Emergency! Sick Pleco!

[FroFro]

Please help! I woke this morning to find my pleco swimming strangely on the bottom not attached to any surfaces like she usually is. She is very pale in color and I immediately moved her to a hospital tank with clean water and fresh filter cartridge, bare bottom no decorations of anything. I went to the store to buy a smaller heater for this tank as the main one wouldn't fit. Here are a few pictures. Earlier she was just pale but still feisty, when I came home she was paler and completely flared out, fins and her little barbs under her gills, barely moving! I've checked my water parameters with the test strips and I'll be checking with my local LFS just in case I'm reading it wrong, my other fish are otherwise fine and showing no signs of distress. What do I do? I've had her for four years, I'd do anything not to lose her! I'm afraid to try any chemical methods as she seems so stressed and I wouldn't even begin to know what to use. I'm sorry the photos are not the best, but I don't have a very good camera. Although its dark, she is VERY pale from her snout to her tail in blotches. Some normal gold, others white.
 

 
UPDATE:
 
My poor pleco passed away a little over an hour after posting this. Thank you to those who responded.

 

[BOGaming_]

it looks slighty like dropsy, if it is, this can be fatal, it's most common symptom is pine-cone like scales. i'll attatch a picture. You can get meds for dropsy but you'd need to treat pretty much asap. http/freshaquarium.about.com/od/termsandtables/p/Dropsy.htm

 

[FroFro]

it looks slighty like dropsy, if it is, this can be fatal, it's most common symptom is pine-cone like scales. i'll attatch a picture. You can get meds for dropsy but you'd need to treat pretty much asap. http/freshaquarium.about.com/od/termsandtables/p/Dropsy.htm

She isn't swollen or pine cone like scales lifting up, I've had dropsy in fish before but I think this may be different. What medicine would you recommend if it is perhaps dropsy or something of the like?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Just because her gills stick out doesn't mean it's dropsy. That is a defence mechanism of plecos. They have spikes. Anyway, have you added anything to the tank at all? New fish or anything? What other fish are in the tank? She's most definitely stressed,but that could happen with the move as well. It almost sounds like she may have been bullied. Or maybe she got caught up in a decoration and managed to get herself out but she's injured a bit?

Also..?i really hope it's not this....i had a female bristlenose, 2 years old, that got eggbound. I didn't realize it but for 5 weeks she didn't eat(I was trying everything, could tell this by looking at her either). I finally took her to a vet an hour away. Unfortunately my heater that worked fine in the house, did not work well with the power converter for the car. I didn't realize it but it didn't shut off. She passed on the way there. But anyway, they did a necropsy on her and found her ovaries had burst. Her symptoms was she started twitching funny, didn't eat, and could barely stick to the glass at times. I think it was because she was breathing heavy due to the pain she must have been in. But this could be something to consider. I'd keep the water nice and clean for now and just keep an eye on her. Make sure she has a hidey place in there too. They like that. See if she eats and if her fins may get better.

Though I'm still wondering if maybe bullying could be the case but it depends on what other fish you have. Also, how big is the tank? And what type of pleco is this? Common? Bristlenose? Some other one?

 

[FroFro]

She is a female bristnose albino pleco. I don't think she has eggs as I've had her since she was very young, she is almost four now and has never had a male in the tank, any other pleco I've attempted to add she kills, so no opportunities for romance. I have one large and one small angelfish, while they seem like a pair the smaller is far too young to be sexually mature for breeding. I also have six cory cats who are very docile and tend not to bother anyone, even when the angels sneak in to bite at their food. I will add a log from my bettas tank to hers for a hiding place as I do not know if anything in my main tank is the culprit. She is flared and still very pale, not moving unless she has to and barely sticking her mouth to any surface. I have her filter going and the water heater inside the tank. I am doing a massive water change to my main tank right now, over 50%.
 
I'm just very fearful because I need to work a short 4 hour shift soon and I'm afraid something will happen if I'm not here to check on her. I haven't observed any bullying from my angels but... it may be the source. She usually hides and clings to decorations and moves when other fish come toward her.

 

[FroFro]

 
She is a female bristnose albino pleco. I don't think she has eggs as I've had her since she was very young, she is almost four now and has never had a male in the tank, any other pleco I've attempted to add she kills, so no opportunities for romance. I have one large and one small angelfish, while they seem like a pair the smaller is far too young to be sexually mature for breeding. I also have six cory cats who are very docile and tend not to bother anyone, even when the angels sneak in to bite at their food. I will add a log from my bettas tank to hers for a hiding place as I do not know if anything in my main tank is the culprit. She is flared and still very pale, not moving unless she has to and barely sticking her mouth to any surface. I have her filter going and the water heater inside the tank. I am doing a massive water change to my main tank right now, over 50%.
 
I'm just very fearful because I need to work a short 4 hour shift soon and I'm afraid something will happen if I'm not here to check on her. I haven't observed any bullying from my angels but... it may be the source. She usually hides and clings to decorations and moves when other fish come toward her.
 

I checked on her again and she isn't moving. Her gills have been still for over five minutes and her eyes have lost all color, I think she's gone now. I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm going to bury her in the yard as I feel she deserves the respect. Thank you for your help, it's my fault for not noticing sooner.

 

[BettaBettas]

:;(

 

[cowgirluntamed]

So sorry for your loss. . And just to add, they don't have to have a male to make eggs inside themselves. Mine was not around a male whatsoever. They normally reabsorb the eggs if they aren't laid. The vet told me it was rare for them to get eggbound. Anyways, I am very sorry for your loss.