# Plecostamus covered in white/yellow growth on body/eye, triples each day



## Tanjarini (Feb 20, 2011)

I feel terrible because I've had my aquarium for the past 2 years and have never had a problem and I am not sure what to do to save my fish now that something is wrong. I inherited the fish tank from previous tenants at my old apartment. They have always been extremely low maintenence (I never did water changes, but rather added 1-3 gallons of treated water every week or two as needed), so unfortunately I am not sure how to proceed now.

I have 3 angelfish and 1 plecostamus in a 30 gallon tank. Over the past month, one of the angelfish developed a bloated stomach and started swimming crookedly and I started feeding it less/not at all after researching online and realizing I may have overfed it. The other two angelfish are fine. 

But over the past week, suddenly my plecostamus developed a white cottony growth on his eyes, and small white spots on his body as well as what looked like faint yellow/green feathery algae. I went to the petstore yesterday and after showing them a picture (see pic 1: http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab107/Tanjarini/2011-02-19132353.jpg) they said he had Ich and gave me "Tetra Lifeguard All-inOne Treatment" slow release formula (over 5 days) that treats a variety of fish diseases. I put the first tablets in yesterday afternoon (Saturday) and now my plecostamus looks WORSE (see pic 2: http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab107/Tanjarini/2011-02-20092607.jpg). He is listless in the corner of the tank (not that he ever swam around much, though, since he's so shy) and I just feel absolutely terrible every time I go up to the tank because I am not sure if he is actually getting worse, or if the all-in-one treatment is working and I just need to be patient.

I removed the carbon filter as the Lifeguard instructions told me to, turned off the lights in the tank, and the temperature is around 80 degrees F like normal. I have not fed the fish since yesterday afternoon when I put the Lifeguard tablets in.

Do you suggest I wait the 4 more days and see how the Lifeguard treatment works? Should I be worried that the plecostamus looks worse? Or should I immediately take some sort of other action (different medication, water changes, etc)? I appreciate any and all help.

*I am unable to upload my 2 photos to my member gallery, I keep getting error messages saying it was unable to uplaod, so I am going to try to attach an external link asap*

Thanks from a nervous new aquariumforum member,
Tanjarini


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

To start with, I would do a 50% water change right now.

A cottony growth of any type sounds like a fungus to me and not ich. The pic is not good enough for me to tell if he has ich. Ich looks like your fish have been sprinkled with salt or have tiny air bubbles attached to them. A fungus is usually treated by an antibiotic or API melafix or pimafix - whichever one is applicable to fungus.

Do you have a test kit? I'd be interested to know what your nitrates are reading. Sounds like water quality issues probably brought on by lack of water changes, larger fish, and nitrates getting way too high. You should get an API mater test kit so you can check all that is going on.


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## PolymerTim (Sep 22, 2009)

Quick question: Do you have live plants int he aquarium? If not, and assuming you're not using some kind of zeolite absorbent to remove ammonia, then you probably have really high nitrates in your water. I'm gonna second jrman's suggestion to do a water change and test your water with a liquid test kit as soon as possible.


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## Tanjarini (Feb 20, 2011)

Thank you for your advice. Sadly after I wrote my original post, both the angelfish and plecostamus died  I removed them from the tank and then I did a 50% water change. I was also given Pimafix by Petco to add to the water. I added 3 tbsp for my 30 gallon tank and I have the carbon filter out. The PH level reads 6.6, though I don't have another test kit to test anything else right now.

The last two angelfish seem to be fine right now. I don't notice any of the fungus that was on the plecostamus on them. The only thing I do see is a sort of cataract that has appeared on one of their eyes, and stringy, transluscent/white trails of waste on the filter.

How should I proceed with Pimafix and water changes? Seven days of Pimafix and then a 25% water change on the last day, per the instructions? Can I feed the fish like normal each day (1 pinch in the morning) or should I hold off during the treatment? 

I'm going to be moving next weekend, so unfortunately right after I get the tank back to normal, I am going to have to put the two angelfish under even more stress as I try to transport the tank.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Just follow the instructions and hope it helps. They'll get a big enough water change from the move. How far do you plan to move and how long will they be in the container you transport them in?


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## Big Dog (May 17, 2010)

Hello and Welcome to the forum. Looks like you got alot of help with your problem there. Sorry to here about what is happing with your little friend.


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