CLOWN PLEC

[nagus]

My clown plec looks like its stomach has sunken, is there someting wrong with him or is he just not eating. I never see it eating, i've tried sinking pellets and also some cucumber and algae waffers, but he does'nt touch them. I do have some bogwood in the tank, and he sometimes seems to rasp up and down on that ?

Has anybody got any ideas

 

[nagus]

EEK . . . I've just looked at him again, and he was lying on his back (looking like he was sunbathing) but just as he spotted me he flipped over and stuck himself the the heater

 

[nagus]

HELP . . . Just looked again, and he's back to lying on his back. Don't know what to do

 

[ryan]

Sadly this can be a common problem with Plecs, you should always check for signs of a sunken stomach before you make your purchase. It is likely to be internal parasite, which would explain him not eating. Unfortunatly internal parasites are hard to cure and the fish often starves.

 

[nagus]

IS THERE NOTHING I CAN DO FOR HIM NOW

 

[Tolak]

I've had a few angelfish with hexemita, which is an intestinal protozoan. They would have the same symptoms, not eating, hiding, & getting a hollow look to their bellies. I treat them with hex-a- mit, which is aquatronic's name for metronidazole. Learned from a breeder to sprinkle a little on the food, not just in the water, and they have been back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Tolak