I had this scarlet pleco for over a year, he was eating good and well over a foot long. Over the course of two days, his fins started to fray, he lost all his body fat, his eyes sucked back into his head, and toward the end his skin started to rot off. I ended up putting him in the freezer when k-mycen did absolutly nothing. Anybod got any idea what the hell that was? He went from healthy and active to rotting skin in less than 48 hours. I have a uv sterilizer and I treated for bacterial diseases, so perhaps some kind of super parasite? I mean when I finally put him down you could see his teeth because his mouth was rotted away. My water quality is perfect btw, I do regular water changes and keep my ph well regulated.
Scarlet Pleco Death
- Thread starter AlaskaJammin
- Start date
Do you have driftwood in your tank? Was it properly treated? Sounds like an internal parasite combined with some sort of fin rot disease.. I'm no expert though..
Sounds like a protozoal like phiesteria piscidi but unless you added contaminated fish or plants that is unlikely and if you handled the fish without gloves you would be getting skin lesions and headaches. It is rare and mainly east coast. Watch your other fish and your own health for a few days, sorry about your pleco.
None of my other fish had any problems at all, and my health is fine. THanks a lot for the heads up though. Now that I Think about it I didnt touch him, but I havnt added a thing to the tank in a long time either. Well I suppose its just one of those things.
Do you regularly test your water? Ive had fancy plecos die on me in the past and it turns out to be high nitrates .. ..
yeah I test my water pretty regularly, and do weekly water cahnges. still dont know what going on
Well bought a new one today for 100 dollars. He seems a lot more active than my old one anyway. so upgrade!!!!
