How to treat my sick pleco?

[laurelhed]

My pleco Daizy developed a single white spot on top of her head about 5 days ago. No redness or funny skin, just a spot. I've been watching her closely, and a couple days ago she started acting funny-not hanging in her usual spots, coming out a lot during the day, not jumping on her wafers or defending them aggressively against the other fish-then yesterday she developed a spot on her tummy. Today it is red in the center. She has been in a 20 gallon with 6 goldfish (I know, overcrowded. Will move her and 2 goldies to a 60 when I go back to work). I do a 50-70% water change daily, but still find ammonia running close to .25ppm and nitrite at 1.0ppm just before water change time. Sometimes it is lower. However, my goldies that came to me with black ammonia burns have turned almost completely gold again. I just moved Daizy to a quarantine tank so I can treat her, and to give her more chance to eat her food! I do offer her lightly cooked veggies a couple times a week, but she never shows any interest. What should I use to treat her "spots"? Are they ulcers? What are they? Daizy is about 3 1/2" long and I have had her for a month.

 

[jlk]

With a nitrite level of 1ppm, your water conditions are likely the culprit in your fishes illness. You will need to be religious about keeping her water healthy while she is in qt even if you have to change it multiple times a day. She may recover on her own with healthy water. Trying to keep the water healthy in a heavily, heavily overstocked tank is going to be a battle that is going to be difficult- your big water changes really should be twice a day until you can either either rehome the goldies or seriously upgrade your tank otherwise you will wind up with more sick fish & the goldies are being harmed by the nitrite levels even though you may not see obvious signs & symptoms. In respect to your pleco, can you possibiliy post pics of the spots/sores? It does sound like it may be ulcers but without a pic, its hard to be sure.

 

[laurelhed]

Ok. Here are photos. Sorry they are so bad, but my camera does not do well up close. The first photo is of the spot on her tummy which is red in the center. The second is the spot on her little head which is just white. I gave one dose of general anti-bacterial (formalin, benzalkonium chloride) this morning after she didn't eat. Don't know if this is because she is sicker or from stress of moving to a different, smaller tank. I moved her at about 4am. Thanks for your help!

 

[jlk]

Thanks for the pics- your poor Daizy!!! She has some serious ulcers. I do not know what country you reside in-some are very strict in respect to fish meds. I would follow the recommended course of treatment for the anti-bacterial you are presently using & see if theres any improvement. If there isnt in the next 2 days, she needs antibiotics asap & a very low dose of aq salt (1 teasp per 10g) to lessen fluid loss.

 

[laurelhed]

Thank you! I'm in the U.S. and I've already added aquarium salt to the water. I will look into antibiotics. I feel awful that I didn't catch it sooner! Thanks again for your help!

 

[jlk]

I am glad you already added salt! I would try a combo of maracyn & maracyn2 with the salt for course of treatment (petsmart carries both)-if theres improvement, do another course. If not, we will try some other options. Make sure you are religious on keeping her water perfect- the meds are useless if there are issues with the water. Try to change her water around the same time every day then dose meds so the meds are in the water for a full 24hrs before the next water change. Please ask if you have any questions!

 

[laurelhed]

Ok. Sounds good. I will get over to petsmart. The spot on her head looks the same today, and she's not giving me a look at her belly. She still hasn't eaten, but I did a water change with fresh meds yesterday evening as suggested. Not 4am! But in the evening. Thank you again for all your help and ill get the maracyns. I see you're in the US too.

 

[LyndaB]

Have you checked craigslist or freecycle for a larger tank? I don't see how you're ever going to get your numbers right given the stock of this small tank. My first tank was a 30 gallon that I got free on freecycle.

 

[jlk]

Good luck & keep us posted! Yes-im in the US too but ALOT of people on here are not, so i always ask!

 

[laurelhed]

Ok, so we're on day 4 of Maracyn & Maracyn 2 and Daizy looks a lot better! Head ulcer is 98% cleared, she hasn't shown me her tummy today, but she's acting more like her old self. She's still not eating though, and I'm getting low readings of Ammonia & Nitrite in the tank, so I'm doing a 50% water change nightly before adding meds. I am planning on doing a second course of treatment. But, with the water changes, is she getting enough of the medication to cure her? The water changes do seem to have helped the ulcers, but the not eating really concerns me.
And BTW, thanks for mentioning freecycle! I had totally forgotten about them! Craigslist has some great deals, but free is better!

 

[jlk]

Im glad to here shes doing better!! Yes, shes getting 24hrs in the meds so shes getting a full dose-healthy water is must or they wont work. We will just have to wait & see in respect to her not eating because im not sure why shes not eating other than she doesnt feel great. Have you tried offering her variety of food? Maybe some plain cooked veggies (zucchini or broccoli) will entice her or bit of cooked shrimp. All you can do is try & hope for the best!