My coldwater Pleco is on deaths door, what can be done to increase his chances of survival?

Question

I have removed him from the tank as in his weakened state the other marine life i.e newts are nibbling at him. He is about 12" long and been healthy till recently.
He is currently in my bath tub in quarantine, but not making progress. Food untouched and limited movement?
I also had a small newt that disappeared, I think that the Pleco has eaten him? If the case, could the plecko be poisoned and if so do they recover.Please help

The tanks is 3.5ft wide and 1.5ft tall. It has a large filter and many air stones so is fully oxygenated and all other fish in good health. Also is lit for periods of day with timed lighting?

I believe the type of fish is called An adult "giant plec", Hypostomus plecostomus. I have had him for about 4 years and have had numerous numbers of this type in the past. Sold as coldwater plecko in stores - i do realise the majority are tropical

The Pleco has no visible signs of any ailments. His fins are a little jagged but this is down to him being nibbled whilst ill in the tank by a newt. If I take him out of water, he doesnt even attempt to thrash or re-enter the water. If I flip him over he does little to flip himself back over, although he tries. He hasnt eaten for 4-5 days that I
can tell.

On his underside you can see what I think is his anal fin/gland - could on first glance be thought to be his reproductive or anal organs. Anyway this is red like something is stuck? He does eat bloodwork so not sure if that what he is trying to pass....

Answer 1

What size tank was he in? What are your parameters? There is no such thing as a coldwater pleco so that would be a problem.

Answer 2

I am afraid that someone has misled you about plecos being coldwater fish. They are not! Plecos come from South America and the Amazon river and its tributaries in particular. The water temp there is in the neighborhood of high 70's low 80's all the time. How long have you had him?

Cold water slows any tropical fish's metabolism and that is probably why he is not eating or moving around any. Even if he ate something, he would not be able to digest it because of the cold water (metabolism slows).

Any chance he has of surviving will be increased by moving him into warmer water, but not all at once. Raise the temp of whatever he is in slowly, no more than one degree per half hour until you get the temp to about 78 degrees farenheit. All tropical fish need clean water too. He needs regular (weekly) partial (25-30%) water changes to keep him healthy. Also, at 12", he would need at least a 30 gallon, if not a 55 gallon, tank.

The pleco is an opportunistic scavenger and will eat whatever is available, but they do prefer veggies ( I feed mine zucchinni slices) boiled for 3-4 minutes so they sink.

They are not agressive, so he would not have eaten the newt unless it was already dead or immobile and dying. Is the newt one of the poisonous ones or just a common water newt? That would be the key if he did consume it.

Good luck with your pleco. They are tough, don't count him out yet. Warm him up and see if he doesn't start eating. They don't move a lot when they get that big, they usually just hang out and wait to get fed.

Answer 3

he is either 2 cold or your filter is WAY too powerfull and sucked up all the algea. plecos probobly dont eat newts... they only eat algea and fish poo.

Answer 4

Luckily the coldwater Plecos are usually more resiliant then their tropical countertypes. I am familiar with the hypostomus variety, my father keeps one in his Koi pond.

Depending on his symptoms will truly determine the course of action, the sooner you can identify the symptoms the greater his chances will be to make a full recovery.

For a quick ID guide, try to identify the following symptoms.

Parasite
+Growths on the body
+Looks like Sprinkles of salt or sugar
+Cottony growth generally starting below the dorsal fin, working towards the head.

Fungus
+Very Rare... Especially for outdoor fish
+Cotton like substance (White/Yellow) begining development on mouth or Gills/Gillplates.

Internal Organ Disease/Irregulation/Faliure
+Cloudy Eyes
+Lethargy
+Bloated Abdomen
+Discolouration
+No other visible external ailments

Refering to common issues.

