butters Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 So I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my pleco. He has changed color a bit in the last few days, he was almost all dark colored whereas now you can clearly see a lot of tan stripes going on. He has also not gone to the bottom of the tank in about 4 days now, he just sticks to the side of the tank, slowly slides down the side of the glass and swims back up, over and over. His mouth is not moving whatsoever. My Piranhas are just constantly looking his way now too, which is odd. Water parameters are fine, he isn't gasping at the top of the tank, although when he swims up the glass sometimes he sloshes his mouth around in the air for a second, but he isn't taking in any air like I've seen when the water is off. He has no interest in eating... he would always suck on the leftover shrimp at the bottom of the tank before. I also put in algae discs in quite often and he doesn't touch them. I'm not sure if he has eaten in many days.. I'm not sure what to do, any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesmo Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) the substrate a very light colour? My rhino pleco changes colour when i move him to a tank with light coloured sand substrate. How much algae is there for him to eat off the glass and how does his poop look? The poop should be continuous and have good colour. If hes an older/large pleco they will typically need wood in part of their diet also Stress can make a colour go pale but the up and down on the glass thing sounds pretty normal Edited May 3, 2011 by Neesmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butters Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 It's black sand. There is quite a bit of algae on the back side of the tank, but he doesn't go there anymore for some reason. As for the poop, I honestly haven't seen anything come out of him for quite some time. Normally I would agree with the up and down the glass thing, but this is just out of the ordinary for him. When he swims to the top he is sticking almost his entire head out of the water and sloshing around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 This sounds really weird and i cannot even formulate a theroy. With the out of air shaking i'm thinking irritation? good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 This sounds really weird and i cannot even formulate a theroy. With the out of air shaking i'm thinking irritation? good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesmo Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 honestly i would take him out for a bit and see if he does better. can you please list off your whole setup including air bubbler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHLIPS Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 i have a pleco in each of my tanks and one is pure black and the other is colored just like you described.....dark color with tan like striping and has been like that since i've gotten him.As far as the other problems I don't have a clue but i've noticed in the past that plecos will surface for a gasp of air,in fact i had one that would do that alot and at feeding time he would swim upside down for several minutes eating food from the surface (he was nuts!!!)Usually a sick fish will hide alot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesmo Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 i agree that im not even sure there is a problem here but its better to be sure, especially when the owner notices some weird actions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butters Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 honestly i would take him out for a bit and see if he does better. can you please list off your whole setup including air bubbler Yeah I've been thinking about taking him out and putting him in a bucket with some food for a couple days possibly. I actually just noticed he has a little bit of a white spot on his nose.. looks like maybe the skin has rubbed off a bit even, I'm not sure. My setup is a 55 gallon with 5 red belly Piranhas and the common pleco, Eheim 2213, Aquaclear 70, heater (i forget how many watts, but it does the trick), Double T5 light fixture, black sand, and that's pretty much it. I have no bubbler, but I do keep the water level a little bit lower most of the time so the Aquaclear agitates the water. I have had this setup running for well over a year now with no problem, the fish are getting very large and I will need to upgrade soon but the water parameters are fine right now. And as you said, something is definitely off, I've had him for a long time and he has never acted this way before. He's usually very active and actually chases the Piranhas around when I put food in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesmo Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 (edited) honestly i would take him out for a bit and see if he does better. can you please list off your whole setup including air bubbler Yeah I've been thinking about taking him out and putting him in a bucket with some food for a couple days possibly. I actually just noticed he has a little bit of a white spot on his nose.. looks like maybe the skin has rubbed off a bit even, I'm not sure. My setup is a 55 gallon with 5 red belly Piranhas and the common pleco, Eheim 2213, Aquaclear 70, heater (i forget how many watts, but it does the trick), Double T5 light fixture, black sand, and that's pretty much it. I have no bubbler, but I do keep the water level a little bit lower most of the time so the Aquaclear agitates the water. I have had this setup running for well over a year now with no problem, the fish are getting very large and I will need to upgrade soon but the water parameters are fine right now. And as you said, something is definitely off, I've had him for a long time and he has never acted this way before. He's usually very active and actually chases the Piranhas around when I put food in the tank. he might have just swam into a sharp surface and damaged his skin.. I would dose the tank with salt and keep and eye on that. Reds need more o2 than the average fish and you really should have a bubbler in the tank with a shoal of pygos, especially when they are getting bigger and still in a 55. I have 5 reds that I have had for a few years now and in my experience you need quite a bit of o2 for them and a pleco to be healthy/happy my setup last year Edited May 4, 2011 by Neesmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butters Posted May 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 Unfortunately the guy I called "The Janitor" died. I tried putting him in another bucket and dropping a bunch of food in there but he just wouldn't eat. I tried. I appreciate the help though everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted May 7, 2011 Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 I was gona post earlier but didn't want to be a downer and was hoping someone might have an answer that could help. But my experience has been once the pleco's are up sucking for air by the filter outlets they are done. A healthy pleco will never do that. Harold and I have got some new meds which we will try out to see if they work on our next shipment from Brazil as new arrivals from there are often prone to that affliction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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