Pleco scrape or something else?

[Cardeater]

Have you tested your water?

No

If I did not test my water...

1. ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.

Do you do water changes?

Yes

What percentage of water do you change?

81-90%

How frequently do you change your water?

Every week

If I do not change my water...

1. ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.

I think this pleco scraped himself as for the last two weeks he was trying to sit right next to this powerhead like the picture shown below. Several times he made the suction cups get separated from the glass and he even broke the part for the powerhead to add air.

I was afraid he might kill a fish when powerhead fell down so I moved it to the bottom part of the tank.

Could it be related to the rainbowfish in this thread?

Is this HITH on this rainbowfish

This dority rainbowfish has had these marks for a few months now. Im pretty sure none of the other fish in the tank have anything similar. At first I just though it was scarring as these rainbowfish have scraped that area of their heads in the past but now I'm starting to wonder if it could...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

I'm now changing water every two days just in case the water conditions were questionable but I never went more than 2-3 days for water changes in last two months.

First pic is damage. Second pic is what pleco has been doing with powerhead that may have caused this

Thanks for any feedback.



Third pic in didn't mean to upload but anyway it shows that I moved powerhead down. He seems to just sit below the spray now and hasn't moved it as often . Last night it looks like he didn't move it at all.

 

[kno4te]

Don’t think it’s related to that rainbow fish. Could be roughed up from the gravel. I’d watch and keep the water clean.

 

[Cardeater]

Don’t think it’s related to that rainbow fish. Could be roughed up from the gravel. I’d watch and keep the water clean.

Thanks. I've just been driving myself crazy. I read pages about fish diseases and then worry that it's what I'm dealing with. My plan i guess is to do an the 2 day water changes since I'm at home anyway.

It's reassuring at least to get some feedback

 

[Cardeater]

Update:

Not sure if he's been eating.


So he looks the same which I guess is okay.

He seems to do that thing where he rides above the surface for a sec. I read that plecos does that to get air for buoyancy. Seems to do more often that I noticed before but I could just not have been noticing.

Bigger issue is I'm not sure if he's eating. He sucks on the glass but he used to aggressively go after wafers when I'd drop them but I actually haven't seen him suck ok a wafer in probably 3 weeks. For the past ten days I've been dropping some after lights go out so he could be eating those.

Also I used to see the long poops (not clear but actual green poops) all the time but haven't seen those in awhile so maybe that's why I'm concerned.

He does seem to still be active so maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

Also this pleco is as old as the clown Loaches (20+ years possibly 25 years) so I don't know if he's near the end of his life span anyway.

Just posting in case it's related to rainbow issue.

 

[Cardeater]

He knocked this powerhead just now and I just unplugged it as I didn't want to reach in the tank.

He keeps sucking on the sponge and I remember reading that microorganisms grown in there and the glass that plecos feed on. I dropped a bunch of wafers by him though and I haven't seen him eat them. He chased a bunch of clown Loaches away from the food though.

Is this scratching? I assume this is how the powerhead gets knocked over. He was sucking on the sponge but then he started doing this:

Two years ago he used to wedge himself behind this aquaclear intake sponge so he's always done stuff like this.

He also just relaxes on downed powerhead:





Then he went back to sucking on sponge.

I wish he'd just suck on a wafer so I'd stop worrying...

His scrape doesn't look worse. I'll try taking another pic when I water change tomorrow to see if I can notice a difference. The lightning in this area makes it hard to tell.

Edit:
This is the best I can get today. Looks the same?

 

[Cardeater]

I dunno. I thought there might be white on the fins when he has the dorsal from folded down:



It doesn't look that bad when find are straightened:


Just took close up pic of scrape to see if it looks different than other pics


Not sure if it's better for worse or the same.

 

[Cardeater]

Now this shows up today. Wasn't there yesterday. Maybe it's just from running over plants or sponges (though I just rinsed all the sponges during the water change last night ).

White stuff worries me as it can be fungus or columnaris. The stuff I thought I saw on fins doesn't seem to be there thoughm.

Would something like columnaris grow out of the scrapes (which seem to be fine) or just on a random spot on the head like this)? A sponge was knock over so he was behind one sponge for sure at some point last nightm

 

[kno4te]

Fungus would show up on scrapes.

 

[Cardeater]

Fungus would show up on scrapes.

Thanks for the quick response. As is probably evident from my posts, I drive myself nuts everyday trying to see if things are getting better or worse with the tank.

Only two good things to report. First is I guess the water is cleaner as I've stuck with the every two day water changes. Only missed itmonce and I fasted them the second day and changed the third so it was probably similar nitrate levels.

Second is that clown Loaches and the pleco seem to like the placement of the powerhead in the bottom. I've spotted the whole crew behind the pleco sitting in the current.

 

[Cardeater]

Whatever that was is gone so some good news for once.



Just took that now. He knocked over two intake sponges so I guess he was active last night. Usually one or the other is knocked down, sometimes none. The powerhead being by the bottom seems to deter him from knocking that over as it's been on place now since last water change on Thurs.

I'm gonna fast them today and water change soon since I have to stick my hand in the water and fix these sponge filters.