Pleco in bad shape

[NinjaKat]

Hi.. I'm a casual Betta owner.. It all started when.. *cue flashback dream scene*
*shakes head back to the present*
Anyway.. long story short I have rescued 2 Betta (I have a total of 3, each has his own 2.5 gallon tank with plenty of decor, each has a ghost shrimp to assist in leftover food removal). Now I've had a pleco placed in my care.. I'm keeping him away from my other fins simply because he looks, in short, bad. His tank-mate was another Betta (NOT mine!) who had chewed every fin from his poor little body down to nubbins, and he's even missing his whiskers! He's got popeye to the point of blindness and he's eaten so much his belly won't let him latch onto the side of the tank. He's quite energetic still, though, which is why I refused to let his previous owner flush him down the drain. My question is this: is it worth keeping him alive? Will his fins regrow? I'm pretty sure I can put his chunky rump on a diet, but will it do more harm than good? I'm open to any advice out there.

 

[fort384]

What size tank is he in now?

What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)?

Are we talking about a common pleco?

EDIT: Just saw this is your first post! Welcome to AA!

 

[NinjaKat]

Ack! I am sorry.. I had to google pictures and compare as close as I could, so I'm guessing he's a common pleco. I have him in an 18 oz dixie cup with the lovely (insert expensive) pre-prepared water you can buy at PetSmart since his old tank had a bully in it and mine is currently occupied. I'm planning on swinging by PetSmart on my way home and grabbing a temporary 1 galon enclosure so he can recuperate somewhat.

 

[Homedog98]

Go out and buy some Maracyn, Maracyn two, melafix, and aquarium salt for treatment. While there, also buy the API freshwater master kit (if you don't already have it) and some prime water conditioner (also if you don't have it already) now for my questions:

1. Do you know about cycling?

2. What size tank Is the pleco in?

3. How old is the pleco?

4. What size tank was the pleco in before you rescued it, and how long was it in there?

5. What are your tank(s) stocking?

Sorry for all the questions, and all those diseases are easily reversible. Its definitely worth keeping him alive. I'm a betta/fish rescuer myself, and it's really rewarding! All the stuff on the list is for treatment, and tank maintenance. As for the pleco's weight issue... Stop feeding him for a few days, then give him one algae wafer/zucchini or whatever you feed him once a week until he slims down. if he's fat from algae, stop supplementing stuff. (if you are) as that can also lead to weight problems. Check out the link in my signature on fishless cycling to explain the last two items on the list. As for the pleco's diseases, the 2 maracyn's and the aquarium salt are for the popeye, and the aquarium salt and melafix are for the fins. The fins will grow back in time, but you'll need to be patient. Finally, welcome to AA! You really learn a lot here!

 

[NinjaKat]

1. Cycling: somewhat. I let a new tank sit for a few weeks before introducing a bamboo shrimp (they're pretty touchy critters)
2. he's not in a tank right now, he's in a cup. i don't want him in with another fish that could potentially kill him.
3. I don't know how old he is.. at least 1.5 years is my best guess
4. he's going to go into a 2.5 gallon tank temporarily when I get him home, and he was in a 1 gallon tank with loads of algae for quite some time (1+ years) before I got him.
5. All I'm going to have in his recovery tank is river rock, some artificial plants and a hidey-hole decoration or two. he's blind, so I don't want him to brain himself.

no problem at all! i appreciate any help i can get for this poor bugger. gotta run for an hour or so.. leaving work to run him home and get him set up in his temporary digs. he's going to scare my shrimp for a few hours while i grab a new tank.

 

[Homedog98]

Ok, so he sounds like he's been stunted already. sad. What is his permanent tank size gonna be? He might can recover from the popeye and not be blind, but it is what it is. Also... For his tank... Take some filter media goo, tank water, and put in some gravel from another one of your tanks before you put him in it. It'll keep him from getting worse.

 

[NinjaKat]

I'm going to try for a 5 gallon tank.. I kinda have a fondness for shrimp, too. Maybe add some colorful (but very small) fishletts later.

 

[Homedog98]

Check out the edit I just posted. You posted while I was typing lol. Also... When you get the test kit, be sure to post your readings for us, and we can see if your tank(s) are cycled.

 

[fort384]

Unfortunately, I don't think this is a very good plan... I appreciate that you are trying to save the fish, but plecos need a vastly larger tank than 5 gals to grow properly. A suitable minimum tank size for common plecos is 100+ gallons.

 

[Homedog98]

Unfortunately, I don't think this is a very good plan... I appreciate that you are trying to save the fish, but plecos need a vastly larger tank than 5 gals to grow properly. A suitable minimum tank size for common plecos is 100+ gallons.

+1... You are definitely going to need a bigger tank later. I think you can treat him in the 5 gallon... But his permanent home needs to be a lot bigger...

 

[NinjaKat]

Ohh no.. I bit off more than i could chew. How fast do they grow? He's a little over an inch long as it is at over a year old.. maybe i misinterpreted his spots. It was hit and miss with no fins to go by

 

[Homedog98]

Pic? If he's really that old, it's probably too late for him. He won't die, but he certainly won't live as long either. I'd say 5 years more depending on how he heals. A 30 or 55 would be good for him either way. The 5 is NOWHERE near minimum even for stunted fish.

 

[NinjaKat]

Trying to add a pic from the phone app.. let's see if it works..

 

[NinjaKat]

Could he be a dwarf?

 

[Homedog98]

He looks like more like he... Or she maybe, could be a female bristlenose? It looks so messed up at the moment, it could be a catfish of some sort.

 

[NinjaKat]

Everything has been so badly chewed, there's really no telling. The last owner said pleco, I figured she knew.. but then she did have him/her in with a betta.. all I know is there was a time when it could cling to the side of the tank.

 

[Homedog98]

Go ahead and treat him like I suggested earlier in the 5 gallon. It should take him about two months to be ready to be transported to a different tank. While he's treating, you can work on setting up and cycling a 30 gallon tank for him. Since he's stunted, he can take the smaller space, but if he keeps growing in the 30, you'll know he's not stunted, and can choose to upgrade, or rehome. Once he heals up a bit, we should also be able to tell what type of fish he is. If he, or she... Is a dwarf, (s)he'll be fine in the 30.

 

[NinjaKat]

Interesting news.. i tucked him in my 1 gal recovery tank and brought him to petsmart.. turns out he's a corry(?) catfish! Sad thing is we had to hold him up and compare, he was that mangled. But i bought the suggested meds and have a nice 5 gal on order. I've got the cycling checklist printed out and ready, hopefully the damage can be reversed.
Thanks for all the help!! I will keep you appraised

 

[Homedog98]

That's excellent news! That's about as big as he'll get, and he's not stunted after all! Treat him in the 5 gallon, and treat him with the meds like it says on the back. Don't treat with salt though. It's fine if it's already in, but cories aren't known for reacting well to salt.

 

[NinjaKat]

He's nestled right into a nice little niche in my 2.5 gal tank with a ghostie and a bamboo shrimp. I checked the meds, and they won't harm invertibrates *yay!*. The ghostie actually started grooming the corrie! He must be pretty slimey for a wee shrimplette to clean him. That was the first time the corrie held still since i took him from his last owner. Kinda cute, actually.