# pleco having some issues



## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

Soooo my pleco used to be very reclusive, this week he started hanging out on the glass in plain sight even when I had the lid open, where as for the whole time ive had him he darts to a hidey hole when I open the top. The last couple days he seems to not even notice me at all, even if i wave my hand infront of the tank. I was wondering if he is having trouble seeing. yesterday and today he has spent alot of time just swimming around in the tank. not erratically or anything, just casually swimming in circles the length of the tank.

his symptoms besides that are tiny tiny white (not ich, smaller than that) white spots on the ridges of his armor. it could be almost anything, he coulda always looked like that, ive never gotten to see him close up like I have the last couple days. not a ton of white spots either, just a sprinkling of them.

on his nose, at the very tip it looks like its roughed up a small bit. I was wondering if he is running into things if he cant see well, but he swam around the tank like a pro tonight while I watched him.

AND! tonight... dun dun DUN! I noticed a long long string of white coming from his butt  it was almost clear, about as big as a thread, and about as long as he was. 

now im thinking parasite? we all know ive been having water chem issues lately in the 110g...

pre water change ammonia 0.5ppm nitrite 0.5ppm and nitrate 40+ ppm
post water change ammonia 0.25ppm nitrite 0ppm and nitrate a bit less than 40ppm. I did the 2nd nitrite test 2x, so either a 20% change removed all traces of nitrite or i botched the first test *shrug*

any thoughts or courses of treatment? hes almost 7" long, dont wanna lose the big feller now


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

the white stringy poo def. sounds like a parasite to me. ive heard somewhere that the insides of a pea are good for this? im not sure and of this and not sure if your pleco would even be interested in giving it a taste or not. as for the white spots it doesnt HAVE to be ich but very well could be just in a premature stage and not fully developed yet. whats the condition of the other fish in the tank? i mean there are chances its not ich, but how can you be 100%?


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## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

ich just looks different. these spots are too uniform and too small in my experience. like i said, ive never seen this much of my pleco before lol for all i know theyre just a part of what he looks like!


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

IMHO white stringy poo could be indication of some sort of parasite.It could also be diet related. What foods are being offered? Your nitrate readings could also have a role. Many fish can and do recover form ailments IF water quality is maintained. I do not recall if nitrate from tapwater was an issue with your tank. Ammonia levels I'm sure you know should be zero. I would perform small water changes with dechlorinator such as PRIME or AMQUEL +. and vaccum the substrate at each change and see if things don't improve. If it is your tapwater that is contributing to nitrates and though I loathe chemicals of any kind in the tank, There is a product recommended by Betta Baby another member here that works well. It is called PURA -PAD. It along with water changes and vaccuming will help.(swear)


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## beetlebz (Aug 2, 2007)

you know, ive never actually tested my tap water for nitrates, nor would have I thought to, and I dont know why lol Ill do that tonight.

come to think of it, the nitrates have always been really high in all of my tanks, even the planted ones, so now im thinking the tap water I do w/c's with might just be the culprit. Either way, the pura-pad might just help in the interim with nitrate levels, as well as it looks like ammonia levels and some other stuff (just read it quick). 

the ammonia I am aware is a problem. for the longest time my 10g betta sorority and my 110g community were always perfect, then out of no where the tank crashed (bacteria colony crashed, I believe) and is VERY slowly getting back to where it should be. I went from small changes (10%) every other day to 20% changes every 3rd day, but its an uphill battle.


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