Pleco with white cotton like patch

[Nick@1234]

Hi there. My big guy has, what looks to be (and I can only assume that’s what happened) a heater burn. I have relocated the heater and currently have melafix and Pimafix in the tank. He’s living in a 75 gallon tank with two giant danios. He’s the only one with anything like this on him so I am assuming it’s injury based vs something in the tank but I could be wrong. I’ve been medicating for 3 days now but this is getting worse. Does anyone have advice on how to treat this? Tank values are fine and temp is hovering at 22C. I did have a problem with ich a while back but that was resolved after 2 weeks of meds and everyone was happy again but that looked much different than this isolated patch. The ich was a result of having to move. It’s been a while since the move but with all of the issues with the water, I suspect tank is not completely cycled so perhaps that’s still contributing to this not getting better. I don’t want this getting worse but am out of ideas apart from water changes and meds that are already in the tank. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Sgooosh]

white stuff is usually mucus or fungus, maybe he had an infected spot and had a lot of mucus on it or there wass some fungus

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Oh, that looks grim! Could be some kind of fungus? I'd definitely keep an eye on him, since it looks pretty nasty. Keep an eye on this thread, since there's sure to be a few people with a few ideas as to what this could be.

 

[Nick@1234]

Thanks very much. I just don’t know how to get this under control. Wanted to attach another pic from the side to give some scale as to how fluffy this is. Is there any other medication I can try?

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Thanks very much. I just don’t know how to get this under control. Wanted to attach another pic from the side to give some scale as to how fluffy this is. Is there any other medication I can try?

I wouldn't start medicating until you know for certain what the problem is.

He's a gorgeous pleco, by the way. How long have you had him?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Before complicating things by throwing meds at an affliction we can't identify (yet), I would just perform a series of large water changes, with an appropriate water conditioner, and see if he improves....WC's done correctly never hurt

You say "tank values are fine", but then state that you suspect the tank isn't cycled (?)

What kind of test kit and water conditioner do you use?

@Colin_T , have a look, please

 

[Nick@1234]

I wouldn't start medicating until you know for certain what the problem is.

He's a gorgeous pleco, by the way. How long have you had him?

Thank you very much. He's my pride and joy!! I adopted him from a friend 5 years ago so he would be around 7 years old now.

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Thank you very much. He's my pride and joy!! I adopted him from a friend 5 years ago so he would be around 7 years old now.

Aww, he's really great. Does he have a name? My plec's my prized fish, too. Can't get enough of the little (not little at all) sweethearts.

 

[Nick@1234]

Before complicating things by throwing meds at an affliction we can't identify (yet), I would just perform a series of large water changes, with an appropriate water conditioner, and see if he improves....WC's done correctly never hurt

You say "tank values are fine", but then state that you suspect the tank isn't cycled (?)

What kind of test kit and water conditioner do you use?

@Colin_T , have a look, please

I've used various test kits from the Fluval Master test kit to different flavors of the strip tests to see if they are consistent.
PH - 7.0
KH - 40
GH -75
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0

The values are consistent with previous tests before the move except GH - this is the only variable that is different when compared to testing done on the water prior to the move. (it's now higher but not drastically higher)

I also use the Nutrafin AquaPlus and Nutrafin Cycle and have a Fluval 405 canister, augmented with another cannister and a side hanging filter as needed, depending on the situation.
For the move, I kept gravel and filters intact but I did have to add fresh water to the tank at that point as I was not able to transport all of the water to add back to the tank. After everything was set up again, within a week, I did have issues with ich and fungus so that required regular water changes and medication. I am guessing that entire scenario that just caused havoc on the ecosystem in the tank and threw things out of balance. They had recovered and had been fine for a while but then this happened. I did have a water filtration system installed in the house to make sure there was nothing in the water in hopes that things would be stable going forward. I've only done 1 water change since the filtration system was installed but this had already started before then. Sorry for the going on and on but thought the more information was better to kind of help narrow down the chain of events that could pinpoint what this could be.

 

[Colin_T]

It's fungus on an open wound.

Use salt or a broad spectrum medication (not anti-biotics coz they don't work on fungus).

------------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[Nick@1234]

Aww, he's really great. Does he have a name? My plec's my prized fish, too. Can't get enough of the little (not little at all) sweethearts.

? just love them. I let my mom name him. He ended up with the name Willie. It kind of stuck for better or worse. ?.

 

[Nick@1234]

It's fungus on an open wound.

Use salt or a broad spectrum medication (not anti-biotics coz they don't work on fungus).

------------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

Thank you very much. I was doing some research on using salt with plecos and I wasn’t able to get a clear cut, yes it’s safe to use, so I stayed away from it. Will he be able to tolerate the above? I guess I am hopeful for a yes and I’ll get to work on that this afternoon. Anything to help my boy.

 

[Nick@1234]

Thank you very much. I was doing some research on using salt with plecos and I wasn’t able to get a clear cut, yes it’s safe to use, so I stayed away from it. Will he be able to tolerate the above? I guess I am hopeful for a yes and I’ll get to work on that this afternoon. Anything to help my boy.

Salt therapy started. Will let you know if that helped. Thanks again

 

[Colin_T]

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

 

[Nick@1234]

Thanks very much