PLEASE HELP sick fish, new to this

[katejp]

Hi,

We have had Hank for about 3 years. We've been lucky in that he hasn't had any illness before.
Over the weekend I went to petsmart and was told a pleco would be a good companion/algae cleaner. This was a huge mistake, and the pleco went to town on the poor guy's tail. Hank is increasingly lethargic, lying most of the time on the bottom of the tank.
The pleco was returned this morning. Never doing that again..
I can't tell if this is ich related to stress vs. some other type of infection - potentially brought by the pleco's introduction, or something that has been coming on naturally. I have Imagitarium parasite remedy, though am scared to just jump to using it without some feedback from more experienced fish parents.
PH, KH and GH levels seem low, and I would like to find a way to naturally adjust this.

Also - he had a pebble stuck in his mouth recently that had to be removed with tweezers - I'm concerned this may have injured his slime coat?

Please help.

Thank you so much

 

[charliebankston]

Is that a black moor? Hard to tell in the pics.... was he already laying on the bottom lethargic when you brought the pleco home?

 

[charliebankston]

I don't see any signs of ich in the photos.

 

[katejp]

Hi thank you for taking a look
He is a black moor, yes. He would lie on the bottom occasionally but absolutely not as exausted looking as this. Since this morning we would say the mucus/fuzz on his fins has gotten much worse and clumped in some areas. He looks more grainy in the pictures. Generally he does not look gray in pictures or at all.
He is not moving much at all either.

 

[charliebankston]

Try a combo of antibiotic for bacterial infection such as api's furan-2 , fin and body cure, or e.m. erythromycin. 1 of those, with some anti fungal med containing methylene blue or malachite green (malachite is better imo). I know your trying to avoid using meds, but I think it's time to try the big guns. Get enough antibiotics that you can treat his tank for 4 days per the directions. The box is good for 100 gallons

 

[charliebankston]

A aloe vera based aquarium additive will help with his slime coat if your worried about that. Plecos usually only eat on dead or deadish fish, they usually aren't aggressive except to each other. But the common pleco can get almost 2' in length and become waste producing machines. They don't really eat much algae either. They are some better species of pleco, not sure which one you had. But when your moor is healthy, they generally are good community fish.

 

[katejp]

Poor guy made it through the night, but still looks like he's in pretty rough shape. His breathing seems to have picked up, but he is not moving much.

 

[charliebankston]

Yeah, he's not looking so good. I'm sorry, and good luck with treatment