HELP!!! My pleco has fleshy holes in his head!!!

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Peanut8987

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2010
5
0
0
Collegeville, PA
My pleco is about 8 inches long and a year old. About 7 months ago he started to develop red fleshy holes on the side of his face. They are about 1/4 inch diameter. I have tried almost every type of medicine (coppersafe, maroxy, tetra all in one, fungus cure, parasite clear, etc), I do regular water changes, gravel vac on a regular basis, add salt, and my temp is about 78-80 degrees. I have 3 large fishtanks and none of my other fish have problems like this. I even have another pleco (a flash pleco) in the tank and he doesn't have any problems. Everytime I treat him, he gets better and they disappear. A few weeks later, they come back. I've treated him consecutively and even put him in a different tank in case he was getting picked on. I am at my witts end. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm open to ANYTHING at this point. Please help my boy!!!:cry:
 
Pics? Tankmates? And you say every time you treat him he gets better meaning..... all treatments? Just trying to get more info so I can try to help. I own an L204(flash) pleco that is about 6 inches long and is VERY particular about his tankmates. He used to live in my 90, but I had to move him due to his aggressive behavior. He was housed with large tiger barbs, cichlids and a much larger L75 and wrecked havoc in that tank. Moved him to a 60 with tetras, an angel and small L264 and he behaves much better. In addition, the flash is a wood eater and needs several different kinds of wood in their tank otherwise they can get VERY aggressive. Very powerful mouths for eating wood. Don't count out their aggression, especially if they are adults.
 
How long are you treating him. Is it possible that a longer, consistent course of medication would wipe this out? Also, a list of tankmates and water parameters would be helpful for us. Or, could it be heater burn?
 
Really sounds like HITH...

I had an eartheater that got HITH, and it ended up being red fleshy looking.

Need Metro for that.
 
I have no pics yet, but i'll try to get some. He's in a 30 low tank with mollies, tetras, dojo loaches, platies, 2 african dwarf frogs, a dwarf gourami, and a rhino goby. He's a highfin highly spotted pleco. The only treatment that works for him is tetra "lifeguard" all in one treatment, but it only works for about a month and then it comes back. You are supposed to use it for 5 days and then do a water change. I've done it for 2 consecutive treatments just to make sure it was completely gone. 3 weeks later.... back again. I'm not sure about heater burn, he spends minimal time by the heater. As far as my water, it is all in normal peramters. I test regularly (i work at a pet store and have access to all the testing kits). I have absolutely NO problems with any of the other fish in either of my tanks. I really dont know what else to do...
 
He gets zucchini, squash, peas, algae wafers, and all the fish get frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp every other day. He is extremely well fed and is one of my favorite fish i the tank. He's quite spoiled!
 
Anything in the tank that has sharp edges? Driftwood splinters for example...
 
No, nothing sharp.... plus he's been in two different tanks and still has the same problems. I don't have any driftwood in the tank, could this help? I know they like to eat it, but does it have any health benefits?
 
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