Royal Pleco HELP!!!

Myotis;4239710; said:

Hi,

My royal pleco has a sunken stomach and eyes. I tried to tempt him with a cooked shrimp yesterday and he wasn't interested. Today I did a 50% water change and found that he isn't swimming well at all (i never noticed because he was stuck to the glass normally, a little higher than usual). It looks like his tail might have a bit of fungal growth. I know the water quality was a contributing factor, but what else can I do now to fix it!?!? The tank is ~70 gallons.

-worried

Click to expand...

Sounds like poor diet mixes with poor water quality. Dont cook your fishes foods. Or at least give im some cocktail sauce
First you will need to test your water, Probably signs of ammonia.
We need pictures and water tests to answer your question accuratly. For now give him some raw green squash to munch on. Royal plecs need prestine water conditions to survive. Not nearly as hardy as commons.

Myotis;4239710; said:

Hi,

My royal pleco has a sunken stomach and eyes. I tried to tempt him with a cooked shrimp yesterday and he wasn't interested. Today I did a 50% water change and found that he isn't swimming well at all (i never noticed because he was stuck to the glass normally, a little higher than usual). It looks like his tail might have a bit of fungal growth. I know the water quality was a contributing factor, but what else can I do now to fix it!?!? The tank is ~70 gallons.

-worried

Click to expand...

Although it could be too late.. its not completely over..

I was able to successfully rescue my own Plecos from near starvation.. and it wasn't due to poor diet..

Sunken stomach can be caused by several factors...

Poor diet is number one..
Aggression from tank mates resulting in stress can be another...
Bacteria and parasite disease can also lead to stress and starvation

At the moment.. since you have a Royal pleco.. My best advice is to get cucumber and zucchini and put the pleco on TOP of the cut veggie.. only then will it actually want to eat..

The fact its.. plecos will eat.. its just they dont have the energy to swim around and find food when their belly are sunken in..

I would put 2-3 zucchini in the water sliced in half NOT slice piece.. put the whole thing in there and put the pleco on top of it..

If it wants to eat.. it will.. if not.. you can't stop its death..

Put soft wood in there as well as zucchini for it to eat.

Yes, soft wood. Untreated hemlock lumber is perfect. Just get some free from a lumber yard or construction site and boil the heck out of a chunk. Make sure it's not an evergreen/conifer, these are toxic. Without wood, they will starve no matter what else you feed them. And mopani/bog log is not enough. They cannot chew up enough to make a meal. Avoid meaty foods for a few weeks while his digestive flora are reorganizing. Now is a great time for bloat to set in, so wood and veggies only. I second the physical placing of the pleco onto its food.

Do you have a pic of its tail?

Get your water quality under wraps!

Water changes, filteration , test water..add a raw Yam or raw carrot their woody , pretty fiberous, don't get mushy right away.. (carrots are nice since they sink on their own)

treat with tank w/ praziquantel follow package recomendations.
Hikari makes a good product..This I do for every Royal I bring home.........

lets see pic of tail?

All good advice up there. You definitely have to get it eating veggies and wood because they have a 'certain' bacteria in their stomachs to be able to digest wood properly. Soft wood is best as stated and well established wood with some 'biofilm' would be great also. This sounds like a newly aquired plec? Some can be saved, many can't. Best of luck with your royal.