I was just wondering if plecos can malt their skin, my pleco at home had this kind of milky looking skin the other day but now it has cleared up.

My brothers mate seems to think that it may have been malting. He had said that his looks like that now and then but clears up aswell.

so what do you guys reckon? can they?

Hi, I have looked at Planetcatfish and cannot find the answer. If it helps I have had a Common/Sailfin Pleco for 7 months and it has grown from 2-3" to 11" and has not shed it's skin or had any milky looking substance on it. Perhaps somebody more knowlegable will be along soon.

yeah I googled it and got nothing too.

nope - they dont shed.

it may well have been an injury that was healing...

Nope there was no injury, and it was all over the skin in one big blotch. not on the head.

almost like it had been bleached but not literally.

Nope plecs don't malt their skin, but its protective slimecaot may have been irritated by somthing in the water and reacted in an excess of slimecoat which may have given the appearance of malting; What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stats plus other occupants of the tank and its gallons- did you do a water change recently?

amonia and nitrite are always zero, nitrate is sometimes a little high.

I haven't water changed over the festivities as I haven't really been there, so it is due one.

The tank is 29 gallons or there abouts, and tank mates are in my profile


cheers Tokis

It may have simply been a stress-related thing, all fish have a protective slime coat which acts as a sort of skin to help protect themselves against things like toxins and deseases in the water...When somthing irretates the slimecoat, it grows in excess to help protect the fish from the irritant. Do you mean gold spotted plec as in gold spot dwarf plec or golden nugget plec? How high are nitrates?

somtimes the nitrates are in the 50's I think the plec is an L100 not sure on that one though

its the same one as black angel has in her tank

It might be the nitrates as they are quite high, adding some live plants to the tank will help lower them, or doing water changes depending on wether the nitrates are coming from the tap water or tank .

L100;

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...stru/1266_F.PHP

Peppermint plec maybe?;

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...ancis/189_F.PHP

L030;

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...anci/1807_1.PHP

Or brilliant bristlenose;

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loric...istru/751_F.PHP


This post has been edited by Tokis-Phoenix: Jan 5 2006, 04:26 AM

ha ha aw man there are too many plecos about like.

erm... I am sure we have done this before tokis did I not show you photo once of my pleco. or was that someone else. My memory is terrible.....

its noone of those, I wish I could remember the number it was.

ta da first time god I am good or lucky.

pleco link

its an L001 I just got the numbers mixed around.