# pleco help!



## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

my sailfin pleco is acting normal and eating normally but he has this weird, i guess whiteish discoloration and not all his normal skin color. im not sure if this is in the right forum. any help is greatly appreciated. thank you!*c/p*


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

hmmm!! weird! two minutes after i posted this it went away and he is swimming around happily cleaning my tank! do i have anything to worry about though??


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

If it comes back, yes. Otherwise, I would say no.


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

if it comes back what should i do?


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

i did ust do a 45 percent water change because i was gone for 3 weeks. could that be one of the problems?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Most definitely.


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

well i did notice it before i went on my trip come to think of it..


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

If it comes back and stays, the pleco might have fungus. I believe I am fighting that in my bristlenose.


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## leemec (Aug 30, 2011)

Is it little white flecks all over his body or like a white film? If it is little white spots all over his body he has ick and you'll need to start medicating your water.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

What color of substrate do you have? Sometimes when a pleco is stressed over something they can lighten or darken to blend in. What other fish are in the tank?


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

i have a mixed large gravel substrate i want to get small gravel or almost sand. there is a jack dempsey, yelllow lab, a oscar and a red crawdad. i have noticed his dorsal fin to have bite marks in it.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Quite a mix, I would remove him as he is getting stressed if he is being nipped at. Either put him in another tank or rehome him somewhere else.


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## 37tall (Jun 22, 2011)

i would but i would like to have an algae eater because the 60 gallon is right near a window and algae grows quite quickly. if i removed him, what should i do with the algae problem? i am starting to think its stress related because as he swims around the whiteness goes away completely then when he is sitting still, resting it comes back.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes I believe it is stress too. Does he have plenty of hiding spaces? You can help by covering the back and sides of the tank with black paper, black trashbags and such.

I'm not gonna get on my soap box, but just say people shouldn't buy plecos just for algae eaters. There is a lot of algae they don't eat, and as most get older will stop eating algae.


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