Gold Nugget Pleco Disesase

[knez011]

I bought a gold nugget pleco 4 weeks ago and added to a 30-gallon tank with two perfectly healthy clown loaches and two small tetras. The conditions in the tank are: 74F, Ph 6.3, Alkalinity 150 ppm, chlorine 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10 ppm, ammonia 0, Total Hardness 100ppm. At the beginning pleco went onto eating algae off the pipes and the walls of the tank. Good start. After that, stopped eating. Did not care for sweet potato or the algae wafers, or blood worms, or shrimp sinking pellets. Unfortunately, my loaches are little pigs so the food never lays around for a long time. Within last 4 days, it has developed grayish spots on its body and it belly has sunken. It also became more lethargic, albeit it would still be sucking on the vertical walls of the tank. Did not offer very much resistance when I moved him into a smaller tank. I raised the Ph to 6.8 and the temperature to 80F (I used the water from my established tank, so the other specs are same as above). Still not eating. Please help me with your advice. Pictures are attached. Thanks!

 

[xingumike]

Even 80 is the lower end of the temperature scale for these fish, 74 is way to low. I would up it again and increase aeration

Baryancistrus are bloody hard to get through the first few months, it is just so hard to offer the right conditions for them.

By the time you get to sunken belly it is too far gone ime.

I am not particularly au fait with meds but I would have thought the fix it twins with something to get rid of internal parasites would be a good start although if the issue is lack of gut flora then you are not going to be able to help I don't think.

Going to PM you a link, I would ask the advice there as well, much more knowledgeable people on disease side than me.

Edit - you are not going to be able to read PM's as you only have one post.

Post this in the right section at http/www.plecoplanet.com/forum/

Mods, sorry but I would rather the OP get plec specific advice asap