Ursula Joy
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2017
- Messages
- 2
Hi there!
I have a planted tank which I have had for 6 years. My common pleco has become poorly over the last 3 days and there has been a few changes to the tanks circumstances over the past 2 weeks.
I have had him for minimum 3 but maybe 4 years now. He has always been a very curious and healthy fish with lots of energy and great appetite, beautiful colourings and although he riles up the sand & creates a lot of waste he is a very peaceful tank member.
He has never been sick before, although occasionally he has had odd bits of his fin missing. Even during this time, he was behaving normally and the chunks of missing fin would heal over a couple of weeks on their own. It was recently I was reading on the internet and there were forums discussing plecos and this common problem of having like bite marks bits of their fin gone. One person recommended using Melafix and said he had great results - this cleared up the gap in his fin.
Obviously I am keen to get my pleco in as peak health as possible and felt guilty I didn't realise this was an actual condition I potentially should have treated years ago but hes always looked so well. Anyway, this week he had 1 gap in his tail and 1 gap in his fin so I thought id use the treatment - despite the gaps he didn't seem unwell at all.
I used the treatment, now it is day 3 and he has looked worse and worse so I am regretting starting the treatment. All his fins have just become 'ragged' and look like they have been gnawed on, his tail too. IT has never been anything like this before, no where close.
His behaviour has completely changed. His fin is down all the time and he looks sad, I also thought I saw him shaking earlier but am not 100%. He has nibbled at his algae biscuit but not eaten much of it. He is barely moving and just looks really depressed.
DETAILS:
Melafix - to treat damaged fins - I am on day 3 of medication, out of 7, should I continue? I have put in 11mls per day
85LTR Tank
X1 Rosy Barb as tank mate - who has started swimming around a lot more actively and faster than normal over past 3 days
Ammonia - Tetra tEst NO2 <0.3 mg/l (yellow) ive tested 3 times today
Temperature - 26d according to thermometre but i am worried my thermometer is broken as it feels cooler to my hand. The heater says 24 degrees, but I do have a spare, so might put new one in just in case.
Filters - bit of a long story but i have X2 filters in the tank, one is a fluval (sml not sure what model, just sponge filter) and X1 is a super-fish aqua-flow XL model. I changed filters 2 weeks ago after an old filter broke (I also had 2 filters in then so kept 1.) This is because I wanted to keep the sponges in, obs for the good bacteria thats built up on this oldest one but its too sml for tank so i need another bigger... hense ending up with 2.
Feeding - I feed plec cucumber, pak choi (is his favourite meal), lettuce and algae wafers with nourishment (fishtamin).
He has started to get so big that I have been syphoning daily out his waste so ammonia levels do not get high.
Plants - I have introduced 2 news plants in the last 2 weeks. I have also put in peat to nourish the soil using peat balls and have used a new 'plant growth premium fertiliser' which i haven't used this brand before. I put in a squirt of Co2 liquid every night but have used the same brand.
Phew! That's a lot of information. I'm afraid I can't tell you the ph cause ive run out of tester strips but i think that's everything else.
I have added some pictures of the poorly Mr Plec
Thank you for taking the time to read this far! Looking forward to hearing, from you, kind regards, Ursula Joy
I have a planted tank which I have had for 6 years. My common pleco has become poorly over the last 3 days and there has been a few changes to the tanks circumstances over the past 2 weeks.
I have had him for minimum 3 but maybe 4 years now. He has always been a very curious and healthy fish with lots of energy and great appetite, beautiful colourings and although he riles up the sand & creates a lot of waste he is a very peaceful tank member.
He has never been sick before, although occasionally he has had odd bits of his fin missing. Even during this time, he was behaving normally and the chunks of missing fin would heal over a couple of weeks on their own. It was recently I was reading on the internet and there were forums discussing plecos and this common problem of having like bite marks bits of their fin gone. One person recommended using Melafix and said he had great results - this cleared up the gap in his fin.
Obviously I am keen to get my pleco in as peak health as possible and felt guilty I didn't realise this was an actual condition I potentially should have treated years ago but hes always looked so well. Anyway, this week he had 1 gap in his tail and 1 gap in his fin so I thought id use the treatment - despite the gaps he didn't seem unwell at all.
I used the treatment, now it is day 3 and he has looked worse and worse so I am regretting starting the treatment. All his fins have just become 'ragged' and look like they have been gnawed on, his tail too. IT has never been anything like this before, no where close.
His behaviour has completely changed. His fin is down all the time and he looks sad, I also thought I saw him shaking earlier but am not 100%. He has nibbled at his algae biscuit but not eaten much of it. He is barely moving and just looks really depressed.
DETAILS:
Melafix - to treat damaged fins - I am on day 3 of medication, out of 7, should I continue? I have put in 11mls per day
85LTR Tank
X1 Rosy Barb as tank mate - who has started swimming around a lot more actively and faster than normal over past 3 days
Ammonia - Tetra tEst NO2 <0.3 mg/l (yellow) ive tested 3 times today
Temperature - 26d according to thermometre but i am worried my thermometer is broken as it feels cooler to my hand. The heater says 24 degrees, but I do have a spare, so might put new one in just in case.
Filters - bit of a long story but i have X2 filters in the tank, one is a fluval (sml not sure what model, just sponge filter) and X1 is a super-fish aqua-flow XL model. I changed filters 2 weeks ago after an old filter broke (I also had 2 filters in then so kept 1.) This is because I wanted to keep the sponges in, obs for the good bacteria thats built up on this oldest one but its too sml for tank so i need another bigger... hense ending up with 2.
Feeding - I feed plec cucumber, pak choi (is his favourite meal), lettuce and algae wafers with nourishment (fishtamin).
He has started to get so big that I have been syphoning daily out his waste so ammonia levels do not get high.
Plants - I have introduced 2 news plants in the last 2 weeks. I have also put in peat to nourish the soil using peat balls and have used a new 'plant growth premium fertiliser' which i haven't used this brand before. I put in a squirt of Co2 liquid every night but have used the same brand.
Phew! That's a lot of information. I'm afraid I can't tell you the ph cause ive run out of tester strips but i think that's everything else.
I have added some pictures of the poorly Mr Plec
Thank you for taking the time to read this far! Looking forward to hearing, from you, kind regards, Ursula Joy
