Turning white normal for galaxy pleco?

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Sidney73

Sidney73

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2018
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I’ve had this guy for close to 2 years in a well established 90 gallon tank. He turned half white practically overnight. I included 2 pics from when I first got him and 2 from this morning. I noticed the temp seemed a little high today - 82, not sure when that happened, so I’m lowering that back down gradually. Other parameters seem normal. Nitrates are around 60, so it’s about time for a water change, but that’s never bothered him before (water change every 3 weeks.) Feed a little bit of everything - rotate it around, frozen cubes, pellets, flakes, algae wafers, and zucchini or cucumbers once a week or so... Any ideas what’s going on? His personality seems fine...

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Seen this with high nitrates. Not sure why it happened. Would cont with water changes and monitoring.
 
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A fish going pale like that is usually a sign of stress.
Could be water quality could be another fish.
Has he gotten into any fights lately? Is it being bullied by chance?
 
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Yeah, after looking at a bunch of pictures, I don’t think it’sa good thing like he’s just changing colors - something is wrong. I have 4 pictus cats that have grown like gangbusters in there and he’s so slow moving I have been worried that he’s not able to get to the food because they’re so nuts and gobble it up so quickly. Pigs. Thought of rehoming a couple of them... No one is physically bullying him though. Another thing is he seems to be growing a little too big for his favorite resting spot? Maybe I should get him a bigger place to hide...
 
Just realized I posted something similar a while back when my pleco had a bit of fin rot and it was mentioned to try to separate the pictus from the pleco (at the time all I did was start adding zucchini to his diet and he was fine.) But the cats have since doubled in size. They do swarm all over him and he can't hide as well in his favorite spot because of his size. What about providing a better spot? Pretty much all my guys have outgrown the hollowed rocks in there. Can you recommend where to get bigger rocks/caves/tubes for them? Separating them would be the last option - that just sounds ridiculously hard. lol! (Do I put in a divider? Put the cats in my other tank? Put the pleco in my other tank? Other tank is kept warmer for the discus though... and I don't keep any other tank as a sick tank...)
 
Both sound like excellent ideas.
If you can just set and watch for a while you will be amazed at the things you can find out once you are in tune with the fish In the tanks.
It goes a long way in solving a lot of problems related to how fish interact with each other.
 
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When you say both ideas, which ones are you referring to? (Just threw so much crap out in that last post - just want to make sure I know which ones are excellent.) lol!
 
I’m sorry we were a victim of bad timing.
I posted that comment before I realized you had commented again.
The ideas of providing more or better hidden spots and moving or lessening the stresses from the Pictus cats is what I was referring to.
 
Sidney73 said:
Just realized I posted something similar a while back when my pleco had a bit of fin rot and it was mentioned to try to separate the pictus from the pleco (at the time all I did was start adding zucchini to his diet and he was fine.) But the cats have since doubled in size. They do swarm all over him and he can't hide as well in his favorite spot because of his size. What about providing a better spot? Pretty much all my guys have outgrown the hollowed rocks in there. Can you recommend where to get bigger rocks/caves/tubes for them? Separating them would be the last option - that just sounds ridiculously hard. lol! (Do I put in a divider? Put the cats in my other tank? Put the pleco in my other tank? Other tank is kept warmer for the discus though... and I don't keep any other tank as a sick tank...)
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Setting up a tank for plecos specifically is usually easier then trying to accommodate a community aquarium.

But it’s not that hard to include places for your plecos to have that special spot they love.
I always try to include some driftwood, most all species of plecos like to scrape surfaces of wood.

For the sizes it really depends on the size of the plecos I usually keep groups so I try to have a few different sizes for the plecos to choose from and just let them decide.

You can also diy caves out of terra-cotta pots or pvc pipes, I’ve made caves out of slate tiles or even piles of rocks stacking flat rocks on top of thicker more square stones to leave spaces for the plecos to wedge into.


You can build structures outside the aquarium using silicone, if you are worried about them falling, placing them in place after they have cured.

I use these water spikes in my breeding tanks for my Bristlenose plecos.
Cheap and easy. The only drawback is they don’t look very natural.
They can be placed under rocks or wood to help hide them.
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www.facebook.com

K&M Caves | Naperville IL

K&M Caves, Naperville. 2,243 likes. These are slate caves used for breeding plecos. I make a variety of sizes and would be happy to custom build them to your specs.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
Has some very nice caves if you don’t feel good about Diy.

I would also suggest if you haven’t read over the sticky’s in the bottom dwellers section you give those a look.

Plecos

www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com
 
If you are looking for specific information on certain species
Planetcatfish.com is a good resource.
 
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