I added the small pleco and ryukins to the tank this past sunday. Now my 1 comet has been sick for over a year. He sits at the bottom all the time, clamped fins. He has seizures all the time. When it's time to eat he is a pig, but has no energy as of late. Also, if anyone has read my past posts, his mouth still has not healed up. It muust have been from some injury,over a year ago, it will start to heal then he seizes and it rips the entire thing back open. Basically he is a runt of a comet, I did not know when he was a baby and I believe these were conditions he was going to have down the road. I have thought of euthanizing him since his life seems like a horrible existence. Anyway overall he has never had anything wrong with his scales. He is always lying on the bottom, under the driftwood. I noticed red patches on both of his sides, and a little one near his belly. I am thinking, though I have no definitive proof, that the little pleco I added is sucking on him. Since this comet is weak and does not move around, only when feeding, it's possible this is going on. He seems fine otherwise. I quarantined the ryukins and pleco for over 3 weeks before I added them on sunday so I know they are haelthy, plus the other fish have no marks on them. My question is do I get rid of the pleco or euthanize the comet? Like I said earlier the comet is weak and has had problems for over a year and is not getting any better, plus the bloody scales could weaken him more and open him up to new problems, that could also infect the others. But if I remove the pleco, who has been doing a great job of cleaning the tank, then their is no risk of other fish getting harmed in the future, especially when he gets larger. Some help would be greatly appreciated. I have already quarantined the sick comet in the past multiple times and nothing helped. Flashlightfrank


Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? 0
Nitrite Level? 0
Nitrate level? 5
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)? 7.1
Ph Level out of the Tap?
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 95/3months
What is the name and size of the filter/s? whisper 2 aquaclear 110
How often do you change the water and how much? 1/3-1/2 1xweek
How many fish in the tank and their size? 3 comets about 7inches, 2 ryukins 2 inches a piece, 1 common pleco who is 1 inch
What kind of water additives or conditioners? prime
Any medications added to the tank?no
Add any new fish to the tank? the pleco, and ryukins this past sunday
What do you feed your fish? flakes, pellets, bloodworms, shrimp
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt", no
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?see above
Any unusual behavior like staying
at the bottom, not eating, ect..?

Hi FF - is he pooping at all? If so, how does it look?

Have you anywhere you can isolate him?

And lastly, any chance of a pic?

no real chance of a picture. Have not been able to see him pooping. WHat is high FF?

High FF, mean Hi - FF - short for F lashlight F rank! - a greeting to you!

HI!

You do not state what type of pleco you have, but if it is a common, then yes, you should remove it from the goldie tank. A common pleco will suck on a goldfish. They do not get tropical fish because the tropicals tend to move fast, but a goldies will sleep, motionless on the bottom of the tank and the pleco can get them. If you have a sick fish that stays at the bottom, it is just set up to be pleco food.

As far as the little injured fish, I would definately see if you can isolate it. It is never good to have a fish that has injuries/infections/problems in with healthy fish. You cannot know exactly what may be causing the problems - an opportunisitc bacteria that is causing the unhealing wounds perhaps. The new fish are strong right now and can resist it, but if anything were to happen to them, the bacteria could attack.

If, in isolation, you cannot treat the wounds with antibiotics, etc. and get them to respond, you need to assess the fish's life quality. If this fish is not eating, not swimming - not being a "fish" that enjoys the water, the food and dancing in the currents, nor can it be returned to that quality of life, it may be time to euthanize the poor little guy....

This will be a decision that only you can make - you need to look at all the factors in the case.

Plecs are opportunists no matter the type. If a fish doesnt move when the plec goes near it will latch on and most fish will die if they dont move away.

The thing about sick fish to remember is that anytime a fish is sick,the other fish will pick at it as they seem to sense these things.Pleco's are more known for it,but all fish will take advantage of a sick fish that's just lying on the bottom.

Thank you all very much. It is a common pleco. I will remove it at once and monitor the sick comet and let you know how he is doing. Thanks, FlashlightFrank

Is a golden nugget pleco suitable for my goldfish, rather than the common pleco I am returning? Flashlightfrank

I personally wouldn't put a Gold Nugget in a Goldfish tank.From what I understand,they're a little bit more sensitive to water params/temps,etc,and I personally don't think it's a good choice. JMO though.

Are you saying tropical fish don't sleep? I'm sorry if it comes off as rude but I notice plecos get a bad rap around here. It does not need to be that way.

Here is the pleco I used to have, he was an 14" royal panaque. A real beast of a fish named "The Shredder", when you touched him he felt like a thorn bush and he would attack my siphon when I cleaned the tank.


As you can see, he is with other fish. Slow and clumsy oscars who he could easily own in the dead of night...or heck, even the day. He never bothered them though, he had a diet rich in cucumber, pumpkin, wafers, driftwood, lettace and tons of other goodies...even rabbit food. My point is, plecos can be kept with other fish if you know how the keep them and sadly few people do. Most people buy them to clean algae and if they are lucky the pleco will get a couple algae wafers a day. A poor diet for a fish that in the wild eats almost constantly. The species does not matter either, everyone talks about commons but a rubberlip, gold nugget, bushynose or whatever is just as likely to suck on the sides of a fish as the common is. The difference is, all the other listed and all the ones recommeded here are small. The common is large, it's not as easy to keep a 12"+ cow of a fish happy. A large pleco cannot get by on leftovers and algae alone, not even algae wafers will do. The smaller ones are more easy to satisfy and thus not as hungry all the time.

My advice to the thread author is...put down the sick fish, if it's been sick for over a year it's quality of life is very poor. It is sometimes more humain to put something down than to try to keep it alive. As for the pleco, based on all the info you just heard it's really up to you on what you want to do. If you do not want to put the investment needed to keep such a large hungry fish happy than get rid of it.

Here is a better picture of "The Shredder", I didn't realize the other one was not that good.

I took the pleco back to the fish store and I took the comet out that has not healed in over a year and was getting sucked on by the pleco. I euthanized the comet. I thank everyone who has responded. It was a tough decision to make, but the life of that fish for over a year was not a happy one, he was miserable. I decided I will not bother with any plecos, even though I think they look great in a tank. I just do not want the hassels down the road of another fish getting attacked. Flashlightfrank

I'm so sorry I know it's a hard decision to make but often it's the kindest....

And I too love pleco's and am thinking of setting up a tank just for them. I did have a common in one of my tanks once and unfortunately he killed a small moor I had - I blamed myself for that and still do. Grunter (my plec) is living happily in a friend's tank and doing well but all he dines on now is algae wafers

PS. Sandtiger - The Shredder is a beauty

Jen: Thank you for the support, it was a tough decision to make, but I feel the best. Flashlightfrank