Need Advice!

[Jane L]

Hi--Jane L here, a newbie. I wish my circumstances for being here were nicer. Because I was ignorant and learned only by this experience, I have an eight inch plecostomus in my tank who is either sick or injured as of about four days ago. He was fine, no problems whatsoever before that other than the fact that I had become concerned at his size (he is in a 25 gal tank which is the larger of the two I have) and was going to give him to my brother with a 50 gal tank....anyway, I heard a huge sploosh the other evening and couldn't see anything wrong when I checked it out, figured it was my two angelfish sparring like they usually do. The next morning, I saw that the pleco was swollen in his belly, still moving around but looked pregnant! After that, he has settled down to the bottom of the tank, barely moving, and has gotten so swollen that it looks like he is going to explode. He is still breathing (mouth suctioning) but refusing any food since then, and only moves slightly because when he does his tail levitates his rear end up. I do not know what to do to help him. Could anyone help me out here with advice, knowledge, anything that would be the right thing to do? I feel so bad for him. From what I read it sounds like swim bladder injury...?

 

[GuppyDude]

could be an internal injury, but if this is true then theres not a whole lot u can do for that. no fear thogh, more likely than not, hes constipated. i recommend starveing him for a while and see if u passes any poo. if not then theres some blockage and the condition is serious. iv heard feeding some fish peas will stop and prevent constipation, im not sure if this works for plecos. best case senerio is that u starve him, his body works out teh problem and he passes poo i cant explain teh splash, plecos dont jump much probably was another fish of urs.

and once your pleco is better, it will be best for him to live in your brothers tank, he can also become very ill from being kept in a tank thats too small for him, this could be reason for his current illness, shouldn't be too bad if u leave him there for a little while till he gets better thogh.

 

[Jane L]

Thanks for the reply! I did drop some green peas in for him a couple days ago; they are still where I dropped them right next to him. The good thing is that he is still alive. I took the flashlight and inspected him as well as I could last night; I saw some light red streaks in the lighter shades of his belly, which from what I have read in the literature I have could very well be an internal infection. So, I put a dose of Maracyn 2 in the tank for overnight, and will be attempting to find out from my local fish dealer whether or not this should be strong enough to knock out what he has (if he concurs with what I describe to him). If it is, do you think I should take him out and put in a ten gallon hospital tank? I have a sponge filter I can put in but have to run to get a cheap heater for it; used that when one of my others went caput. If you or anyone have any further advice, I sure would be grateful!

 

[WILDER]

Second infection set in septicemia, he has a bacteria infection, or internal parasites, as parasites can cause bacteria infection,what does it look like when he goes to the toilet, does his anus look red and inflamed, anything prutruding from the anus, i no it will be hard to tell if he's just laying there, can you issolate him.

 

[Jane L]

No poop that I have seen for several days. Do not observe that anus is red or anything protruding from it. I can isolate him in ten gallon hospital tank if needed.

 

[Jane L]

Just thought I'd finish out the story on this one. I took my pleco to the LFS on Friday of last week (where I had purchased him many months ago) as he was just not getting much better after being isolated and finishing a course plus two days of Marycyn 2. The manager there had told me he would euthanize the pleco for me if he wasn't progressing and I couldn't take watching him suffer anymore. Anyway, he checked pleco out and told me he had dropsy. Just for info he uses the alka seltzer method to euthanize. He did have me finish out the rest of the Maracyn on the 25 gallon tank, followed by 40% water change. Needless to say, smaller pleco in the ten gallon tank is going to be re-homed this week to little brother's 55 gallon tank where he can be well and flourish!
Big Pleco, RIP....Wish my screw-ups wouldn't have cost him so dearly...

 

[dwarfgourami]

Poor thing, sorry to hear that.
Are you sure you need to blame yourself though? I mean, bad things do happen from time to time, even if we've done nothing wrong. If he had a bacterial infection there may not have been a lot you could do anyway, certainly not by the time it got to the dropsy stage. I know it feels awful

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss, dropsy is incurable once it has reached the prutruding of he scales.

 

[Jane L]

I don't know...it's just been a really long time since I had a fish get sick or die. The last one was a big beautiful angelfish, partner to one of the angelfish I still have; that happened last summer and I think I bawled for a week over that one. Just going to be a real stickler for water changes and gravel cleaning...bump everything up...water changes once a week and gravel every four weeks rather than six. I am still being troubled by the nitrate readings....even after filter changes, gravel cleaning, and major water changes, and heavy planting in both tanks. What else can I do? Any ideas? Nitrates are still up around 40ppm!