My Pleco Got Messed Up

[jasonskillz]

well i was out the whole day
when i came back at night i found all my parrots really pale white even my giant gourami turned kinda pale(its normally pink)
think i noticed that my pleco got its fins like bitten and ruined, but still alive
i dont know why and who bit the crap out of my pleco
plz help
im worried that next time it will die

 

[WILDER]

Need water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.

 

[jasonskillz]

my nitrite is at 3 and nitrate is like 80
doesnt look that good, but i dont think that would be whats ruining my pleco

 

[WILDER]

You have a high nitrate readings so that wants getting down with water changes, as you need to fetch the nitrite down as well, what your tap nitrate reading.
When did you last maintain the filter.

You can get bacterial finrot with poor water quality, so if his fins looks stredded it's due to water quality.

Look at the pic of bacterial finrot.
http/www.2cah.com/pandora/Disease.html#Finrot

 

[tttnjfttt]

After reading your post, i am honestly concerned about the heatlh of all your fish, not just your pleco. Fish turn pale when they are stressed out, so something is bothering all of them, not just the fish. Its hard to tell without seeing a pix of the pleco, but i would lean towards fin rot as the cause of the pelco's problems.

You posted your nitrIte and nitrAte levels. Both readings are not great, hvaing a nitrIte level of 3.0 is very bad. Do you have an ammonia test kit? I would be very interested in knowing this reading as well. To help with your water quality problems, i would recomend daily water changes (max 15%) until the nitrates are below 40 and your ammonia and nitrites are at 0.

How big is your tank, what fish are in it, and how often do you do tank maintence? Also, because of your water stats, have you done any recent filter maintence?

 

[jasonskillz]

i do water changes ever week and i cleaned my filter like about 3 weeks ago
im gonna do a water change today
i dont think its fin rot
i dont think fin rot would leave a open wound on the tip of its tail
btw the fishes i have is on my signature duh

 

[WILDER]

You never mentioned anything about an open wounds, can only go on what you tell us.
You will have to describe the open wound, is it red that is indented with a circling of white around it.

 

[jasonskillz]

it is just pinkish now at its tail. rgiht now, all the tail fin is gone, its pretty much like bone back there and the tip of a few are pinkish
one of the side fin has no damage on it
the other 2 back bottom fins are shreeded not just split
i looked at pics of fin rot and it kind of looks like it, but would finrot make cause an open wound?

 

[tttnjfttt]

It sounds like he has either a bacterial ulcer or a severe case of finrot. Here is a picture of sever fin rot which has led to an ulcer http/www.fishpalace.org/finrot_qianhu.jpg and another http/www.fishforums.net/uploads/post-10177-1140903217.jpg To treat this, i would use either a broad spectrum antibioitc (tetracycline or kanamyacin) or treat with both maracyn and maracyn 2. If you have a hospital tank, now would be a good time to isolate this fish.

When you do filter maintence, the ONLY thing you should do is shake out the bio spounge in DECHLORINATED water and replace the carbon if you choose. Doing anything else can kill beneficial bacteria, causing your tank to recycle, which seems to be the case with your tank.

 

[jasonskillz]

i cleaned my filter and stuff today and no bacteria will be going into my tank as long as my UV is on
if i have a UV to kill the bacteria, do i still need the medicine?

 

[tttnjfttt]

i cleaned my filter and stuff today and no bacteria will be going into my tank as long as my UV is on
if i have a UV to kill the bacteria, do i still need the medicine?

cleaning your filter is the worst possible thing you can do. In your filter there is a place for beneficial bacteria to grow. These are GOOD bacteria that break down the fishs' waste from ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate. You never want to kill off these bacteria, as they are what enable your fish to survive. Ammonia and nitrIte are toxic to fish in small amounts, and nitrate is toxic in high amounts. Until you have consistantly had a zero nitrite and ammonia reading, do not do any FILTER maintence. Until you have zero ammonia and nitrite readings, you need to do daily water changes to try to minimize the stress and toxicity on your fish.

To help your fish recover, you are going to need an antibiotic medicine. The reason the UV steralizer won't work on the sick fish is because the bacteria are living in the fish's tissue, not free floating in the water.

 

[jasonskillz]

i have noticed that the fins arent growning back yet but no more damage
is it possible for teh bacteria to gone?

 

[tttnjfttt]

From what you have described, i would say you need to treat with antibiotics. However, no one is going to go over to your house and medicate your fish for you. it is ultimately your choice what you do. You have been given the answer, now you need to make a decision and be ready to live with the consequences of whatever you choose.