Hi fin pleco

[rjpeml]

One of my Plecos is floating at the surface, belly up and “shedding “ his slim coat. He is definitely alive! I was able to gently cradle him in my hand. He then swam out, swam to the bottom WITH A LOT OF EFFORT. When he stopped swimming he just rose back up to the surface again. Is this “bloating “? Can I do anything for him? Two days ago I did a 70% water change. That’s when it seems the problem started. Did a 30% change just now, as the rest of the fish didn’t look well. Seem a bit better, except for the Pleco. I used “Stress Coat” to neutralize the new tap water. Please help my Pleco .

 

[Brookster123]

How cold was the water you changed back in?

 

[rjpeml]

The replacement water was about the same temp as the tank—75

 

[Angellove78]

Can you vacuum the bottom of the tank? And have you done it lately? Test your water and post all results. And what's all in your tank?

 

[rjpeml]

Hi Fin Pleco

Angellove 78 & Brookster 123.
Thanks for the interest. The tank is a 75 gal octagon high. I did remove most of the decorations & vacuumed the bare bottom, removing about 25 gallons. Replaced with about 75degree tap water, treated with "Stress Coat".
Tank now contains: one very large Silver Dollar, one Pearl Gorammi, two 4" hi fin Plecos (one sick), one 5"Knife Fish, one small Pleco (lost another of these), four 4.5" Tetras, two Chinese Algae Eaters, one 2" Red Tail Shark, three 1" Rainbow Sharks & two 1.5" cichlids(two of these also died). I have a Fuval 403 Canister (running for about 6months-partialy cleaned 2 weeks ago), 2 circulating pumps, 3 small air bubble bars, 1 airstone and an "Eco-Ionizer". With the new water, I added a 1 cup bag of Ammo Chips and a 1.5 cup bag of Charcoal at the pump water outlet. I scrubbed & rinsed & returned the tank decorations to minimize stress. Tank temp is 79.7 deg.

Do you have any way I can cure the bloated Pleco?

 

[rjpeml]

Hi Fin Pleco-Sick

I just tested the water & we're getting some improvement:

Ammonia-0
NO3-80 to 100
NO2-0
pH-6
KH-40
GH-120

Any suggestions for my bloated Pleco? & Is it better to keep the airstones bubbling away fast? Is the extra carbon helping, or is it removing the good additives?
Should I consider adding some aquarium salt? I did put in about 2 tsp BEFORE the last water change.

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Not sure how to help the pleco... But your tank is a disaster waiting to happen. The majority of those fish are incompatible with each other and will lead to major problems down the road

 

[Angellove78]

Your nitrate is too high. Your tank water basically 80 degrees. And you did a water change with temp of 75 degrees. 2 tsp. of salt in a 75g will not do much. But if you didn't dissolve it in a bowl of water before adding it your pleco is a bottom feeder could have sucked up some salt if it was just thrown in. That will kill him/her. Is your tank cloudy? I'd take those ammonia chips out. Something's got your readings off too. I think you kg should be higher more like 80 but I'm not sure with a ph of 6. But I know your nitrate is too high. I'll read this again think I missed something.

 

[Angellove78]

Your nitrate is too high. Your tank water basically 80 degrees. And you did a water change with temp of 75 degrees. 2 tsp. of salt in a 75g will not do much. But if you didn't dissolve it in a bowl of water before adding it your pleco is a bottom feeder could have sucked up some salt if it was just thrown in. That will kill him/her. Is your tank cloudy? I'd take those ammonia chips out. Something's got your readings off too. I think you kg should be higher more like 80 but I'm not sure with a ph of 6. But I know your nitrate is too high. I'll read this again think I missed something.

Your water changes should match the temp of the tank.

 

[V227]

RJ
If your silver Dollar fish appears normal, my guess is water chemistry is not the problem. SD' s
Don't do well in poor water conditions. Check the Pleco and tankmates closely for Oodinium, tiny hard to see yellow dust like parasites. Fish affected with that parasite sometimes exhibit the slime shedding as you described.
Regarding "Bloat". That usually applies to African Cichlids "Malawi Bloat".
"Dropsy Bloat" is a symptom of an internal bacterial infection and is the most likely bug affecting your fish.
Others in the forum are more up to date with antibiotic information. If you discover Oodinium/
Velvet, you'll need to treat your tank asap with a copper based medication.

