Malnourished Gibby Pleco

[skiltrip]

I have a Gibby Pleco that i've had for a few years. He hasn't grown much at all, and he's severely under-nourished i think. he's not a healthy spotted brown like he should be. his body gets gray/white patches on it... almost looks like "dry skin". he's always been this way though. also, fins have never grown in full like the sailfin fins they should be.

i have a little bit of brown algae, and he eats this, but it's not enough to keep him going, he's always sucking on the glass, driftwood, plants, and rocks, but there is very little there for him to actually get (unless the driftwood itself is providing some nutrients).

my major problem is my inability to feed him supplemental foods. I have Hikari Algae Wafers, but his tankmates are a very bold Syno multipunctatus and a bunch of yellow labs and Maylandia callainos. My pleco is very very very passive and really doesn't like to fight for the food at the bottom, so he just avoids the battle and goes and sucks on the glass again. meanwhile, the syno and africans pig out and all get fat.

i really want him to eat better, but i can't get him any food, nor will he fight for it. i've tried distracting the mbuna with flake while i drop the algae in but they are too smart for that nonesense. they clean up the flake right quick and then dive and tear apart the algae wafer... then of course, they've eaten too much and they get fat little bellies.

any ideas? only solution i can think of is if he could be put in his own tank, but only thing i have extra is a 10 gallon. my gibby is only 2-3" right now. my 10 gallon currently holds a RTB Shark that is healing from mbuna abuse. would it be ok to house the gibby in the 10 gallon to see if i can get him to eat? i gotta do something, i thought he was dead the other day he's so skinny.

 

[ThinIce]

If he has a favourite "sucking" spot and most plecs do you might like to try the tablets that will stick to a surface if pressed on hard (they don't always stay on for very long however). You might have to do a bit of trial and error in order to find a place other fish won't pick it off however.

The patches you describe might indicate some form of disease (I don't know well enough) - might be worth sticking him in that spare tank and treating / feeding him up for a while provided you've got powerful enough filtration for it to handle a plec.

The problem you'll have is if like my Rubberlipped plec - he just doesn't like anything but real algae

 

[smithrc]

slap half a cucumber in the tank as you go to bed... (spoon works well as a weight)

see what it looks like in the morning.

If it looks like its been eaten try other large veg

 

[skiltrip]

i definitely don't think it's any kind of disease, i've had this fish for years, and he's always been a little ragged looking. unless fish can have some diseases that don't kill them.

in any case, i moved him into the 10 gallon, gave him an algae wafer, and he has it all to himself. he looks like he hasn't eaten in years. haha. i think this will definitely help. when he's better, i'll either move him back into my african tank (maybe he'll be stronger and more able fight for food then... or i'll take him back to my LFS where he can get a more suitable home. for now i just want to see him get better! thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[KathyM]

Are you absolutely sure he's a gibby? At that age, even if stunted, he'd be a lot bigger than 2" if he was.

 

[skiltrip]

yeah, he's a gibbeseps. my LFS always carries them. very reputible dealer. also, his markings are gibby to a T, unless there's another species that looks JUST like the gibby but smaller.

 

[KathyM]

Have you got a photo?

 

[skiltrip]

In this, you can see him laying on a rock to the right of the picture...

Don't know how well you can tell from this, but I'd be happy to take another one for you if this doesn't cut it.

 

[LisaLQ]

If he's not getting enough food, because of his tank companions - might it not be worth moving him out permanently? It cant be very nice for him being bullied every time he wants his tea, and getting poorly because of it

It might be because of the ph too, plecs prefer slightly acidic water from what I've been told, and although they will live in higher ph, it doesn't make it ideal.

Would be interesting to see better pics, as he does sound too small to be a gibby, and he doesn't look like one in the pic? I might be wrong...

 

[sparklefuzz]

In this, you can see him laying on a rock to the right of the picture...

Don't know how well you can tell from this, but I'd be happy to take another one for you if this doesn't cut it.

Another one would be good, because unless that is a very bad picture, I'd say he wasn't a gibbi.

 

[KathyM]

Whatever it is, unless those malawis are literally spawn, it's bigger than 2-3" though

 

[skiltrip]

Firstly, my camera is the pits... so if these pictures are worthless, just say the word and I'll try again.

But here's some more of my plec.

 

[KathyM]

That does look like one very beat up and poorly gibby.

 

[skiltrip]

Got some others, still not great, but sometimes my Palm Pilot camera works a little better in some lighting...

and additions...

 

[KathyM]

Yep - it looks like he's indeed very malnourished and also picked on very badly. The only thing I can suggest is to put him in another tank if you have one. Looks like those Malawis have been having a field day on him. I'm sure someone here would be able to advise you better on how to acclimatise him to the proper water for his species too (African high pH water is not really ideal for him and he needs all the help he can get now looking at him). I hope you're not offended by this, let's see if we can fix him now instead of focusing on what's gone wrong.