sick pleco please help

Question

sick pleco   QUESTION: Hello I have a 29gal freshwater tank it has 2 neons, 2 cori catfish, 1 mickey mouse platy, 3 tiger barbs, 2 rosemary barbs and 1 seven inch pleco. I water change every week to every other week. I feed wafers and flake. I have a medium sized castle ornaent and a treasure chest bubbler, blubbler wand in back and three fake plants 2 tall one on each side and one grass in the front. As far as quality of the water goes I have been told numerous things from petstores, I had a ph problem by the way. I was told salt would help, was told to do 3 percent water changes every 3 days for 2 weeks, was told to use uppers, nuetralizers, nothing worked....baking soda did work. Okay ph was ok now and now my pleco was showing signs of parasites I think, I have lost fish such as mollies and platys from stringy clear poop, to fungus, to scales off bodies and bloating. Everything was good after the last sick fish died from loosing scales and growing white cotton on its side now my pleco is constantly changing colors from light stripes on his body to all dark he changes all day long, he eats wafers the others eat flake. I have been treating all of the tank with metronidazole/focus/garlic guard mix for 3 weeks in thier food switching from flakes to pellets for the other fish to medicate the food, I have taken carbon out of filter and have done 2 water changes so far while medicating, pleco is still pooping clear stringy poop but not all is clear and stringy some is normal some has bubbles in it making it float to the top of the tank. If i get a hospital tank how can i treat my pleco? What size? do i transfer water over from the currant tank to the hospital tank for it to be okay as far as bacteria? then medicate? and how? what is wrong with my pleco? temp is around 75, as far as other fish behavoir 1 tiger barb is rubbing on ornaments. My mickey mouse torments one rosemary barb and now the barb has a lump on lip.

ANSWER: Soprina,      You have quite a parasite problem don't bother taking him out. Just out of curiosity before we fix this parasite problem with a bacterial problem.The blister is a sign of poor water quality.  When you clean your tank are you using a syphon and cleaning your rockbed. This takes out alot of the hard was wastes and the and thins the bacteria layer out. If you are not never swirl your rocks up and get that bacteria in large amounts into the water. You definitely should clean your tank with a syphon there is no question. If you don't have one go to the pet shop they are cheap get one. You need a bucket to drain into and your water changes should be about every three weeks around 40%. The syphon may be abit of a challenge in the beginning but as soon as you see it work you will understand. You scoop some water fill the your tube after hose connected is running sink it low and up and down in and out of rocks the water that comes out will be black. Hose in bucket. First were going to take care of the parasites then any wounds left behind so we don't end up with bacterial infections. Go to the pet shop get coppersafe its an older reliable product I use it in saltwater tanks too. Its not expensive either. You are going to remove your carbon from your filter but leave filter on to keep oxygen rolling into your water. I think it is like 1 teaspoon for ten gallons (read directions)This is a mineral will not evaproate from your tank but will keep working for about 30 days and will be removed as you do water changes. In about 1 1/2 weeks do 20% water change and your going to get tetracycline. Follow your directions for dosage and leave carbon out one more week. After that your going do a regular 40 to 50% cleaning, new carbon,wash all plants and decorations in a 20 % to water bleach solution and rinse well. Try to let dry completely before putting them back into tank to let the chlorine that might be left on there evaporate. Your tank may cloud abit no worries especially if when you did your 20% you did it with a syphon. The medications will break down your necessary bacteria bed abit and the cloud is it reblooming it will settle. Then all should be well. While you are medicating turn heat up to about 80 degrees with the tetracycline. This pleco will eventually outgrow this tank because thats what they do but, it you keep that waste off the bottom as he gets big that will help and you can stunt his growth abit with feeding less. When mine do I advertise them on craigslist and find a nice big tank home for him and get a new little guy. He should be good for a yr or two more.....lol  Any other questions none are too big or small ask me....Good Luck, Tina   

