Rubberlip W/ White Spots! Help!

[greenmumma141]

My rubberlip pleco has white spots from his tail, up his back. They look almost like polka dots. He's really hard to get a good look at, but I noticed something much smaller today, so whatever it is, it's moving fast. I've had him for a couple months and he's always seemed very gold glittery like, which I've always been uneasy about, but a lot of fish are just iridescent, and I've never kept a rubberlip (or bullnose) before so I wasn't sure. His movements are very erratic, but they always have been. It seems like every couple months I get some type of fungus problem, and Im really sick of it!! Here is my tank info:

30 gallon vertical
Aquaclear 70 filter (fully cycled of course)
Ammonia= 0
ph= 7.6-7.8 (always)
temp: 76 F

I don't see any other signs in any of my fish, except I have noticed one of cories flashes sometimes. Nothing crazy but he's def. flashing.

Over a month ago, one of my tigers had a fungus-y thing that, with the help of TFF, thought was columnaris and I treated with pimafix. It cleared up and he is doing good. I really hate heavy meds and I have many little cories, and a pictus so I don't want to do anything too strong, but Im upgrading tanks soon and i REFUSE to start off with problems so I really need some help! Should I just throw some salt in??? help!!! I can't get a clear shot of my plec for a pic yet but I will keep trying!

 

[Tuxyu3]

No help without a pic I'm afraid (and to be honest I'll probably be clueless with one) but don't use salt with scaleless fish, ever.

 

[greenmumma141]

Is a pictus scaleless? Ive used salt many times before, maybe bc it wasn't a full dose. Oi vey... thanks for the reply though, still trying to get a shot of the #28###.

 

[greenmumma141]

pic added, i know its fuzzy but its the best i could do... you can see just his tail sticking out from the bogwood.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'm not being funny, but do you really expect any repsonsible to look at that photo and give any sort of diagnosis?

What fish, what size excluding their tail fin and how many of each species are in this 30g tall tank (~113l)? In a tall tank with a relatively low surface area, you should have less than 55cm of adult fish excluding their tail fin.

Chaetostoma need specialist tank conditions, far beyond the realms of the average hobby fish... Cooler water (68-74F, lower the better); massive currents (10-20x water turnover with a lot of surface rippling to give excellent oxygen levels, very similar to African "Congo rapids"); understocked tanks; excellent water maintenance.

Are you sure of which of the 30+ "Rubbernose" you have? Some naturally have white spots, such as the quite common Chaetostoma dorsale, http/www.planetcat...species_id=3785.

It is possible that the Corydoras and Chaetostoma are flashing because something is irritating them on the tank floor, such as detritus or fish poop. In a tank with low water circulation, which easily happens in a tall tank (I have an Aqua One 620T), the water readings you get near the surface can be very different from those near to the tank floor.

How often do you do water changes and roughly how much? You should be aiming at 50% minimum with a Rubbernose, with a good vacuuming of the tank floor at least every couple of weeks.

With very little to go on from your posts so far, I would definitely start with a massive "emergency water change" in the region of 75-95%, with a vacuum of the floor.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Copied from OP's profile:

"30 gal. vertical planted w. driftwood & slate cave
1 pictus catfish
9 corydoras:
2 green
2 julii
2 sterbai
3 panda
1 angels
4 tiger barbs
2 green barbs
1 sailfin spotted pleco
1 blonde rubber-nose pleco"

All of the Cory's, the Pleco's and the pictus are scaleless.
Just a few notes on your stocking:

Those Cory's should be in groups of their own species of at least 6, do not up their numbers now though as the bottom of your tank is already too heavily populated (in my opinion anyway).
Pictus catfish should be kept in groups and will eat any small fish they can, they also appreciate plenty of open swimming space.
Those Tiger Barbs can be very nippy in small groups and even in large groups I would never recommend keeping them with an Angel due to their long fins.
I am afraid the precise information escapes me at this moment but I believe that Sailfin Pleco could very well be a species that grows to a very large size and will become stunted in a tank of this size.

I will leave the Rubberlip advice to N0body Of athe Goat as he is obviously more knowledgeable than me about it.

