Please help new owner of sick Pleco

[plecopet]

Hello

I recently adopted the fish tank that came with my new job. the person who had been in charge of the tank had obviously not been taking care of the tank or the fish. Now that i'm here I have tried very hard to keep this fish from dying. it is a beautiful sailfin pleco about 4-6 inches long in a 10 gallon tank. He is covered in what looks like a white film. it doesn't appear that he has any lesions or sores but the white is spreading and almost covers his body and his fins look frayed and thin. I have tried half a tablet of jungle fungas clear. and my boss wants me to change tanks today. I'm so worried about this poor fish. it did not deserve the treatment he got and I am trying to remedy the mistreatment he received.

I have to change the tanks because its my bosses call, so hopefully he will be okay after that. but i'm still worried about his deteriorating state. i'm considering Epsom salt treatments as I read that it can help reduce some stress and can help heal lesions and kill bacteria and fungus. someone please help.

I DONT HAVE ALL THE TOOLS I'M WORKING ON GETTING A PH TEST KIT.

I have also used methyl blue drops,

the tank was so filthy I was afraid to add more algae tabs as until Monday the poor guy didn't even have a filter.

[bekateen]

Hi Plecopet,

First, welcome to PlanetCatfish.

Sorry to hear about this pleco; it does not sound well. In order for us to be helpful, we'll need some more information about the fish, its tank, and the conditions/care it received that led up to this illness. Please read this post (http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 305#p26950) and provide as much information as you can. If there are details you don't know the answer to, just say so.

Also, if you can provide any photos of the fish, that would be very helpful. You can add them using the "Attachments" tab located under the typing area for your post. To access this feature, first press the "Full Editor and Preview" link beneath the typing area for your new post. This action will then display the same typing area so you can continue to type your info into your post, but it will also show more options (links and tabs) above and below the typing area. Under the typing area, below and to the left of the "Save draft," "Preview," and "Submit" links, you will see a tab for "Attachments." Click that tab, and then hopefully the rest is self-explanatory. By the way, only "jpg" image files can be uploaded.

Cheers, Eric

P.S., This thread is the best place to ask questions like this. You shouldn't need to add the same post twice in the future.

[plecopet]

Thank you for responding Eric, I am a little panicky because although I have only been taking care of this fish for about a month I have grown very attached to it.

When I got the fish It had been in the same water for at least three months, without a properly running filter. in fact the motor was running but there was no water movement. i'm not totally sure it is in a 10 gallon tank because I cant eyeball that sort of thing.

since I've gotten here I added an air stone to get oxygen in the tank because I read that the thinning of fins can come from lack of oxygen. i'm currently working on getting real driftwood waterlogged so I can add that to the tank. currently there is only a fake driftwood like ornament and a fake plant in his tank with icky gravel. I've done a 75% water change in the month that I've had him and I've been topping off the tank for evaportation because where I live is very dry. today he is moving to a new tank against my will ( though it is much cleaner larger and nicer and I feel that if he wasn't so stressed he would do very well in this tank. so if you could help relieve my stress and say that this might help I would appreciate) in the new tank I will be moving the ornaments and he's getting new substrate which is ugly blue glass stones. i'm eventually going to talk my boss into a planted tank but first I have to keep the fish alive.

[plecopet]

this is my pleco, when his fin is up hes just gorgeous and I've seen him lay in the sun with his fins all spread like he was a cat soaking up the sun. he is all alone in his tank, we are considering buying tank mates but first we want this guy healthy. (plus I want to get good tank mates and could use some good advice there as well)

[bekateen]

Hi Plecopet,

I understand your panicky feeling; I think that's perfectly natural.

How much do you know about your pleco and taking care of it (even if it was healthy)?
You can learn more about sailfin plecos here:

Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps

. Do you have much experience with aquariums or are you new to this?

Clean water is going to be very important to helping this fish recover. How often are you doing the water changes? I'd recommend at least 1-3 times per week (perhaps not 75%, but still a good amount); that is an arbitrary number of changes per week, and I suspect other people may give better advice. But dirty water (I don't mean visually dirty, but poisoned by the fish's urinary and fecal waste) is going to hinder healing.

I'm not the best about knowing which medicine to use, so I'll let other people comment on that later.

Cheers, Eric

[plecopet]

I am very new I have been around aquariums but this is the first that I am responsible for.

so moving him into a new clean tank isn't a bad idea then but I do need to keep up on the water changes which i'm happy to do.

What about the Epsom salt? I've read a variety of things about salt and plecos. from its awful never do it to "I do it everytime I change my tank water"

what would you suggest?

[plecopet]

a lot of what i'm reading suggests that maybe i'm underfeeding my pleco. Are gibbiceps lovers of zucchini and peas like other plecos like the bristlenose?

[Mol_PMB]

Yes, they like green veggies.
But I'd make sure you have good water quality and a working filter before increasing feeding, as more food = more waste.