need help

[Neervana]

my lovely watermelon panaque is sick had her for ages now and this is the first time i've seen her stressed out. not sure what it could be. im sure its not fungus because the white growths on her body is not woolly. its just patches really. does anyone know what it may be and how to treat for it? she's about 12" and in a 200 gallon tank with heavy filtration. water gets changed weekly.

 

[Neervana]

Forgot to say none of the other fish in the tank are showing any signs of being stressed or sick. They all seem to be healthy

 

[123456]

Sorry to hear about your sick pleco.

Are her eyes sunken in at all? Still eating?

It's looks as though the belly isn't sunken yet, which is a good thing.

Are they bumps like a pimple? Or are they flat and white?

 

[Neervana]

it's just patches of skin that i can see has discoloured and become white. tiny bits around the edges. her eyes are not sunken and she's eating normally. eats all the food i give to her and spends the night grazing on bogwood

 

[matubula]

I used to see that kind of discolouration on one of my small L190, localised around the base of it's fins. It didn't worry me at the time and the fish has always been healthy, hopefully yours is the same.

It could be the picture but the fish does look the wrong side of slim. The bone running between the pectoral fins looks pronounced which is a sign of emaciation (this is because my Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps currently has it). If it is this, then it's probably causing the discolouration.

 

[Neervana]

I used to see that kind of discolouration on one of my small L190, localised around the base of it's fins. It didn't worry me at the time and the fish has always been healthy, hopefully yours is the same.

It could be the picture but the fish does look the wrong side of slim. The bone running between the pectoral fins looks pronounced which is a sign of emaciation (this is because my Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps currently has it). If it is this, then it's probably causing the discolouration.

thanks for ur reply hmm i dunno what it could be? all i know is she eats loads. she gets fed different things but mainly eats bogwood. just havent seen the white patches on her before so it freaked me out a bit when i saw it today. because im not able to have fish where i'm at now my parents are looking after her and feeding her. might move her to another tank just by herself and she if she puts some more weight on without the other fish in there.

if the white stuff hasn't harmed your fish then i just hope it will be the same case for mine. will move her to another tank then let you lot know how it goes. thanks

 

[Allan01230]

If it is eating and eyes and belly are not sunk in that is a very good sign. Are your people doing their regular water changes on this tank. It could be amonia burns from too much feeding possibly? Why not give it a quick salt bath?

 

[Neervana]

If it is eating and eyes and belly are not sunk in that is a very good sign. Are your people doing their regular water changes on this tank. It could be amonia burns from too much feeding possibly? Why not give it a quick salt bath?

yeah they are doing the water changes, never missed one. thats why i found that slightly alarming because the plec looks very healthy.. but then i saw her latch on to the glass earlier and i see the white patches on her underneath. there's nothing at the top. her eyes arent even cloudy. but i think just to make sure its not malnutrition or a deficiency of some sort i shall move her to a tank with lots of bogwood and black background so i can try to fatten her up a bit more.

 

[Warborg]

From a different point of view, could he be scratching himself against a sharp object? Kind of looks like his skin is ripped.

 

[Jackson]

It's normal some of my large Panaque show this from time to time. It's from scraping their bellies along the wood a stuff in the tank as they swim.