 

[greenmumma141]

Copied from OP's profile:

"30 gal. vertical planted w. driftwood & slate cave
1 pictus catfish
9 corydoras:
2 green
2 julii
2 sterbai
3 panda
1 angels
4 tiger barbs
2 green barbs
1 sailfin spotted pleco
1 blonde rubber-nose pleco"

All of the Cory's, the Pleco's and the pictus are scaleless.
Just a few notes on your stocking:

Those Cory's should be in groups of their own species of at least 6, do not up their numbers now though as the bottom of your tank is already too heavily populated (in my opinion anyway).
Pictus catfish should be kept in groups and will eat any small fish they can, they also appreciate plenty of open swimming space.
Those Tiger Barbs can be very nippy in small groups and even in large groups I would never recommend keeping them with an Angel due to their long fins.
I am afraid the precise information escapes me at this moment but I believe that Sailfin Pleco could very well be a species that grows to a very large size and will become stunted in a tank of this size.

I will leave the Rubberlip advice to N0body Of athe Goat as he is obviously more knowledgeable than me about it.

Yes, I realize all of this. I am upgrading to a 4 footer this weekend. My two plecos came from a LFS that sold them to me with false info. The sailfin will get 18 inches, I am planning to rehome him before going to the new tank, and the rubberlip has been doing great until recently, i keep my filter at almost high and bc my tank is high, i leave my water level a couple inches lower and i have a great current. My pictus is very peaceful and healthy, and yes he will appreciate all the room in the new tank. I've never had any aggression problems with my tiger barbs, or my green barbs, Ive had them for most of the year, so I'm very happy with them, and their numbers. The main reason i am upgrading tanks is to boost my cory numbers and give them a sand substrate and planted tank. I realize I have a lot to learn and there's a couple crud LFS's in my area that i now know not to go to, but Im not completely daft to the hobby, and I know my fish need more room, and that's what Im going to give them. In the meantime.... my rubberlip has some white spots, he is a blonde rubberlip (L187b) which do not naturally have white spots. I am sorry for the poor shot of him, he's very hard to get a picture of.

I'm not being funny, but do you really expect any repsonsible to look at that photo and give any sort of diagnosis?

What fish, what size excluding their tail fin and how many of each species are in this 30g tall tank (~113l)? In a tall tank with a relatively low surface area, you should have less than 55cm of adult fish excluding their tail fin.

Chaetostoma need specialist tank conditions, far beyond the realms of the average hobby fish... Cooler water (68-74F, lower the better); massive currents (10-20x water turnover with a lot of surface rippling to give excellent oxygen levels, very similar to African "Congo rapids"); understocked tanks; excellent water maintenance.

Are you sure of which of the 30+ "Rubbernose" you have? Some naturally have white spots, such as the quite common Chaetostoma dorsale, http/www.planetcat...species_id=3785.

It is possible that the Corydoras and Chaetostoma are flashing because something is irritating them on the tank floor, such as detritus or fish poop. In a tank with low water circulation, which easily happens in a tall tank (I have an Aqua One 620T), the water readings you get near the surface can be very different from those near to the tank floor.

How often do you do water changes and roughly how much? You should be aiming at 50% minimum with a Rubbernose, with a good vacuuming of the tank floor at least every couple of weeks.

With very little to go on from your posts so far, I would definitely start with a massive "emergency water change" in the region of 75-95%, with a vacuum of the floor.

I now realize that my little rubberlip is not the average pleco and needs dif care, again... I was not aware of this as i was given false info on him. My fault, I don't plan on buying any species without doing my research first. As it is, I have tried to make my tank suit his needs the best I can and I have done some research, he is a L187b (blonde rubberlip) which do not normally have white spots, I watched these appear within a day and a half. I think I have a pretty strong current going in my tank. I have 10x the turn over. I do about a 50% water change weekly with a heavy vacuuming. I am starting to realize that my tank being a vertical might effect my water flow a lot more than I thought. (when i purchased the tank I didn't think anything of it being a vertical as I was new to the hobby) I try to keep my tank as clean as possible, but the lack of flow at the bottom might be why there is slight flashing. I realize the picture is crud, but I thought something would be better than nothing. He's very hard to get a good picture of. Doing my best here.

I've done a massive water change with vacuum.