# Patchy disease?



## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

Has anyone ever heard of patchy disease? I am starting to suspect I may have a case of this in my tank, but I'm really not sure. I posted the following in another (loach-specific) forum (whence came the * requests for info), but figured I'd put it here too just for good measure:

* Type of fish that are affected (common name and latin name if possible - common names vary worldwide, latin names don't!): queen loach (botia dario) and also possibly bristlenose pleco (ancistrus sp?)

* How long has the tank been set up for? about 4 years
* Size of tank (dimensions and volume). 20 gallon high / 75 liter; 24"/61c w x 16"/41c h x 12"/30c d
* How is the tank being filtered? Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel 150
* Water temperature. 79F / 26C
* Your current water parameters - ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 30ppm (this stays pretty constant regardless of where in the water change calendar I am), pH 7.2, kH 5dH.

* Your maintenance regime (e.g. how often water changes are carried out, what percentage of the water is changed each time, how often you clean your filter/s and how do you do this?) 30% water change weekly; clean filter by swishing in removed tank water whenever the water flow becomes restricted so that bio-wheel slows down too much, and change it when that no longer does any good (about every month and half or so)

* Has anything new been added to the tank recently? (fish, plants, live food, decor etc): Over the last couple of months I've had 2 dwarf gouramis and 7 guppies come and go - both gouramis died in quarantine tanks, but all the guppies died in the main tank. Some very well-cleaned shells and small coral pieces have also been introduced, and I changed the substrate (from one type of gravel to another, as can be seen in older and newer pictures of pleco below). Also added anacharis, which had been in the tank previously, and needle leaf ludwigia, which had not. New foods used in this time period include bloodworms and brine shrimp, both freeze dried and both used infrequently and in small amounts (as "treats", basically), and cucumber and kohlrabi slices for the pleco, which she seems to enjoy greatly, although the cucumber did cloud the water a bit.

* What other fish are in the tank? besides the two listed above, just one juvenile guppy

* As detailed a description as possible of the symptoms the fish are exhibiting (remember a photograph can speak a thousand words). The loach has a spot on her head area that kind of looks similar to a stripe in color and even texture, but is new - see photo below. The pleco has basically been changing color - see June vs. August photos below - which I know they can do based on their surroundings, and I did change the gravel color, so maybe this is totally normal, but when I read about patchy disease, I thought that this might possibly be affecting both fish, but I really can't find enough info on it in anything other than hillstream loaches. Neither fish is acting out of the ordinary in any way as far as I can tell, but they're both quite nocturnal so I don't see them do much anyway. The pleco does eat vegetables I put out for her overnight.

* How long ago the affected fish were added to the tank, and how long the fish have been displaying symptoms. The pleco has been in the tank since the very beginning; the loach not quite as long but also for multiple years. The pleco had some amount of patchiness for at least the past several months (perhaps forever, I'm really not sure), as can be seen in the June photos below, but coloring has really changed progressively and fairly dramatically in the last month and a half or so. I first noticed the spot on the loach probably about three or four weeks ago, and I'm not sure if it has gotten larger at all - if so, only a very tiny bit.

So, here is what the pleco looked like in late June (note that I no longer have the blue botia seen in the background of one picture - I got rid of my 2 because they were too big for the tank; also note the old blue/green/white gravel):



And here are the pleco and the loach in the last week or so (note the new brownish gravel):

^This was taken with a flash, so her light colors aren't *quite* as bright/light as they look here.

^Taken without a flash and thus a tad blurry; what looks like white dots near her eyes are just her nostrils.

^Note the spot roughly between the eyes.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

You have some sort of fungus going on, not sure which, but would look into some fungus meds. You will only be able to do half doses though as both don't tolerate meds to well. 
The pleco looks like its a female brown bristlenose for sure. She does look pretty ragged. Wish you luck with this problem.


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

You think fungus on both, or just the pleco? And any suggestions as to what to treat with?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I would first suggest to go to petsmart or petco and pick up some general fungus cure. But it might be to late for the plec.


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

Ok, I got some API Fungus Cure this morning. I'm in the process of doing a 50% water change, then I'm going to medicate at half dosage. But I have a couple questions about this. Here are the directions from the box: 

For best results, remove activated carbon or filter cartridge from filter and continue aeration. For each 10 gal of water, empty one packet directly into aquarium. Repeat dose after 48 hours. Wait another 48 hours then change 25% of the aquarium water and add fresh activated carbon or replace filter cartridge.

So, I assume I should leave my bio-wheel in the filter? Since hopefully this, being a fungus med, wouldn't mess with my bacteria, and if there does happen to be any fungus on the wheel, I want it gone.

And, I can't remove carbon without removing the whole filter cartridge, so I'll be doing that. But it's not clear to me whether they intend you to put back the OLD filter cartridge at the end of treatment (having kept it wet in old tank water the whole time I would think, yes? or fresh water in case the old is contaminated?) or replace with a NEW filter cartridge. Mine's at least three weeks away from needing to be replaced, and I would think preserving bacteria in any way possible at a time like this would be helpful, but if the cartridge itself could be harboring fungus, of course I wouldn't want to reintroduce that into the tank after treatment.

Anyone have any thoughts on either of these issues? I'm trying to get through on the API help line, but no success yet, so I thought I'd try here too.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes leave the biowheel on. Take the cartridge out. You can put a sponge or filter floss in its place. Charchol will remove any meds. If you can keep it wet you might try one dose in the bucket or just replace it.

I don't buy cartridges as I usually just use sponges in my hobs.


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

So I just dosed the tank (half dose; "slight discoloration of water" my a$$!) and both the loach and the pleco almost instantly got more active, not like they're panicking and trying to get out or anything, but more like they've both suddenly realized they're REALLY hungry - pleco running around sucking on everything, and loach burrowing in the gravel as well as taking little tastes of plants and swimming higher up than I've ever seen her before (which basically means she's left the bottom). Anyway, weird. But yeah, my tank looks totally radioactive right now it's so bright green!


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