dying plecostomus...help!

[blueconvict2]

[glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow]Help my pleco is lying on his side. I can pick him up with my hand and he only moves a little. I had one for a long time and it recently died. I bought this one and now its dying too. I have had him for a week with no proplems......now today he looks bad. I feed him algea wafers and there is a little brown algea in the tank for him. Iv done a recent water change.  His other tankmates are fine......they are: two paradise fish. three gouramis, a pictus catfish and chinese algea eater......so he has good water, food and none of  the other fish have been picking at him. So anyone have an idea whats wrong?

[blueconvict2]

**guess i dont know how to use some of these buttons...i ment for my text to be in bold print..oh well.***maybe someone could clue me in about that too.

[colesea]

Hmmm, that is an interesting discription of your pleco. Do you notice any discoloration of his scales?  I've seen plecos seem to get sick for no reason, and sometimes it is starvation, sometimes it is a bacterial infection.  

Check all your water levels. Plecos aren't picky about their chemistry, but ammonia and nitrite spikes will poison them. If your water checks out (and since your other fish seem fine), try to subliment your pleco's diet with cucumber, lettuce, squash, and yams as well as adding a bit of driftwood to the tank. Common plecos, as they grow larger, usually need a diet more substancial in meat too, so once a week try him on some frozen bloodworm or beefheart.

Watch out for whitish patches on his skin. Common plecos should be a rich greenish/brown color with good contrast between their spots and background (depending upon the substrate, plecos on a black substrate turn black, and those on light ones are very pale).  If you are seeing paled or clear patches, then immideately quarintene him and start some meds like Maroxy or Maricide.
~~Colesea

[blueconvict2]

thanks, now that you mention it ,he did look alittle "cloudy" when i bought him a few weeks ago. He seemed to have a thin milky film over his skin.  I just thought he had weird coloration. He seemed fine. Then suddenly yesterday he died.

[fishboy]

Bummer! Sorry to hear that blue

[colesea]

Whitish film or cloudiness to the skin is usually a sign of bacterial infection. I'm sorry your pleco died. Maracide is the best stuff against bacterial infections like that, so keep some handy at all times.  When purchasing your next pleco, be really really really picky over his condition. If it is comming from a tank that is just crammed full of plecos that's usually not a good sign. Look for plecos that are alone in tanks (these are usually decently feeding upon leftover food), one that is sucking to something, and one with good coloration. Better luck next time.
~~Colesea

[luvfishies]

pH shocks are nasty to plecs as well. Don't ever trust the lfs, always assume that you are going to have to drip acclimate over a period of a few hours.