12" Common Pleco Floating...Help

[Doradid]

A friend at work came to me with a problem i cannot help her with. She has a 12" pleco in her goldfish tank thats like 9 years old. She said it had started floating at the top recently and the guy at the LFS sold her some meds for swim bladder infection. She said she followed the directions and no improvement followed. She's also added a Tablespoon of salt for every 5g and done 25% WC each week since. Shes real upset that her 9yo pleco is dieing. Anything else she can do?

It eats well so i ruled out starvation.

 

[sikoko]

raise the temp.

 

[vaine111]

Well depending on the size of the tank not to sure.
If it's a common and is only 12" it might be a little more then just swim bladder problems.

 

[Doradid]

Its a 55g goldfish tank with some huge expensive goldfish. I'm not sure she'd wanna raise the temp and risk her goldfish. I told her it was probably more than a swim bladder problem, especially with the age.

 

[vaine111]

Commons can get to 20-24". Just tell her he's old and to do some research on her next pleco before she buys one.
It's harsh but it has to be done.