Urgent Help With Green Phantom Pleco White Growth

[Mr Pleco]

Ok I this is my first problem with disease with a pleco. My Green Phantom that I have had for 4 months has a white growth on his head. He has been in no fights, eats on a regular basis(problem to regular). I have treated the Tank with "MelaFix" and "Pimafix". I want to know if this can spread to other plecos and if I need to move him to an empty tank. Picture Below

 

[davo]

i would isolate him if you can and treat both tanks. is it a fungal growth?

 

[Mr Pleco]

i would isolate him if you can and treat both tanks. is it a fungal growth?

I just moved him to an empty tank and treated the water. It has an air stone and a filter with no carbon in it. Both tanks are treated. and I Believe It is a fungal growth. I was thinking about using a q-tip with some medicine on it and remove the any of the fugus that is still left on the pleco(but that is just a thought). Alot of it fell off when moving which is good and bad. Good that it is off and bad that it is the other tank.


Thanks for the quick response Davo

 

[davo]

i would try to find any visible loose fungus and remove it. i dont know about physically removing it from the fish. guppy will have better answers than me. your the only person i know with a pleco with a hair do

 

[Mr Pleco]

i would try to find any visible loose fungus and remove it. i dont know about physically removing it from the fish. guppy will have better answers than me. your the only person i know with a pleco with a hair do

Ok here is recent up close picks. I am hoping that I caught it early enough not to lose a $80 fish.

 

[davo]

just treat it the best you can. remember that when you feed veggies and stuff, meds become concentrated in it (like in algae) and so i wouldnt feed it, it can go a few days without.

 

[guppy]

This species (Hemiancisrtus subviridis) is from a fast water environment so a powerhead giving a little current (and higher O2) wouldn't hurt. They also tolerate a bit of salt so 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons won't hurt and often clears up minor body fungus. If not, Binox or Fungus Eliminator (Jungle) should work and won't hurt the cat if used as directed.

 

[Mr Pleco]

Guppy thank you for your reponse

 

[WyldFya]

Yeah, that just looks like a fungal attack. You should be fine, my first L200 got a very similar looking fungas, which was easily treated with salt. Looks to have gotten better, just keep an eye on him. Sorry I didn't catch this thread sooner, I haven't checked the fish disease in a while.

 

[guppy]

Oh, about swabbing the area, if you can catch the fish without to much strees a swab with hydrogen peroxide can help, but in this case I wouldn't, te infection is still very minor and you risk injuring the fish during capture.