Pelcos, something is rong

Question
Hi there,
Thanks again for taking the time to help me out. I have this pelcos not sure if its a "common" one but we have had it for about 1 1/2 years and its very big now but its Very nervous lately even the slightest sound makes it go away and hide, the other night he was in the front of the tank and we saw he had a big bump on the bottom of him near his head. Now my  first guess was he might have little Pelcos but thats impossible cause we dont have two... Ive looked online and have found no help. Anything would be nice.

Thanks
mike

Answer
Hi Mike,
I bet that's a big pleco. They can be nervous and sometimes they do get rather spooked easily. As for the bump, did it appear that it was red on the outside or just something that is internal? Is there any way that you could get a picture of it? I know, that's going to be hard, but it is so hard to figure out fish illnesses without seeing it. Plecos usually don't have things as you described but there's always the first time for everything. If you can get a picture -great-it not try to see if it looks red or has any coloration that is unusual. Also, check your water and make sure everything is ok and it wouldn't hurt to do a water change and siphon your gravel just to be sure the water hasn't suddenly become  unbalanced in some way. Plecos are known to really pollute a tank quickly and maybe the water is causing some of the problem. Test your water just to be sure that ammonia, nitrites or even nitrates aren't too high.
Let me know how things are and how he looks. Maybe we can figure this out!
Hope this helps,
Karen