Ichthyophthirius looks like very small (.5mm wide) sprinkles of salt or sugar. It is protozoan in makeup, and only able to be destroyed in freeswimming form. Those attached to your fish will be dealt with by your fishes immune system. Treatment will hinder further parasite infection or further illnesses as it destroys freeswimming larva before attaching to the body of your fish. Oodinium (Velvet) looks like yellow sprinkles, significantly smaller than Ich's white spots. This is a flagellum, and can be more easily mitigated than Ichthyophthirius, since it will be removed entirely from your water, since Ich is invulnerable to treatment in its egg form.

Any of the above 2? Treat your pleco with a half dose of Chelated Copper Sulphate, do not expose invertibrates to this treatment, it is toxic. Use half dose for your pleco due to its lack of scales.

None of the above 2?

Popeye! No :( Not the sailor, this one is a true killer.

This is generally affiliated to internal organ faliure. Often argued the true cause of this disease, the treatment is the same, and not very successful. Its easily identified by the protrusion of your fishes eyeballs, swelling outward until they litterally pop. Earlier on it is identified by cloudiness in the eyes. As mentioned its debatable if its the Kidneys or the Heart which causes this, but well understood that the kidney faliure deals the deathblow, the argument is does the heart become irrattic and cause the kidneys to fail... it doesnt matter....

Maracyn - Two is a suitible treatment for this, I cant suggest much anything else. Again though since your pleco is scaleless halfdose of this medication would be advised. Depending on the severity of the popeye, you may make a judgement call to give it the full dose if you believe it is a serious condition.

Bloat?

Abnormal swelling of the abomen, usually caused by overfeeding of protein and lack of vegetation in the fishes diet. Not something you find in a pleco very often, but who knows if its kept in a pond and eating insects that stray in... I wouldnt be suprised.. Plecos have been known to get a taste for meat... Even attacking other tankmates or pondmates by attaching to their bodies with their sucker mouthes and rasping away at the enzyme coating of the fish.

Bloat is utterly incurable, the condition is invasion of the internal cavities of your fish by bacteria which live in the intestinal tract which have bored holes through the intestinal walls and invaded the abdomen... Unless you're a surgical genius, you cant put humpty back together again...

Bloat can also be confused for constipation however. If your fish has a sudden change in diet, or even temperature conditions from the seasons, it can get blocked up, the abdomen will swell, and often he will pass the load after a short while. Other treatments are said to work, but I discredit their success with horror stories, if he's constipated you should leave him pass on his own. This being said.. If your pleck has an abnormally large and swollen abdomen, reduce his feeding, if you feed it pellets cut down a little on them... hope he's consipated and not suffering from bloat, hope it passes..

Poor water conditions can severely damage a pleco also. As they are scaleless they are more reliant on their coating of enzyme around their body, ammonia buildup can burn through this very quickly and expose the skin to harsh conditions. Prolonged exposure to ammonia results in death.

Nitrate and Nitrite poisoning is the same, though instead of burning the fish, it hinders their ability to peroperly respirate. You will see your fish begin to suffer in their breathing, by increased gill movement, lethargy, then death.

Make sure your tank is clean...

Finrot?

Pretty self explanatory, fins rot of your fish... caused by general bacterial bloom, easily treated, nothing very dangerous for your fish if treated properly, any broad spectrum antibiotic will do for this, even eucalyptus extract can be used in mild cases for a drug free solution..

Obviously there are also many other ailments your fish can suffer from. Removing him from his tank/pondmates is imperative if he's being nipped at, and you say he is. Your pleco needs to be alone and rested, if he's that big and you cant find anywhere to put him or his tank/pondmates, consider any large plastic container, cut the top off, clean it REALLY good with 1 part bleach to 10 part water solution, wrinse VERY well with hot water, and fill as much of it as you can with cold water, and place enough dechlorinator in it to treat 40 gallons of water (usually 20ml). Leave it sit for several hours, wrinse with warm water, McGuyver some clothespins and put your pleco in it clipped to the top of your tank.

Any further information of its symptoms can go a mile and a half to finding the cure.