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I have two common pleco's.. one a regular or chocolate whatever theyre considered.. and an albino.. i had a kissing gourami a while back that had nipped him a few times and the areas where hes been nipped are lighter than the areas that are fine.. he has no fin damage.. and its also good to note that hes beginning to grow.. i got him when he was tiny now hes about as long as a chapstick.. anyways my question is how long will it take for his skin to completely heal? and is there anything i can do to speed up the process?

oo yah the one thats im talking about is the chocolate.. and i no longer have any fish in the tank that nip him.

Water quality is often the best cure for just about any fish-illness. Plenty of water-movement (air-stones and powerheads) will also help, and keeping the fish at a temperature where it's really comfortable will help as well [rather than temperatures at the outside of it's normal "happy " temperatures].

You may want to use some anti-bacteria treatment - I can't remember if it's PimaFix or MelaFix that does that, but read on the bottle or ask your LFS.

By the way, watch out for fish hiding near the heater - they can get "heater burn" - a heater guard will help against that.

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Mats

well he is not ill.. hes in perfectly good health.. I know the lighter spots on his skin are a result of prior nipping.. im just wondering how long itll take his skin to return to its natural color.. just like wondering how long it would take for a cut on human flesh to go from wound to scab to scar to normal im wondering how long itll take my fishies skin to turn to normal.

Well, as you know with humans, big/bad scars can stay for a long time, and the same applies to fish... It may heal (or reduce), but if it's bad enough, it may never disappear...

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Mats

thanks for your reply... good to know.. if anything ill just consider whatever "scars" remain, as character and just another reason for appreciation..im very careful about who i purt in with who though,,