia nil, Nitrate and Nitrite trace, PH 7
Aquarium salt added one teaspoon for each 5 litres for each 5 litres changed. weekly changes of 10% with food and waste cleaned daily
Driftwood, planted with gravel substrate

Fish are fed twice daily, small number of algae pellets as well as an algae wafer broken into four (for the plecos), one fresh piece of cucumber added to the tank via clip daily and shelled peas every other day.

I'm very concerned about my common pleco, he is a handsome specimen and interacts, often being fed at the surface by hand, although he is extremely shy and does hide quite a bit during the day.

Last week we noticed that he was getting a little frustrated with the other fish in the tank at night time feeding time so increased the food in the tank, always fishing out what isn't eaten the following morning along with pleki's waste which is often all over the tank! However, last wednesday we had run out of algae wafers as I dropped the new pot and cat go there before I could salvage, So, to compensate, we added two cubes of freeze dried tubiflex in the tank for all the fish along with the peas and also the piece of fresh cucumber. However, Pleki ate both cubes! He pretty much swallowed one of them whole and I'd only seen the tail end of him eating the second! The following morning, no waste food or pleki waste product. I then added peas to the tank and a very tiny amount of algae wafer for the loaches and kept a close eye on him and noticed on Friday still no waste product, acting normal, eating normal but showed signs of swelling (although he always had a little podgy tum rather than flat as my friends pleco has).

I tried to fast him but he was thrashing around for food and so I have only fed him cucumber and peas, and only fed the algae pellets to the loaches whilst Pleki is asleep during the day.

Monday (day 5) still only eating peas and cucumber, eating and behaving normally, still swollen although not bloated. Local aquatics store advised epsom bath which I was scared to do but moved my monster into our 20 litre medicine tank which is fully cycled and mimics same water parameters as main tank. After allowing him a little time to settle, I then added 1/16th of teaspoon epsom salts to his water, added aeration cubes and curtain and stayed up with him during the night as I'd been told that this was a low level bath and could stay in there until he pooped. After being in there for 12 hours, I then added some more epsom to a total of 1/8th teaspoon but, he was getting so frustrated not being able to swim around in his medicine tank, he was becoming stressed and so I removed him after 4 hours of the bath, I can't see him that upset!

I moved him back into his main tank and he was his jovial self again this morning. However, day 6 and still no waste product. Still eating and swimming around as normal, still has a more rounded than normal tum which is only really apparent when he is on the gravel and leaning up on his front fins (which he used to do before) but now his bulge is on the floor whereas before he sat like an aeroplane!

I'm very very stressed about losing my fish, I've now added some raw and some boiled potato to the tank in an effort to shift his blockage but, to no avail.

As I type its 2:15am and this is my third night up with him and i'm so panicked that i'm going to lose him and starting to feel helpless!

I am uncertain whether to try a more intense salt bath but cannot seem to find anyone or any sound advice regarding dosage so am scared to know what to do. I am loathed to use medication as the last time I medicated the tank fully, we nearly lost him.

Can anyone please help me? thank you and my apologies for the long winded message. thanks again, Carolina

 

[Tolak]

Any time I've had constipation issues with fish I've used a 10 gallon tank for a longer term treatment. Start with one teaspoon of epsom salt per 10 gallons, add a teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons. For a short term dip, 5-10 minutes, 1 teaspoon per gallon works well.

You can also mix 1 teaspoon of epsom salt with around a liter of water, spray or sprinkle on food & let it soak in.

Per Herwig's book on fish pharmacology, 30,000 ppm in dry food for 3 days, or up to a 1.5% solution for a short term dip, 5-10 minutes.

 

[CJ_Snooze]

Thank you ever so much for your help and advice, much of my concern has been due to a few people in stores who have offered advice which has been varied but have never actually used the methods themselves and i'm worried about putting my chap under unnecessary stress; which I feel I had done in the medicine tank which really is too small for him I feel as he's very active indeed (despite being under the weather).

I'm so worried as my first ever bn wasnt productive waste wise and was a little swollen when we purchased from a store and bloated up and died within three days.

