Bald Pleco?

[Minabug]

Still taking care of the tank at an elementary school and today I noticed that one of my plecos has a bald spot on him and he isn't being very active..just kind of hanging out near the bottom and not swimming around much. I have 2 plecos, both of which are very active and swim around the tank. The other one seems fine, but just today this one is near the bottom not swimming or moving very much at all and it looks like he has a bald spot on him. I called the pet store, they have no clue what it could be. Over a week ago the power went out at the school for over 6 hours, I lost two of my black skirt tetras, the other 2 black skirt tetras seemed fine and the 2 plecos seemed fine until the one today. Does anyone have ANY clue what this could be or what to do for the poor pleco? The plecos don't fight, the majority of the time they're laying next to eachother on the glass or a tank decoration, it's really cute, so I don't think fighting or sucking on eachother is an issue. I also feed them algae wafers which they love. The water has tested fine and I cleaned the gravel and did a water change just a few days ago and the water still tests fine. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

does it look like theres a patch of missing scales of that one part is very pale?
in each case;
no scales on a part means possible disease or is getting attached by a fish, prob not the other pleco.
pale spot means not adjusting to parameters or temperature and is doing quite badly, may not make it.
either way it isnt good, but we can help if we have more details xx

 

[Minabug]

I had a friend look at him that knows fish, she said it looks like some sort of bacteria and doesn't look like he's going to make it.

To me, I'd say it looks like a pale spot and scales missing. I have no clue how he'd be fine one day, like this the next. These fish have been fine for MONTHS until the power went out at the school and they didn't bother to tell me it was out, now all my fish keep dying..

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i actually had a pleco once years ago that got paler and lost scales, but the reason it died i found out was it hadnt been fed the right things (hence the pale) and developed bald scale patches because some sort of bacteria got it, never found out what it was but it thrived in high nitrates, as mine were at the time.
how do the others die? x

 

[Minabug]

The other fish I believe died due to the temp change from the power being out for so long, because the day after they were sick, spots, fin rot, barely alive in one spot at the bottom of the tank, etc. That was the first tetra, then the next day the other tetra acted the same way...both died. I'm so sad that my pleco probably won't make it. I love my plecos and fish. I'm about to just bring the 2 tetras and pleco(s) home with me and get a turtle for the school instead. Their power goes out too much and with winter time there's no way to take care of them if the school gets snowed in and I can't get there.

 

[LyndaB]

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

What species of pleco and what size tank?

 

[Minabug]

Just the regular pleco that you get at Petsmart. The tank is a 55G.

I don't have my testing supplies at work with me right now for the readings.

 

[LyndaB]

Most likely, it's a common pleco. They can reach 12 inches and two of them do not belong in a 55 gallon tank.

There have been instances of plecos not having the proper nutrition and basically latching themselves onto another fish as a source of food. I'm wondering if one pleco attached itself to the others head.

Do you have driftwood in this tank? They require it for the digestion.

 

[Minabug]

Once they reached their full size I was going to transfer them out to a bigger tank. I feed them algae wafers and have never had a problem with them attaching to another fish. I haven't had any problems with any of my fish until the power went out that day.

I've been trying to find drift wood where I live. We have no local fish stores and I can't find a pet store that sells it.

 

[LyndaB]

I realize that this is not your personal tank, however, that said, it's really important for whomever is responsible for buying the stock for that tank, that research be done PRIOR to purchase, in order to provide the fish with what they need. In this case, the tank is missing driftwood, a really important component for a pleco's diet. They need it for their digestion.

You might want to talk to whoever's responsible for that tank and have a serious discussion about whether it's worth it to even have it. If it's going to be done half-baked, what kind of lesson is that for the kids at the school? And how fair is that to the fish?

By the time the plecos reach adulthood, it will be too late to get them into a larger tank. They will already have suffered stunted growth.

It sounds like you really care. Maybe you can be the catalyst that makes something positive happen here for these poor fish.

 

[Minabug]

I'm the one who's in charge of the tank, but it's all based on a school budget, so they limit what I can buy and how much I can spend.

I do care about these fish, I took over the tank because the old care takers of the tank didn't change the filters for months and months to the point of the whole tank turning jet black and the filter cartridges were bulging out from out dirty and full they were. They killed every single fish that used to be in that tank but one that was laying on it's side trying to live. So I pulled that one out and tried to take care of it and nurse it back to health but it had been through too much and died a few days later. The old care takers said they were going through too much in their life so that was their excuse for neglecting the tank. Those fish really suffered, the tank was so bad that the heater broke, filter was shot, the decorations were falling apart, the gravel had to be thrown away.

 

[LyndaB]

I can't imagine having a budget with fish tanks. You never know what's going to happen.

I guess you'd have to put your own money into keeping this tank healthy, if that is your choice.

Personally, I've never been a big advocate of fish tanks at schools. Somehow, it always turns into a case of animal abuse.

 

[Minabug]

I'd never abuse the fish, I love animals. That's why I took over the tank, the ole care takers were abusing them by how they took care of them.

That's why I'm thinking about bringing the fish home and keeping them here and just getting something else for the school. I know that they won't buy a generator for this coming winter when the power goes out. They didn't even alert me when the power was out for 6 HOURS. All these problems occurred after the power went out for hours.

I've already been putting my own money into the fish because it's on a budget, the budget was only $200 to start the tank back up, that included buying food, fish, chemicals, brand new filter, cartridges, heater, etc. I'm not going to let the fish suffer just because they're on a budget. There should never be a budget on an animals life. I hate living in a small town that doesn't have anything, I want to find driftwood, I need to find driftwood, but yet noone has it.

 

[LyndaB]

You can get driftwood at a billion on-line resources. Fosters & Smith Aquatics and many others. Probably ebay.

I'm not saying "you" are abusing the fish. I'm just saying, in general, every time someone writes about a tank at a school, it's about how poorly kept that tank is. This is not your fault.

Take the tank home. Fix it up. Enjoy your new fish.

 

[Minabug]

Here's an old picture of my lil plecos.

I'm going to end up bringing the fish home, but I have to go buy myself a bigger tank, I can't take their tank.

I've seen it online, just wasn't too sure about buying it online and how safe it'd be.

 

[LyndaB]

I love plecos, they're so cute! In a weird sorta way.

I wanted to ask, if you don't mind, what exactly is the purpose of having a fish tank at a school? Is it for a certain class or lesson?

 

[Minabug]

I love plecos too, I think they're the cutest things and have such personalities. I had one pleco in the past (was so small from the pet store it didn't survive long) and it would swim up to the top to eat with the fish and would raise it's back fin everytime you walked to the tank and enjoyed you "petting" him. He was the most outgoing little guy, I wish he wouldn't of been so weak when I got him and wish he'd of stood a chance.

It's a tank for display and decoration only. It's in the main hallway right off of the lobby, the kids are only allowed to walk by and look at the fish. I have the top of the hoods taped down so that kids can't mess with the fish and I can tell if the tape has been messed with. The kids really enjoy looking at them.

My little pleco I wrote about passed away last night. He got worse in just a few hours time. He went from a tiny spot of pale (no color at all) and scales missing..and in just a few hours scales were gone on almost his whole body, he had a HOLE in his back fin, his little side fins were just rotting away and his beautiful sailfin he used to have was almost rotted completely away. I feel so sorry for the little guy.

 

[LyndaB]

I'm very sorry that you lost him.