Pleco ick? I can't tell what's wrong with my fish.

[Avidon]

About a week ago I noticed that the scales surrounding the dorsal fin on my pleco were starting to turn white. I don't have the water parameters of my tank on hand but the last water test that I did shows that the water was perfect for African cichlids (the fish in my tank). It's been about 11 days since my last water change and I'm due for another water change in 3 days.

Please help me identify what exactly this is so that I can cure my fish.

 

[jlk]

Hi! Can you please provide some more information so that we can better help you?

Tank size? Exact stocking? Exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph? Normal water change schedule (%/# wk)?

I am not quite sure I understood your water change schedule so please explain if I misunderstood your post- you have not changed the water in almost two weeks and you do not plan on changing it for almost another two weeks?

 

[Avidon]

I'm sorry. It says I'm due for a water change in 13 days. It's supposed to say 3 days. I have a 38 gallon African Cichlid tank with one yellow lab Cichlid, one ftrontosa Cichlid, one peacock Cichlid, two unidentified Lake Malawi cichlids, a bicher fish, and two plecos. I don't have a water testing kit on hand so I can't tell you the exact water parameters. However, I can tell you that my last water change (which I did about five days ago) showed near perfect water parameters for African cichlids. Ammonia was zero. Nitrites were zero. And nitrates where in the safe zone. I do a 60% water change every two weeks.

 

[jlk]

Thanks! First suggestion is to increase the wcs to weekly. Second, would be to qt the pleco. He appears to have an infection possibly compounded by a secondary fungal infection. Is qt'ing him a possibility? If not, we can try to work on alternative options.

 

[Avidon]

I don't have a hospital tank set up but I think I can improvise. I have a 10 gallon tank and an extra air pump but no water filter. Or heater.

 

[jlk]

If your home is not cold and your willing to do daily big water changes, this will work as a qt (if the plec will fit comfortably). As a qt, you can try treating with Tetra fungus tabs ( dose 1x day after a big wc) and see if he improves over the course of the next few days. Treat for atleast 7 days.

If your home is cool or daily wcs are not possible, another option is giving the plec either a bath or a swab once day. Use methylene blue 1tsp/5g for 20 mins as bath or swab it directly on the white areas (avoid the gills and the eyes). If he does not improve or becomes worse, let us know asap . Please ask any questions!

 

[Avidon]

Thank you very much for your advice. Can I be positive that this is ick? If it is, is it contagious? Can I medicate the whole tank? If I do medicate the whole tank, will it harm my plants? Should I raise the temperature in my tank so as to inhibit the reproduction of ick?

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Doesn't look like ich, ick is white spots, looks more like a fungus, I would go with the advice stated above, I'm having problems with my betta too but I don't know what to do
Good luck

 

[jlk]

Doesn't look like ich, ick is white spots, looks more like a fungus, I would go with the advice stated above, I'm having problems with my betta too but I don't know what to do
Good luck

Agreed. He does not have ich but a bacterial infection possibly compounded by fungus. Treating him separately or with baths would be best as your other fish are not affected and should not be medicated without cause. Over medicating leads to bacterial and parasitic resistance.

 

[Avidon]

I have the fish quarantined in my improvised hospital tank for the moment. I don't have a heater in there so I'm watching the water temperature closely. I'm going to head to my local fish store sometime tomorrow or the day after to grab some medicine for him. Cross your fingers.

 

[Avidon]

Agreed. He does not have ich but a bacterial infection possibly compounded by fungus. Treating him separately or with baths would be best as your other fish are not affected and should not be medicated without cause. Over medicating leads to bacterial and parasitic resistance.

Could this bacterial or fungal infection be contagious to the other fish?

 

[Avidon]

So bad news guys. Only shortly after placing my sick fish in the hospital tank, my pleco sadly succumbed to his illnesses.

 

[jlk]

I am sorry to hear this.

Are the rest of your still healthy and show no symptoms?