Ill Pleco? Skin and fins seem to be deteriorating and fading in color :(

[Church Mouse]

Hi! I have a 10 gallon tank with 2 (I believe 'common') Plecostomus' that are both about 5 inches long, and a 2-3 inch Raphael catfish. I recently had to transport them three hours with 3 zebra danios (the three danios didnt survive the trip sadly) and got the tank settled in. I've transported these fish before for the same amount of time about a year ago and they did fine, but this time one of my Plecostomus' hasn't been looking well. The other Plecostomus and Raphael catfish have settled in without any problems, but the skin and fins on my other Pleco have been paling and deteriorating. Please help! They are all about 3 years old now and have been functioning well together, I even got them larger structures to hide in each so they have they're own little territories (I did this change a few months ago and kept the same style after I moved them). Also, I dont know why it's posting the picture upside down, or maybe its just upside down in the post preview for me :/

 

[V227]

I've seen that type of body discoloration on Plecos at my LFS. It shows up on new arrivals. At first glance it looks a lot like Columnaris, but in the cases I've seen it's nothing but an adverse reaction to poor water quality, in particular elevated ammonia.
IMO, the best course of action is just keeping the tank water clean, making sure the water parameters remain stable.

 

[King Fisher]

Your tank is way undersized for two common plecos and a Raphael Catfish.....to small for even one of any of these once full grown. If you're having a hard time keeping the water quality good now it will only get worse.

Have you tested your water and what is the readings?

If you aren't in the position to upgrade to a larger tank then you need to start doing 50% water changes every 3 days IMO to keep your water quality decent. Plecos and cats dirty a tank quick....heavy waste producers.

 

[Church Mouse]

Okay, thank you! I'll do a check on the water quality as soon as I can and go ahead and try cleaning out the tank. I am planning on upgrading them to a really big tank VERY soon, or at the very least getting them separate tanks that are a bit bigger each. I''ll also start doing water changes every three days after I completely clean it out and see if they improve.