I will try the food soak now as he's dancing on the front wall of the tank and is looking for food. I will also look to swap my fish from my 30 litre corner tank which will be a better size for him and do the longer term soak.

There does seem to be much varied information as looking at pictures of my pleco he doesn't look like the common pleco, he is brown leopard print with huge sailfin, so i'm not even too sure exactly what type of pleco he is!

He isn't eating the algae wafer today or the peas, would it harm him if I soaked a tiny piece of tubiflex in the epsom salt as I'm thinking this would definitely make it into his tummy. Apologies if this sounds like a daft question given it was the tubiflex gorging (and my ignorance) that got us into this mess!

Thanks again, very much appreciated.

 

[Tolak]

I would avoid the tubifex, or any meaty food for that matter. Most commonly found plecs have a longer digestive tract, ideal for vegetable matter, but not suited for something heavy in protein such as tubifex.

I've found that plecs love zucchini, or most any squash. Parboil, a minute in a cup of water in the microwave works well, let cool & remove the seeds. You may want to try letting the zucchini dry a bit on a paper towel, then soak for a while in the epsom/water mix. I do this with frozen brine shrimp & fish that have no problem with a more meaty diet.

 

[CJ_Snooze]

Thank you so much for your help, I tried to buy some zucchini today but to no avail, I will grab some first thing in the morning. I'm starting to realise that my fish survival seems to be more luck than judgement! Feel awful but will definitely ensure this doesn't happen again. Will ensure measurements are correct for food and bath and will keep a watchful eye on him, so worried I'm not sure how much longer my little chap can hang on for before falling foul to complications. I'm so pleased to have found this forum as i've been struggling for the last 6 days! Thanks again.

 

[CJ_Snooze]

Sorry, just one more thought, if I soak the food and put in the community tank, will this be harmful to the other fish if they digest it too? I'm more concerned about my two bristlenose as one of them will literally eat anything and everything in the tank! Thanks again and my apologies for the many questions!

 

[Tolak]

No problem with all the questions, that's why we're here! It won't hurt the other fish, it's a very natural remedy for things such as constipation, one I use in conjunction with other meds in a variety of situations. Wild caught fish in particular can come in with a variety of internal protozoans & other undesirable things, epsom is part of the worming procedure I use on these fish.

 

[CJ_Snooze]

Quick update, still no movement on the movement front! I've been feeding corguettes soaked in epsom salts, i've done the dip (which really upset Pleki) and the other bn's are decorating like crazy!! I've tried brocolli, cucumber, peas, corguette's, melon everything! My little chap is still swollen, still with us and still not passing anything...but still eating!

I'm wondering if he is passing anything but maybe quite small as there appears to be some very small crinkly bits in the tank which appear to be too thick for the other guys ... my only concern is that usually he's going for britain and these are very very small indeed!

We're now on day 12 and still no sign of what I can say is movement from my guy ... the epsom seemed to be definitely making the other guys go though!

Anyone out there whom can advise anything else? horrid and heartless man in my local aquatics store told me to just let nature take it's course and if he weren't going, he'd probably not be with us much longer, daughter and I left in tears! another not so helpful advised euthanising him! I'm not doing that either, he's happy and healthy in himself but does have a swollen tum.

Thanks all!

 

[CJ_Snooze]

Quick update - day 17 and he's finally starting being productive again!! Amazingly enough of all the things I put in the tank, i've no idea what actually worked as I couldn't use any more epsom, he'd stopped eating his peas etc. although he had started to eat the daphnia and tropical fish food flakes when I transferred our Platys into the main tank - he has been going crazy for their food - even during the day coming out to eat them from the surface! So, i'm not actually sure what worked but he's getting back to normal although, all produce seems to be mossy in appearance! I'm assuming this is due to it sitting stagnant maybe? I'll have to keep an eye on him for a little longer but a massive thank you to help, support and advice; i've learned more about my pleco in the last couple of weeks with regard to different foods and behaviours etc, than i have in the last year. THANK YOU!!