my plecostomus is looking weird..?

Question

I have a fish tank with a large gold fish and I female betta plus my plecostomus..it's been 2 years since I have this fish tank (10 Gall) and never a problem ..Now I noticed that my plecostomus is laying in the bottom everytime he tried to get stuck in the walls he can't seems like he's trying hard and his tail is looking whiter ...I wonder why is that???I'm concerned that soon may died.. Can I buy some medicine for that or can I put him in a another fish tank ( a little one ) just until he looks better.
can you help me!!! thanks and Happy new year to all..

by the way he's very slow ..before I used to get close to the tank and he'll dissapear now he just lay there and almost doesn't move

Answer 1

Sorry, but he may be dying. Every plecosamus i ever had never lasted long, I know some can live for years but...

If his tail is really thin, he is probably on the way out, that's how i always knew mine were dying-they store fat in their tail.

Answer 2

both goldfish and plecos produce large amounts of waste. Your tank is too small; the water has a high concentration of waste and your pleco is sick from the poor water conditions.

The goldfish alone needs 20 gallons. My recommendation is daily partial water changes until you can get a bigger tank. That might save your pleco. Also, it you can get another filter, add it to the tank in addition to the one you are running now; overfiltration may help deal with the extra waste for a while.

When you get a bigger tank, leave the betta in the 10 gallon and add something like a few harlequin rasboras since they are both tropical fish. Aim for at least a 20 gallon to put the goldfish and pleco in. Even so, you will still need to do weekly water changes on both tanks to safeguard your fish's health.

Answer 3

Plecos are one of the toughest fish and is not easy to scare I put my hand right next to mines and he does not move at all only if I touch him. Also my Oscar pushed a castle that is in my tank on top of him and he survived. I f he is sick try using meds like Melafix and keep an eye out on him to the guy that stated his plecos never last that long there is something he was doing wrong! Trust me they live a very long time

Answer 4

Any fish that appears to be "sick" should be isolated in a separate tank. This "might" prevent the spread of infections. Plecostomus are a very sturdy fish and can have a relatively long life if the tank conditions are maintained correctly (adequate filtration, areation, light, etc.)
Best bet is to visit with local fish experts or consult a good book or search the web using "Tropical Fish" or a related topic. http://fish.mongabay.com/disease.htm is the one place I look first.
Good Luck

Answer 5

the reason a lot of plecos die is because they slowly starve to death. not enough green algae in the tank to live off. if hes two years old in a ten gallon tank he obviously hasn't grown much. so he hasn't had enough to eat. plecos will only eat green algae and they also need to be fed green algae wafers. these fish usually grow at an alarming rate and can quickly grow out of a ten gallon. if your pleco dies, (doesn't sound promising) only replace him if you are growing green algae not black, brown or red. if your not you don't need one. however if you do pick up another one grab some food for him.

Answer 6

Wow thats odd, the only time my pleco gets white spots is when something scares him. He's 12 years old and over a foot long. Im wondering if he's not getting enough algae, try giving him some algae wafers. Mine love those.

Answer 7

the white could be a fungus. research fish diseases online or go to the pet store and ask them. Sad to say but yes it might be dying. Go to the store. They SHOULD kow exactly what to do. If they sound unsure ask for another employee or try another store

Good luck

Answer 8

needs larger space. Low metabolism and lack of food will kill a pleco.