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Hi, I am new to this forum and would just like to ask a couple of questions.

I have always thought that plecos and B/nose were scaleless fish like loaches... and for that reason are sensitive to certain medications.

I recently was told that I am wrong...that they have armour and are not sensitive to salt etc. is this correct?

If a pleco has fungus on it.. what is the best way to cure it...

I am trying to help a friend but I dont want to give them the wrong advice... and I would also like to know in case anything ever happens to my new little pleco that I bought recently.

Thanks in advance... Sammi

sammigold wrote:Hi, I am new to this forum and would just like to ask a couple of questions.

I have always thought that pl*cos and B/nose were scaleless fish like loaches... and for that reason are sensitive to certain medications.

I recently was told that I am wrong...that they have armour and are not sensitive to salt etc. is this correct?

If a pl*co has fungus on it.. what is the best way to cure it...

I am trying to help a friend but I dont want to give them the wrong advice... and I would also like to know in case anything ever happens to my new little pl*co that I bought recently.

Thanks in advance... Sammi

Sammi,

Loaches aren't scaleless, their scales are quite small. However, they are quite sensitive to medications. All loricaria are armored.

Melafix and Pimafix are natural anti-fungal medications. I am unaware if it is available in Oz, but if you can get the former or both, they are effective and gentle on loricariids.

Any medicating should (must) be done in a quarantine tank with the same temps and water quality.

By the way, you should read the sticky at the top of the forum. Water parameters are essential in accurately diagnosing an illness.

Dave

By the way, you should read the sticky at the top of the forum. Water parameters are essential in accurately diagnosing an illness

.

Hi Dave, I did read the sticky before I posted, Sorry, but as I explained this was a question for someone else... I dont have his water parameters I just had the info he had given me... and I didnt want to give him wrong advice... We can get melafix and pimafix here in Oz.. and we have already recommended that he separate his fish into a hospital tank...I really just wanted a general answer in regard to safe meds.

thanks for your reply....if I ever have any problems of my own you will be sure to get full water parameters etc from my tank as well as my hospital tank...

Please note in regard to your comment on loaches not being scaleless I would like to refer you to the following link in which it is mentioned that the underbody of a loach is scaleless... http://www.loaches.com/botias.htmlI would assume that a site devoted entirely to loaches/botias would be correct
Thanks for taking the time to answer my query..
cheers, Sammi

I'm not sure about loaches, but certainly ALL catfish have no scales. They may have other devices that act similar to scales, such as the "armour" on Pleco's, which is using bony scutes (sp?) to make an external protection against physical attacks.

I believe that medication on Plecos should be used with care and as adviced by manufacturer for "scaleless" fish.

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Mats

Thank you mats... I will remember that...

thanx

Oh, and the mention of "Not sensitive to salt" is probably something that should be taken with a big pinch of salt [pun intended ] - Most of the Loricariidae, or Plecos if you want, come from a region where there will be very low levels of salt in the water. I'm not aware of any of them that live in even brackish water, but of course I don't know everything about all of them.

Most plecos, particularly the "Common" varietes, are very tolerant to all sorts of things if they are in good condition, but if the fish is already in poor health, additional stress caused by chemical changes to the water isn't going to help much...

A small dose of salt is probably not immediately dangerous to these fish [I've seen "Common pleco" in Brackish water tanks in fish-shops, but I beleive this is not a good long-term home for this type of fish - I certainly wouldn't recommend it].

As with all medication, it's extra important to watch the "patient" and make sure the situation isn't worsening.

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Mats

thanks mats...

The common local or pond bred plecos seem to the toughest fish in the world. I had 2 survive a buffer overdose in a Tang tank.