Sick pleco-

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Nigel_K

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
14
Dear all,
my name is Nigel and I am new to this page. I have a question concerning one of my fish and I hope you can help me. :flowers:
I have a 2 year old pleco in a tank together with a guppy and an otocinclus. Weird combination...I know, but I got them from a colleague over a 1.5 years ago and they get along well that's why I kept it this way (I have never had a tank with fish before).

The pleco recently started showing one spot that looks like a large bloody "pimple" on his belly. It seems like it is bleeding a bit under his skin, but it is not open releasing blood into the tank. I'll attach a photo...my sincere apologies for the quality.
A second "pimple" started to grow more towards the tail fin, but does not show any signs of blood. The pleco is constantly hungry and eating his algae wafers like he usually does, but I am worried that he is really sick and that I need to take him to the vet or so.
So if any of you know what is going on with him, please let me know.

Thank you very much in advance for your kind help.

Have a great day!
 

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Hi MPWallace1,
No, unfortunately I haven't. The two pimples seem to heal off, but new white spots appeared at his belly, but they are too big to be ich. Maybe he is too big for the tank and constantly hurts his belly..I got him a bigger one and I hope it will get better. Will keep you posted.
 
It came back

So here a quick update. The pleco is in his new 20 gallon tank. We moved him around 10 days ago and he was perfectly fine as he was eating like a vacuum cleaner..he still does and swims around as always.
However, today I came home from work to find his belly one of his fins and the tail fin to have bloody/white patches again (please see pictures). He has also little white spots sparsely spread over his body here and there. So maybe it is ich...but I am still not sure what the bloody patches on his belly are. They also look a little bit furry (for the lack of a better word...maybe it is just detached skin).
I honestly don't know what it is, but I would really appreciate, if you could help me solve the mystery. I somehow still hope that he is just a klutz like me and bumps against stuff here and there, but I highly doubt it. I love my pleco and I don't want him to suffer or die. Vets around here don't really treat plecos.
Thank you very much in advance!

Nigel

PS: The guppy and the otocinclus in the same tank are fine.
 

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Nigel, if the problem were ick, your Pleco would be covered with it from head to tail by now. If the red patches were bacterial it would have spread and have likely been fatal. The small white fuzzy patches might be common tank fungus growing on small wounds. The reoccurring pimples might be viral cysts, which can heal then reappear. As long as the Pleco is eating, swimming and acting normally he will probably be okay. Good luck.
 
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