plecto turning pale

Question
I recently cleaned my 55 gallon tank and today I noticed my plecto is turning pale and will not swim. He's just been laying face up breathing heavily. Please help ):

Answer
Hi Nikki,
Did you make sure to dose the new water with water conditioner?

Sounds like a huge stress symptom. And given the fact that it all happened after the water change leads me to believe it is something related to the water change.

After you have made sure you used water conditioner to remove harmful chlorine in the water. Theres really not much else you can do but hope the poor guy recovers.

You didn't mention how you went about cleaning the tank. If you did a major overhaul versus simply using an aquarium gravel vacuum to do a partial water change. Theres nothing wrong with water changes. They are one of the best things you can do to maintain healthy fish. But you must make sure that the temperature of the new water is equal to or just a couple degrees off from the original tank's temp and always make sure to use water conditioner.

Also be careful not to let your tank go too long between water changes. If it has been a month or more, the detoriorated water quality in the tank will be drastically different from the water coming from your tap and doing a big water change will 'shock' the fish's system . So thats why frequent partial water changes (at least once or twice a week around 30-50%) are best.

Be sure that no harmful chemicals get into your tank like soap or any other chemicals.

I hope your pleco is ok! But, with the way you described him, it doesn't sound too promising. I'm sorry to hear about his poor condition. :(

Good luck!
Susan~