 

[rjpeml]

Hi Fin Pleco Sick

So, Hi I HAVE AQUARIUMS! I've been posting requests for help with my sick Hi Fin Pleco. You offered no advice for my problem, but advised that I "have a disaster waiting to happen".......What advice do you have please, to prevent this disaster? What is it in my description of tank occupants that leads you to your conclusion? I sure don't keep my tank to create disasters & would welcome any lessons in what to do. Please share your wisdom. Thanks in advance.

 

[Angellove78]

You can try an Epson salt bath for bloat.

 

[Angellove78]

You can try an Epson salt bath for bloat.

And don't feed him/her for a few days.

 

[Potluck]

So, Hi I HAVE AQUARIUMS! I've been posting requests for help with my sick Hi Fin Pleco. You offered no advice for my problem, but advised that I "have a disaster waiting to happen".......What advice do you have please, to prevent this disaster? What is it in my description of tank occupants that leads you to your conclusion? I sure don't keep my tank to create disasters & would welcome any lessons in what to do. Please share your wisdom. Thanks in advance.

Okay what they mean is this, all the fish you have in the tank aren't compatible with each other meaning they will fight, be stressed out, die..

As far as the pleco you said it's barebottom do you have driftwood cause plecos need driftwood, if you've lost plecos there's something up because plecos are very hardy fish, mines survived columanaris, ich x2, being stuck in a old plastic decor I had to break open and he got injured.

If it's bloat the fish will have a big bulging stomach

if it's swim bladder the fish won't be able to stay up right.

Is your fishes stomach big and overly large?
Have you my medicated the tank with anything as plecos are med sensitive?

Your tank is way overcrowded is another reason they Mentioned a disaster waiting to happen. (edit thought you meant ghost knife)

I would move the pleco to a hospital tank with a heater @80-82 degrees (keep water about half full to reduce pressure on the swim bladder) I would add a few deshelled blanched peas maybe he/she will eat them maybe just constipated.

What do you feed your pleco?

Do you have a picture or can you take one so we can diagnose better?


ALSO stress coat isn't going to condition the water you need something like seachem Prime.

What test kit do you use to test the tank water?
Don't add aquarium salt plecos they are salt sensitive
Epson salt dips are fine as it's a totally different

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Yes what I had meant is that the fish you have are not compatible with each, especially with the footprint of your tank. Unless it's a quite big tank, rainbow sharks and redtail sharks do not get along with each other and are more solitary fish, as are the Chinese Algae Eaters, those guys get up to 10" and aggressive towards each other as well as the other algae eaters. Also, if the knife fish you have is the one I have a picture of here, it will outgrow your tank. What I meant with a "disaster waiting to happen" was they might get along now, but once they mature they will become aggressive and most likely kill each other. I would offer help on your pleco, but I do not know much in the realm of medications and sickness here

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Yes what I had meant is that the fish you have are not compatible with each, especially with the footprint of your tank. Unless it's a quite big tank, rainbow sharks and redtail sharks do not get along with each other and are more solitary fish, as are the Chinese Algae Eaters, those guys get up to 10" and aggressive towards each other as well as the other algae eaters. Also, if the knife fish you have is the one I have a picture of here, it will outgrow your tank. What I meant with a "disaster waiting to happen" was they might get along now, but once they mature they will become aggressive and most likely kill each other. I would offer help on your pleco, but I do not know much in the realm of medications and sickness here

Edit // I can't add the photo it says it's too big

 

[Potluck]

Edit // I can't add the photo it says it's too big

I was asking the op to post a picture of the pleco

 

[IHaveAquariums]

I was asking the op to post a picture of the pleco

No it wasn't at you, I was trying to add a picture of a knife fish to make sure it is indeed the one he has because if it is, it will definitely outgrow the tank

 

[Potluck]

No it wasn't at you, I was trying to add a picture of a knife fish to make sure it is indeed the one he has because if it is, it will definitely outgrow the tank

Yeah a ghost knife, most knife fish I looked up get way to big for that tank

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Yeah a ghost knife, most knife fish I looked up get way to big for that tank

Yeah way too big, already not a long footprint and they get over 3+ feet