Pleco Nose Ailment Diagnosis... Help Needed Please

[paul_p]

Hi All,

I wondered if you could help me with identifying a lump on my Pleco's nose. It doesn't appear to be cotton mouth (treatment for this has been administered)

The pleco isn't in bad shape, is eating normally and seems quite happy. He's currently in isolation as I'm worried about it being contagious for my other fish.

To be honest, he's had this since I got him about 3 months or so ago, but thought I'd try to cure it myself but he's still got it. Could I be worrying about nothing? The poor old chap is lonely and I'd like to reacquaint him with his pals.

Thanks in advanced!!

Paul

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

if he's been in isolation for 3 months and is still a perfectly healthy fish, then i think its safe to assume its just a bump on the nose (scarred tissue).
fish live underwater which doesnt particularly help exposed skin/scales to repair 100% back to their normal state like ours do...try imagine cutting your hand and then placing it in water until it heals...the exposed cells will swell causing disfiguration which would leave a worse scar.

the best thing to have done over the past 3 months would have been to have given him some antifungal treatment (just to be on the safe side as the picture shows no fungus infection what so ever).

i personally dont think theres anything wrong with your plecostomus, but they can sometime prefer to be on their own so why not just keep him in the isolation tank if he's fine enough? it seems finely decorated so im guessing its on display?

pink.

 

[paul_p]

Hi PD,

He's had a couple of doses od antifungal treatment and no change has been seen. He is in a display tank (my old 80L) in a nice quiet front room. Ideally I'd like to have him join the rest of the gang but might following your reply, I may just pop a couple of community fish in with him and leave him where he is.

Thanks for the reply,

Paul

 

[Wills]

Woah wait, sorry pink dolphin but that is bad advice. That fish is a common plec its a fish that will grow (regardless of tank size) to 1 foot long maybe more in under a year it needs at least a 6 foot tank for it to be housed properly unfortunately they are way to often sold to unsuitable tanks like this one.

To the OP the treatment is a good route to take I would maybe post this in the emergency section as there are people there that will be able to help you get his nosed cleared up quickly

Good luck

Wills

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

Woah wait, sorry pink dolphin but that is bad advice. That fish is a common plec its a fish that will grow (regardless of tank size) to 1 foot long maybe more in under a year it needs at least a 6 foot tank for it to be housed properly unfortunately they are way to often sold to unsuitable tanks like this one.

I don't think it was bad advice. I assumed that paul knew how large the common pleco grows...meaning he would eventually rehome this fish in the near future anyway. I didn't know the size of the tank the pleco is in when I replied to the question about the fish's health, but again I assumed that paul knew the size potential of common plecos.

To the OP the treatment is a good route to take I would maybe post this in the emergency section as there are people there that will be able to help you get his nosed cleared up quickly

After 3 months of treatment, I dont think this is going to go away any time soon...if at all.




Paul, you fish seems in good colour (faded fish is a great sign of sick fish), so I personally dont think anything is wrong with it. But as Willis stated, these do grow to a large size. I dont know the size of the larger tank, but unless it's 5/6 foot or more, it will unfortunately need rehoming.
Common plecostomus are VERY messy fish too, so it can make things unpleasant for the rest of your fish.

It you still want a plecostomus type fish, why not replacing it with a few bristlenose's?
They're a lot smaller and, when they're in a group, can be very funny to watch.

Either way, good luck man

pink.

 

[paul_p]

Hi PD,

He's only in this tank at the moment because of his potential threat to the others. He was sold to me by a complete numpty in Pets At Home who knew sweet FA about them. They sold it to me as a BN Pleco but I soon researched and found out that this wasn't the case.

The isolation tank will be running 24/7 anyway so I'm going to keep him there for the mean time until either a) I get a conclusive answer to his issue b) he remains the same for a couple more months and I pop him in with the other gang c) he packs his bags and makes a dash for freedom in the midnight hours.

I do appreciate the concerns about the tank size as I know they can be easily missold by Saturday staff in high street chains (and experienced fish stores also).

I do have another option which is to put him up for adoption...