Sick pleco and rainbow shark

[zombiz]

My pleco has developed a light pinkes spot on his head and now on the side, my rainbow shark also has a faint grey spot on his head. any ideas of what this might be and how to treat it. iv added salt and increasing the heat. i dont wana lose my baby pleco it took me a while to find one locally.

Pics soon ( probly blury cuz my camera sucks )

 

[zombiz]

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q533/jbzombiz/side2.jpg
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q533/jbzombiz/side.jpg
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q533/jbzombiz/headside.jpg
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q533/jbzombiz/greyspot.jpg

 

[Pegasusrouge]

Well by adding salt and increasing temp it sounds like you are trying to treat for Ich, and I can tell you that is def not ich. Its hard to see the texture in the pics, but looks like it might be some kind of bacterial infection.

 

[zombiz]

i held off on the salt and heat for now, currently trying to rush to walmart for some treatment iv been told its probly saprolegnia

 

[Coursair]

What are your water tests showing ???
How large a tank ?
How often are you doing PWCs ???

 

[Coursair]

Often skin ailments are directly related to tank conditions. Clean environment is extremely important.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Often skin ailments are directly related to tank conditions. Clean environment is extremely important.

+1
Check your water ASAP. You don't want to be throwing meds in the tank without knowing whats wrong. Are the spots sunken/a hole, fuzzy or a flat slimy sheet?

 

[zombiz]

It seems to be fuzzy, my water conditions pretty normal tho i am having a high spike in nitrates and nitrites for the past 4 days, but has been going down slowly.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sounds like a bacterial infection. First thing you need to do is address the issue with the water quality. Large water changes until you can get nitrite to 0 and nitrate as low as you can. The cleaner the water the better. Check it every day and change as necessary. Salt is the first course of action. I would recommend a half dose because plecos can be sensitive. 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons of water. Dissolve it in a container of tank water before you add. You need to replace what is removed with water changes. If you change half the water you need to add a half dose of salt back in. Keep track of how much salt is in the tank. Write it down if you have to. In a couple of days if they don't make an improvement with just clean water and salt I would recommended dabbing hydrogen peroxide on the infected areas to kill the bacteria. To do this remove the fish from the tank and place in a towel that's been wet with tank water. Take a q-tip and use it to dab the infected areas with hydrogen peroxide. Return the fish to the tank. Avoid the eyes and gill area.

 

[zombiz]

thx, iv been doing about 25% every 2 days seince i noticed the spike, ill normalize the water and try the paraoxide befor i add any treatment. thx again

 

[zombiz]

Better pics of the pleco
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/61068-albums9287-picture36572.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/61068-albums9287-picture36571.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/61068-albums9287-picture36570.html

 

[Mumma.of.two]

So I'm assuming you tried the peroxide? Are they improving? How's the water quality?

 

[zombiz]

The shark is, but the pleco dosnt even run away when i put my hand in the tank, i can pet him, hes only maybe an inch big he usuly runs off.

 

[zombiz]

Well posted the last post at work, when i got home he was dead. Im trying to figure out what is wrong because i still have a rainbow shark and an albino bristle-nose in the tank. I started a new thread with new pics of the pleco.