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QUESTION: yes i syphon every time i get as much out as possible and it gets emptied into a 5 gal buckett then I have another buckett waiting to refill my tank as I dump the other out. I also have a airstone with pump in the buckett that waits. Interesting enough my tank ph is always low in my tank and straight from the tap its 7.8 and after its been in my buckett for a day its 8.0-8.2 I can only think the ph lowers in my tank due to the gravel? I have failed in changing the ph in the buckett no matter what i try it doesn't lower the only thing I can think to do is get driftwood to put in there...dont know if you have any suggestions with that. If i do not have a carbon filter in the tank is there another filter that i can put in there to help? Filter floss? I have never used it I just hate seeing the filter out because its so gross in there. I have seen my pleco string poop the length of my 29 gal tank...am i feeding too much he has grown quite a bit in just 8 months he was only 1 inch long maybe when i got him. I feed 2 wafers a night guess i do that so my catfish gets some too. I am familiar with the coppersafe i have used it before do not remember if it worked or not want to say it didn't, but I have tried as stated before the metronidazole, general cure, and another one for parasites and nothing has worked yet, I'm amazed he is still alive its been about 2 months he's been sick. Anyhow I will try what you suggest and just wanted to know about how much food I should give him and if there is another filter without carbon that will help or if its just best not to use a filter . Thank you for your response and help.

ANSWER: Soprina,   I am not surprised he is still hanging in there they are extremely tough cookies. I totally trust coppersafe. Its the only one I use in my 125 salt aquarium or my other three tanks. The filter carbon only needs to be removed for the tetracycline not for the coppersafe. The filter has to be left on you need that agitation on the surface on the water to envelope oxygen into your water. Your metronidazole is a broad spectrum antibiotic not as strong as the tetracycline. General cures never work. The pet shops love to push general parasite cures that require several treatments which is constantly changing your water quality. They are usually tablets they are giving you and they are not a mineral base and come out of the water quickly. Usually its like jungle parasite tabs. Which are great if you have a couple fish in a five gallon tank. Feed as usual. If you have medicating alot give the tank a week to settle down after your next cleaning then coppersafe it. Your ph needs to 7.0 nothing else. You do not have like a seashell in there by any chance. It is funny you mention the rocks. I have seen it quite a few times in my years . I have no idea why but, I have found that sometimes rocks do have an effect on the ph of your tank. I have no idea why its rare but it happens. Your ph unless you have something from saltwater like a seashell or coral that buffers your water and automatically raises your ph your ph should never go up. Lets try a test before we medicate take a glass put water in it alone and one on with some of your rocks give it three days let me know what ph is. I would like to fix your problem without a partial breakdown of your tank. I will be watching close for your results so we can get this fixed. Also can you tell me if you have well water or city water. There are minerals in some well waters that can cause this. There are also products to remove them. Your water is very alkaline right now it stresses the fish and as it gets higher it can cause scales to fall off and such. Let me know Soprina...., Tina

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QUESTION: hello its i just wanted to let you know before i had recieved your last email i had already done the medicating of what you suggested to my tank so i don't know if this makes a difference or not with trying to figure out the ph problem...i did the test anyway with the water in the glasses as you suggested but am going to do it again after i am done medicating the tank because i didn't write anything down and i wanted to track it day by day. the ph didn't change much though so i'm thinking i need to put more rocks in the glass? i will try this next. the pleco still looks the same is still pooping squiggly sometimes clear poop. I am going to do the last water change tonight and am going to buy new ornaments and plants to put in the tank because it makes me too nervous to put bleach on anything that will be going back into the tank so soon. I will send a nother email after a few more days probably by friday to let you know what is going on in the tank. Thank you

Answer
Soprina,    Plecos are notorious poopers they make a mess of your tank and outgrow them quickly. Your ph should be 7.0.... your rocks should be about 1 lb per gallon or at least two inches deep. Honey go ahead and bleach your plants and decorations.  Do a 20% per gallon bleach let them soak over night and you can either give them a dechlorinator and water soak or let the stay out a few day. Chlorine evaporates. Your pleco is just getting big and making a mess. If your pH is going up I would change the rocks. Its one of them things that happen I have know explanation for. You are going to go through some of the new tank syndrome again. The cloudy bacterial blooms and stuff but,it works.  Good Luck, Tina