Poorly plec

[Loopyness]

Not completely sure what is wrong with my little dude, for one, there are like yellow round things on one side of his mouth, but you can only see them when he is on the glass. and then whilst i was looking at that, i noticed he's got brown stuff coming out of his nose, but at a closer inspection, its on his nose! any ideas??

 

[ryan]

Would it be possible for you to post pictures of the fish? Is it feeding, acting strange?

 

[Loopyness]

sorry but i cant post pics, but its still feeding and its acting normal, i have no idea what i could be!! i'll check on him tonight, when i get home, and i'll post again tomoro on how he's feeling, thanks for replying!

 

[Earthgirl]

Does it look kinda like little worms? Are his fins ok, no tearing or looking like fin rot? Maybe he has a parsite. What kind is he?

 

[Loopyness]

They dont look like little worms, its just like something on his nose thats the same colour brown as him, it hasnt gotten any bigger or moved or anything. He's still eating today and swimming around. He only got a little bit of fin missing on his back, but thats been like that for a while, no fin rot or anything.
He's just a plain normal plec, and he's about 1 1/2 inch.
Thanks for any help!

 

[ger87410]

The white stuff sounds like fungus. The other stuff, well plecos (mine anyways) will get a thing that looks almost like a barbel at the nasal entry. I was worried when I first saw it too. How's your water quality?

 

[Loopyness]

when i had the water tested , about two weeks ago, it was fine, because that tank has just had some problems, but everything seems fine at the minute. The white stuff in his mouth doesnt look like fungus, looks like he's been sucking to much! If it is fungus what should i do?

 

[ger87410]

Alot can happen in 2 weeks. Is it fluffy? Fungus will look almost like cotton. Plecos can't take salt... Try pumafix(sp) and melafix. They're both put out by the same people.

 

[sonota]

Do a water change. It can't hurt, and can sometimes mean the difference between saving or losing a stressed or sick fish.

 

[Loopyness]

it definatly isnt fluffy,i dont know how would be best to describe it. I wouldnt put salt in the water anyway, because of the clown loach i have! I have done a water change, i'll let everyone know what happens, thanks!

 

[sonota]

Salt is MUCH easier on clown loaches than most of the meds people insist on treating them with. I use 1 teaspoon per gallon as a treatment regularly on freshwater fish from cories to rare plecos. It's a fantastic treatment when used correctly in conjunction with water changes, IMO.