HELP! Whats wrong with my gar?

[thatdudeoverthere21]

It has been healing up. It isnt as bad as it was in the pictures, but its getting better. I wouldve never thought of my pleco doing that. They've been in the tank so long together that i wouldve just expected that to happen sooner. But im glad you were able to tell me the issue. if it happens again them im just gonna have to find a new home for me monstrous plecostomus unfortunately.
But now your saying head erosion is my other problem? Ive been told its hole in head. Can you tell me a little more about head erosion? Or is it the same as HIH. Now my other gar had it also, not as bad, but still bad. His has mostly gone away. Just a little bit still has to heal up on his nose/jaw and it will look like he never had anything wrong with. So why is my other gar getting worse? They eat the same food and amount of food, interact pretty much the same way, and are they are the same breed. I dont treat one different from the other at all.

 

[pharmaecopia]

Head erosion, hith, when used in the context of gars they are the same thing. Both are used to describe pitting in the head of the fish.

I myself have pretty limited experience with this. The only time that I have had to deal with this was an alligator gar that when purchased already had some head erosion. I was able to heal it up in under a month by varying up the diet and providing a clean environment. As far as your questions I'd try and ask either Solomon/E_americanus or Richard/Polypterus. They would likely be able to provide more information on the subject.

 

[xander]

has the pleco been removed?

 

[pbass510]

i was going to say looks like someone tried to swallow his head and took off some scales

 

[HungDang]

i was going to say looks like someone tried to swallow his head and took off some scales

with other fish, it might look like it but not with gar, their scales are really thick and if some scales are missing it would look like a tile floor missing some squares on it.
right now all you should do is take out the pleco and do pretty much what others already said. Try to keep the temperature around 85F as I see my gars heal faster around that temp.

 

[thatdudeoverthere21]

I havent removed the pleco. the gars neck has healed up and looks good now. I will keep doing what im doing with diet and increase the water in water changes. I will look for a new home for my giant plecostomus. I will increase the temp to a little more as its been at roughly 70F. I really appreciate all of your posts and helping me out with this problem! Thanks. I will keep this thread updated time to time to let you guys know how he is doing.

 

[thatdudeoverthere21]

Since your all wondering if I've removed the pleco, I haven't. I should get them removed but I need a new home for them to go to. Anyone interested?