A faded portion of Plecos plates

Question
Okay, so my Pleco has a portion of his( or at least I'm pretty sure it is a male,)plates on his left side that is faded. He is a little over three years and about 10- 11 in. long. He isn't swimming awkwardly or anything. But just yesterday, for only a few minutes, he had some jerkish behavior, kind of like twitches. I have another Pleco, not sure on the gender, that is 6 in. and about 1 1/4of age. Also in the 55 gal, I have 4 Pacus (2- 3in.) , a Silver- tip Shark(3in.), and 2 Bala Sharks(2in.).The temp of water is ranging between 77-79 F( depending on the time of day. Currently, I have no measuring device for params, and no way to get to the local Petsmart for them to test my water. I don't know the wattage of my heater, so I don't know how to well control the temp output of the heater to a specific temp. My filter is a clip on edge 'WISPER' 20-40 gal/hr/min or something like that( which ever sounds correct. I can't think of any other info about my aquarium. I really hope you know what's going on and that you can help. And I might actually learn something new today!

Answer
Good evening, Tabasco Jim! Ketchup is my favorite condiment, but there's a special place in my heart for tabasco too...

While a 55 gallon is a substantial sized tank, you are courting disaster with your stocking scheme. Even one pacu will outgrow your tank. Imagine four of them! Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that they are inappropriate for the majority of home aquaria and are best suited to public aquariums. That doesn't seem to undermine their popularity here in the U.S., and thus public aquariums (not to mention public waterways) are already full of pacus that have outgrown their owner's tanks. Take a look at Wikipedia's article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacu_(fish)

The bala sharks will grow to an average length of 10-13 inches, however two of them will be fine in your tank for a while. The silver tipped shark (more commonly known as the Columbian shark, but in reality a catfish) is going to need marine conditions as it reaches adulthood and is really a brackish water, schooling fish. Not really a solitary, freshwater fish, such as you are keeping him. Take a look here: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/sharkcat.htm

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news - I know you were just asking me about your pleco. I will get to that, I promise! However, understanding more about your livestock will be part of your solution. I will also help you to better understand your equipment.

A hang-on power filter (as these are called, although "clip on the edge" is a fair description) rated for a 20-40 gallon tank is not going to be able to adequately filter your tank, I'm afraid. Your pleco's problems are surely from water quality issues. Here's what you need to do:

1. While Whisper filters are not my favorite, if you maintain them, they will do. For about $23, get yourself another Whisper 40i. Or, go with my advice and get yourself a Penguin 200B rated for 50 gallons for $30 - a far superior filter, in my opinion, for just a bit more. Pack them with the usual media, you may even add some filter floss (the white fluffy stuff at the local fish store or the fish department, looks sort of like stuffing or batting) to help you with mechanical filtration. Two plecos alone will produce lots of waste! Not to mention everybody else. You will need all the help with mechanical removal that you can get, to keep all the uneaten food and fish waste from fouling your water. It will continue to be in your system until it is removed from the filter, so do keep reading...

2. Replace or rinse your filter media regularly - that is, once a week. If you rinse it, use aquarium water, not tap water, because tap water has sanitizers in it that will kill the beneficial bacteria on your filter media. You will also, every 2 weeks or *at least* once a month, have to take apart your filter and clean it. The impellers in your filter will get gunked up and will burn out quickly, if your filter itself is not cleaned! The gunk in your filter will also bring your nitrates up (a dirty filter has been called a "nitrate trap"), which is not good news for your fish.

3. Vacuum your gravel. You will need to do this once a week to keep your water clean, because there is invariably lots of food and waste on the bottom. All of your livestock are messy eaters and/or big waste producers. You'll be surprised how much debris is in the spaces between your gravel! Petsmart carries a variety of gravel vacs - they all work about the same, although I recommend a "self-starting" vac.

4. Change your water! Lots of water changes! Every week, twice a week, is best! I cannot emphasize this enough. Especially on an underfiltered tank full of messy fish! Right now, you are going to need to change 40% of your water until you lighten your fishload, up your filtration, or both. That means 20% water changes (11 gallons) twice a week. All your fish will be much happier.

Follow these instructions, taking care not to overfeed, and do consider returning some of your tankbusters, T.J., and you will see how your pleco's skin condition - which is actually likely just paleness from being "unhappy" with the water quality, unless it develops fuzzy growths or slime - will no longer be present.

Oh, also, if you haven't already, do put a thermometer on your tank - the old-fashioned glass kind on a suction cup works best. Your heater is likely the Whisper kind, which has a curved line and a minus and plus sign. There is a little notch on the line, that notch represents 78 degrees. The knob should be pointing to that notch, since 78 degrees is the temperature most tropical fish prefer. The only way to tell your heater's wattage at this point is to measure your heater. Then go to http://www.thatpetplace.com and type heater in the search field. Look at the different sizes of heater and their corresponding wattages. The size that most closely matches yours should represent the wattage of your heater.

You really ought to have two heaters, one heater on each side, in a 55 gallon tank - but your temperature ranges are normal, fine really. Your water quality is likely another story, but with a new extra filter, 40% water changes, and regular maintenance, it will surely improve.

Do start thinking about what you are going to do with your livestock in the long run. You could try placing a free classified ad online or in the local paper. I managed to rehome my three African cichlids that way.

In the future, save yourself the trouble by researching every species you are considering *before* you make a purchase. The pet stores are not going to give you the best practical advice and suggestions. Most of them are out there just to make money, a few of them actually care about the grander scheme. Independent research is the key to becoming a better fishkeeper and steward!

Good luck, take care, and feel free to write in again.
Nicole