# wierd growth on pleco HELP!!!



## i4yue (Jul 5, 2010)

bought this pleco about 2 weeks ago for my shrimp tank and the coloring on it is just beautiful!! sadly in the past week there seems to be these round growths on the tips of all its fins. each one seems to be growing slowly but the pleco seems to be just fine and is still eating and very active. any ideas?


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

That is a type of fin rot, but it is a very unusual type that I am not sure of. In treating fin rot, Pimafix rids most types of fungus and it is readily available at most pet stores. If I find any more information, I will let you know.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Same thing I was thinking - fin rot. I've seen fin rot, but never like that. Wonder if it just looks different due to the thickness of his tail/fins?


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## i4yue (Jul 5, 2010)

i thought it was cancer.....=P you should see the other side of him ^_^ ill post up pictures once hes all healed up


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Did you get meds?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Looks like a fungal infection to me, but again I'm not really sure what it is.


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## Anna Robinson (Sep 2, 2009)

It looks very much like a papilloma, a skin tumour. I would be inclined to keep the conditions pristine and simply keep an eye on it for now.


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## i4yue (Jul 5, 2010)

well i got the anti bacterial stuff for the fin rot and so far nothing. if anything the growths have gotten worse!! been dosing as the packs say to in a q-tank and nothing seems to be working. 

and with keeping the conditions pristine...my shrimp tanks tank is in my opinion pretty dang clean. no nitrates or nitrites...ph at 7...shrug~ i really dont know! thinking about just returning him to the petstore and getting a new one.


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## eaglesfan3711 (Nov 16, 2008)

That is perhaps the most inexpensive way to do it. I didn't realize that the fish was still under warranty. It might be a good idea to take the medication back as well. Some stores will refund you for medication that doesn't work. Just take in the remaining meds and the reciept.


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## i4yue (Jul 5, 2010)

plecos dead...dunno what the growth was but the fin rot meds didnt help it and keeping it in good water didnt help it either.


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## Anna Robinson (Sep 2, 2009)

*frown

It was an unusual condition; I'll ask a colleague who's a fish scientist if he has any ideas about it when I get a mo.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Sorry he's dead  . Seems to have been something a bit more unusual. Do you know if he was a wild caught fish?


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## Anna Robinson (Sep 2, 2009)

Sorry for the delay on this. I managed to get hold of my colleague who is a fish health scientist; he agreed that it was a tumour/growth, and suggested a viral infection as the most likely cause. Cancer was also a possibility. So there would not have been anything you could have done. 

He also commented that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on any other fishes in the tank, just on the off-chance it was caused by a transmissible virus. It would also be a good idea not to add any new loricariids to the tank for a few weeks.


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## i4yue (Jul 5, 2010)

the only other things in the tank are red cherry shrimp and plants. although there seems to be microscopic little creatures in there now. some looks like worms and some like little mites. ill post up pictures in a new thread.


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