another new pleco. parasite med?

[Guest]

well i used Jungle Parasite Clear, they are fizz tabs and it cleared up the white poo in my gouramis. Not to expensive either, i bought it at walmart.
Pleco's normally have really long poo so the lenght isn't the concern, its the white that is an indication of parasites.

As for the feeding, ive noticed my pleco doesn't like food that moves. He will eat the algae wafers, but when i put veggies in there, i secure them with a veggie clip. If you don't have a clip, you can use a rubberband on a heavy aquarium ornament or piece of slate to hold it down. My pleco's love zuchini.

 

[Blucat]

Guess what! I called up the lfs and he gave me another free BN pleco and free medication! The problem is I don't have spare Qt tanks.. I can't pput the new one in the existing QT as that one already has one sick fish. I only have a 1/2 gallon which i will put him in and i am putting this tiny container ontop of the other Qt so it also gets some heat. How can I get my pleco to eat t he tablet?

 

[mattrox]

What medication did they give you?

 

[Blucat]

Well Im not sure, I know it is for a sort of internal worm. It was a white disc with a line in the middle, and when I put it in the tank it groke down into a pile of powder. I pu t the second pleco in mum's empty 4g betta tank along with the new cories.

 

[mattrox]

If it is worms, you will need more than one tablet. Make sure you know the directions. Ask the lfs to show you the bottle it came from for directions and while you are at it find out the active ingredient. I hope it is worms rather than flagellates. Easier to treat.

 

[Blucat]

Well the new pleco had black poo when I got it yesterday. Now I have put it in a new separate tank and it has developed white poo just like the first pleco. The cories in that same QT tank have not got white poo though. The plecos in the tank where i got the two plecos, they all have black poo. When the pleco was in the bag it had black poo. It seems that the pleco only gets white pooa fter a night or so in the QT tanks. So I am wondering if it is parasites at all?

Here is one theory. Mum noticed the pleco was "cleaning" and it was eating the mucusy slimearound the heater. The slime is all gone now. Could the whitish slime make the poo turn white?

Here is the lfs theory. (mind you, the lfs guy is veryknowledgeable and knows about cycling and stuff) He said that sometimes when a bit stressed or if the water is more alkaline in the new tank, that plecos shed some of the mucus lining in their stomach, in the form of white poo. My water is more alkaline than the lfs, mine is about 8 and theirs is about 7.5.

Any ideas?

 

[talloulou]

Honestly, IMO if the fish are behaviourly acting okay I would quit messing around with medications and just take a wait and see approach. If they are eating and active then I wouldn't get to excited over the white stringy poo, it could possibly clear up on its own in a few days. Medicating, when uncertain of a diagnosis, could actually do more harm then good. I hope everything works out for the best for your new fish.

 

[Blucat]

The first pleco still has white poo and has gone into hiding.
I found a picture of pleco poo of a pleco infected with flagelettes.
http://tinypic.com/5ckqz7

It does not look like that at all. IT looks just like normal poop except its white.

 

[talloulou]

Yeah, that's why I would quit messing with meds for now. I have had new fish that had stringy white poo for a couple of days when first being placed in my tank. I think it was just an adjustment /acclimation thing and it always went away on its own.

 

[Blucat]

Well the sick pleco died...... it didn't touch the med. The new pleco is going good. it is quite cute, growing and defends itself quite readily. the most active little thing.

 

[An t-iasg]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you tried everything that you could do to help him. I hope the second pleco is doing well for you.