sickness in my tank.

[fishfight]

My pleco has recently been acting strange. Coming out in the light, and bobbing at the top of the water. His belly is pretty fat, but not EXTREMELY. That's the only thing that looks remotely wrong. He bobs at the top, and tries to latch on with his sucker...but can't most of the time. He doesn't look too good. One of my angels is looking weird as well. He's sitting on the bottom and tipping a little.

What could this be, and how do I fix it?!

Tank info: Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, all perfect. 30 gallon tank set up for at least 5 months. 3 angels/ 1 worm looking loach/ 2 black skirt tetras/ and a pleco...SICK!

 

[@ombomb]

Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, all perfect.

What are the actualy readings?

What are the pH / temp?

Are there any other signs of illness (marks on the skins etc)?

How long have you had the affected fish?

Have you added anything else to the tank recently?

 

[Saz]

It could be dropsy but I really can't tell. Dropsy causes a swollen abdomen and in extreme cases raised scales. But this would be hard to ssee on a plec as most of their scales are tiny. If you think it could be dropsy remove the fish immediately as it can be very easy to spread from fish to fish. Dropsy is usually caused by a bacteria called Aeromonas liquefaciens. It is hard to cure but Chloramphenicol may help-though you would have to see your vet. If you do find out it is dropsy and you can't treat it humane disposal may be necessary for affected fish. It sounds horrible but if you want to save your other fish it may be necessary. I'm sorry!

 

[Bloo]

It could be dropsy but I really can't tell. Dropsy causes a swollen abdomen and in extreme cases raised scales. But this would be hard to ssee on a plec as most of their scales are tiny. If you think it could be dropsy remove the fish immediately as it can be very easy to spread from fish to fish. Dropsy is usually caused by a bacteria called Aeromonas liquefaciens. It is hard to cure but Chloramphenicol may help-though you would have to see your vet. If you do find out it is dropsy and you can't treat it humane disposal may be necessary for affected fish. It sounds horrible but if you want to save your other fish it may be necessary. I'm sorry! 

[snapback]875710[/snapback]​

Saz, there is huge controversy on the web about what Dropsy really is.
For one, it's definitely not certain at all that it's infectious.
In my time I've had a couple of fish with Dropsy over the years - and never did it affect any of my other fish. In fact, it would be interesting to hear if anyone has experienced the spread of Dropsy or lost more than one fish to Dropsy over a period of a few months.
Anyhow, it doesn't sounds as though this plec has dropsy to me. It sounds more like a swim bladder problem . But without more detailed information I could be wrong.

Could you post some pics possibly ?
The best is to isolate the fish (into a heated aerated hospital tank) - if you don't have a heater and spare filter for the hospital tank then the fish might well die if just put into a separate bowl etc. in which case it's better to keep the fish in the main tank. If it's swim bladder, it's not infectious anyway.

Best of luck.

 

[Angel Lady]

It would better help if you post the ammonia readings and nitrite. ph and so on. I have seen cases where people say the water readings are perfect and that not be the truth at all. And mind you I am not calling you a liar either...