Pleco with dorsal fin shredded

[pridecity]

This morning I woke up to find that New Pleco's dosal fin is shredded. Some of the ray bones are showing. He is currently sharing the 55 gallon with Pleco 1 and the Cichlids. I'm going to assume that the plecos are fighting each other. My question is, should I move New Pleco and give him a salt treatment?

Here are the tank stats:

1. Water parameters
a) 79-81 degrees F
b) pH of 7.9-8.2 (always been 8.0-8.2 but I think the driftwood is slowly lowering it)
c) Ammonia 0-.25 (I haven't tested the water for a week, but it's usually .25 when I do water changes)
d) Nitrite .25
e)Nitrate 5-10 (It's always low because I do near 100% water changes every week until I move these guys to a bigger tank)
f) Water changes - weekly, usually 90-98%

2. Tank set up
a) Size - 55 gallon divided into 1/3 and 2/3
b) Substrate - natural gravel
c) Filtration - two filters that really need to be replaced as I don't like Marineland Penguin. A 200 and a 350
d) Furnishings - fake plants and several cave decorations
e) Other tank mates - Midas cichlid, green terror cichlid, severum, 1 other pleco (other side has tetras that I'm trying to rehome and the third pleco, and a blood parrot)
f) How long has it been set-up - Several years but bought off Craigslist 2 months ago (that was a mess)
g) When was the last new fish added - 3 weeks ago (all current fish except plecos but they were moved from other established/healthy tanks)
h) Foods used and frequency - zucchini, tropical flakes (depending on side), cichlid pellets, froze bloodworms, frozen krill, frozen brine shrimp, frozen diatoms (?), frozen veggie mix, algae wafers


No action taken thus far, no medications. Considering salt if it is needed to help heal.

[Silurus]

Salt is probably not entirely necessary (though useful as a precautionary measure) at this point. I think the cichlids are more likely the culprits and I would transfer them out of the tank to let the pleco heal, though.

[pridecity]

My major problem at the moment is that I'm trying to get seven fish tanks' worth of fish to live in three tanks until I can move into my own house again (which should be within the next month). As soon as possible I will be moving the plecos around, two in a 55 gallon and one in another until I get a 180 gallon bought and cycled. They will eventually be going into a 200+ gallon tank, probably by July. I'm still trying to figure out that tank as it will be a pleco only tank.

Unfortunately the only thing I can do at the moment is put him on the tetra side of the tank. I'll keep an eye out for any problems with him and not worry about the salt at the moment.

Of course, if need be I can plop him in with the minnows because they are going through a salt treatment. Feeder fish always have parasites and I know for a fact one has them. He wouldn't mind too much being in a 10 gallon for a week or so. It would just mean that he wouldn't have to swim as much to clean the tank.

[MatsP]

One option for housing fish that you haven't got space for is to talk to your LFS - they often have the ability to take on a few fish for a month or so.

--
Mats

[pridecity]

Luckily the tetras are possibly going to a new home today or tomorrow. That will stop the majority of overstock issues. I do have this pleco seperated from the other two. I know that they sometimes get into disagreements. I have him with my young one-eyed blood parrot. I figured that the worst the parrot could do was hide under the pleco. I'm anxious to move so that I can get their tank ordered and set up. I'm still trying to decide on the size of the tank and how to make it a biotype.

[pridecity]

I just noticed that he seems to be bleeding in the new growth. I don't think this is normal, is it?

[MatsP]

I just noticed that he seems to be bleeding in the new growth. I don't think this is normal, is it?

No, that would not be normal - I'd say it's probably a case of finrot, caused by either poor water quality or general stress.

--
Mats

[sunfish]

Hi,

that doesn't sound good. Probably a bacterial infection. I recently lost a dwarf whiptail to that.

Now you should do something. And I don't think salt will be enough. You could try external treatment with an antiseptic outside the tank. What works quite well is Rivanol (contains Ethacridin). I'm not quite sure what the equivalent in the US would be. Take your fish out of the tank and place him on a towel or something. Then apply the tonic, wait a few seconds and put him back.

Second potion: baktopur direct from sera (contains Nifurpirinol, so other fish meds containing that should work as well). That stuff will kill all microorganisms, including those in your filter, so best to apply it in a separate quarantine tank.

[pridecity]

It would be stress. Water quality is great considering. I had to do a 98% water change because I needed to divide the tank up into three, so I know that the water is fine for the next three days. I've never heard of this Rivanol. I'm not sure exactly what my search engine pulled up, so I'm lost on where to get that for the moment. Do you think it would be okay to put him in the hospital tank that I'm treating with salt right now? A minnow of mine was brought home with a parasite, so I'm treating him in addition to my new ones. I've had fin rot before, but not on a pleco. I'm pretty sure that it is on new growth, not old.

Would melafix be okay to use?

[MatsP]

I'd probably go for something a bit "stronger" than Melafix. Catfish-safe fin-rot medication shouldn't be that hard to find.

--
Mats

[sunfish]

Hi,

Rivanol is an antiseptic tonic used mainly for humans. You can get in in your local drugstore, prescription-free. The active ingredient is Ethacridin, so you could ask for an antiseptic containing that.

Melafix I've never used or heard of.

What species is it? Depending on that, raising the temp to about 84°F could also help. The minnows won't like that too much, though.