small white particles by a thread on pleco...

[ae123]

Small white particles about the size of a grain of sand(maybe smaller, I don't remember haven't been to the beach in a while) land on my plecos(pterygoplichthys pardalis)back and sides. but they seem to be attached by a thread a couple mm long or less. the thread is not visible but i can tell it is there because the white particle attached moves side to side with the water current and when he moves.

i think some of them just fall off when he moves or for whatever reason. a couple looked thicker almost like a fecal from the smaller fish but shorter in length like 1/4 in. or so--maybe this is a pest that attaches and grows to look like that then falls off.



does any one have can theorize a possible identification of this what is on my fish?

 

[librarygirl]

Not sure, maybe an external parasite?

 

[Shark79]

Sounds like it could be anchor worms. I would do a 50% water change and vacume your gravel well. Adding some aquarium salt may help combat it, but you may need to treat with meds. Check with your LFS not sure exactly what to use, maybe "quick cure" would work. Good luck!

 

[ae123]

hey thanks guys, i'm still waiting on this guy my dad introduced me to to take a look at my tank.

best i can come up with now is that the ich i treated for with heat & malachite green/formalin was not irraditicated even after almost 2 weeks. i'm still not sure what i'm going to do.

one of my female mollies looks a bit thin of finnage at spots. but the other female who had similar difficulty is looking much better.

my platy dropped about 20 fry last night. i rescued about 15 of them to a bowl, like i had with 4 from last brood. i put those four back in the main tank today in a rectangular netted thingy. i believe if i let them out and into the tank they would be gone in a few minutes. the mollies are quite wild, savage. andf my pampering the baby platys in their own bowl is not preparing them for the real life survival tactics they'll need to get by with all the adult and semi adult mollies who've been fending for themselves since birth.

can i save my old filter media & its bacteria in some water.