Suicidal Pleco

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Barsh3833

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 26, 2016
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4
Hello, I put a tank together for my son about 4-5 years ago. Currently there are 7 fish in the tank which is a 20 gallon. This is the least amount of fish the aquarium has seen in a long time, usually about 10-13 fish. It's primarily a glow fish tank. Currently there are 2 neons, 1 tetra, 3 barbs and one Pleco. The Pleco is the oldest in the tank. I recently returned home after being away for a year. While gone the Pleco grew from 2-3" to 7-8" long. He is about as thick as he is wide which is at least an inch if not more. About 3 days ago the Pleco jumped out of the tank. I'm not sure if he watched too much finding nemo with my son or not but he was headed down the hall way towards the bathroom. Depending on which side of the tank he jumped out he traveled about 4-8 feet along the carpet. It was by dumb luck that I even noticed him while we all moved around beginning our day. His body was still moist or looked to be but he wasn't flopping around at all. I scooped him up and rinsed him off with a few gallons of water I handset aside to replace after vacuuming that day. I never touched him with my hands but I did have to use some untreated fresh water from the tub. He was pretty filthy. Had collected a lot of lint and some dog hair along his travel. I got him back in the tank and noticed he was having issues balancing. He still does have some issues with regulating him self as far as floating or sinking. I've only been home for 2 weeks but I've been keeping an eye on him since the incident. Last night I noticed his belly has a bunch of red spots kind of like he has rug burn or a brush burn. Also his fins look like they are deteriorating. He has random holes in all of his fins. I've never noticed either issue before but I've never looked him over so closely either. One of the neons has what appears to be a crooked back but it's been that way since I returned. There were about 10 fish in the tank when I left, we've never had much luck with the glo fish, other fish last for quite awhile. I'll transfer them or give them to friends or family. We recently added two of the barbs to the tank. Should I leave the Pleco or remove him to save the tank? He doesn't seem to be eating much either. I noticed an algae wafer looking a little fuzzy before bed time and scooped it out.
 

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