usually hes pretty mellow n just sits under his favorite plant, but lately hes been going CRAZY. he zips around the tank and even when hes sitting in one place it looks like hes almost twitching, he just wont stay still anymore! is this normal?

Well, my pleco when u turn on the lights in the moring he goes crazy or if one of the other fish touches him. But he just sits there during the day. My guy twichs so i think its normal.

he could have a parasite or internal bacteria problem causing him to flash, whats your water params ? any other signs ?

i dont have a test kit yet, but at the moment the pleco calmed down, and is sitting still on a shell, but hes just FLYING around the tank most of the time, earlier i thought he was gonna jump right out because he kept zipping from the bottom of the glass back up to the top, again and again. what does it mean when he flashes? er what is that? i remember hearing something about that on here but i dont think i ever read into it..

and can pleco's get the same type of diseases as goldies?

Plecs are scaleless fish and so, they in fact get diseases worse than most other fish.

Has he any spots, have you noticed any changes in your other fish?

I don't think that it is normal as he has not done it before, something is definatley wrong.

he is pretty splotchy (lighter patches on him) but thats been there for quite awhile, but other than that theres no other visible spots or anything. is there anything i can do to help my poor pleco?

Is he still going crazy?
Plecos don't really like the light that mutch.
Like my pleco he usally get active at night.

Its definitely a parasite. Is this pleco in with your goldfish?

You will need to first figure out what the problem is so you have to look closely at him and see if you can see any external parasites. You also have to be very careful when treating with an antiparasitic because they are harmful to scaleless fish like plecos and you have to be sure to use a 1/2 dosage.

yes, the pleco is in with one of my goldfish. should i take out the live plants from the tank? also, what kinds of meds would work for him? because ive looked really closely but i still cant see anything on him externally except the discolored patches, if they mean anything

heres a pic:

Im not 100% sure but i think they should be
okay to keep them in,but if it's something like
fish lice,i would take them out.
They always go and hide in the plants and gravel.

The splotches can be fairly normal especially first thing in the morning, or it can mean that the fish is stressed.....

Can't really tell what is wrong with your pleco, but have you tried doing a water change? When you do this, give the gravel a good cleaning while you're at it......

How long has this tank been set up? Has the tank finished cycling?

how long has the tank been set up completely? for about 1 year now, but i put new gravel in and did a more or less 50- 60% water change a week and a half ago but the pleco was fine with it until a couple days ago. do you think i could return the live plant i bought to petsmart? i really dont want it in the tank anymore, because im so paranoid about parasites and when i got home with it i realized i dont have gravel thick enough to cover enough of the roots to anchor it down, so yet again its floating at the top of the tank, where my angelfish sits ALL day staring at the plant Lol (i dont think he likes it either )

should i try a 30% water change n see if it helps? the water has gotten very cloudly lately because the stupid live plant keeps coming un-anchored from the gravel , and little fragments of..whatevers on the roots are flying all over my tank <_<

I think it's the light..... do you have any hideing places for
your plecos?
(Just wondering)

he doesnt really have a complete hiding place, he used to sit on the tube things on my undergravel filter all day, but i took the filter out so now he just sits under a plastic plant on a piece of quartz. im sure hes not too happy without a place to be able to completely hide, but i cant really find a decently priced decoration that he can hide in, and that wont take up the entire bottom of my tank <_< do u think hes acting so insane because he has no where to hide? i assumed it was that at first but then it looked like he was deliberately rubbing himself against the decorations, although i suppose he could just be in such a frenzy he doesnt realize hes doing it

So you removed the UG filter, replaced the gravel and did a 50% water change? If this is indeed what happened, it sounds like you have disrupted the bacteria....is there any way you could take a sample of water to be tested at the LFS?

Keep the plant! At this point, any harm it might have done (like if parasites were brought in on it) has already happened and it won't do any more harm and might even help a little bit. Live plants will take up ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, phosphates, even some heavy metals. Just mound up some of the gravel to keep it from floating.
As far as cheap hiding spots for your fish, have you tried a clay pot turned on it's side? Very inexpensive and your pleco will probably enjoy it.

In the meantime, a water change is probably a good thing to do....maybe 10 to 15%....this will help to dilute any toxins in the water.

HTH

How is your pleco today?

hes alot better, hes stopped flying around the tank n twitching i guess he was just stressed because he doesnt have a good hiding place Lol

Probably, it's very important that plecs have somewhere to hide.