We found our approx. 8" pleco on the floor when we woke up 2 mornings ago. He thrashed when picked up so we put him back in the tank. I immediately put in some stress coat and a little salt, and later fed him some blood worms. After a few hours he seemed to be doing okay, even attaching to the side, but now his fins and skin are sloughing, full of holes and generally look terrible. He just lays at the bottom of the tank and rarely moves, but is still breathing and briefly sucked on an algae wafer last night. We don't know how long he was out of the water. Does anyone know how long a pleco can be out and survive, and how can I further treat him at this point? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
Answers:
It sounds like he was out of the water for a while. The holes sound like he started to dry out and the scales started to shrink. By adding him back to water caused the scales to expand thus holes. This is not as big of a concern as the damange that may have occured to his breathing system. Make sure you have lots of water movement to create excess oxegyn for a while. Also add some sea salt to the tank. The sea salt acts as a fast repair medician for scale damage. Also you may want to keep your temp a little bit warmer than usual, this will stimulate some repair also. Good Luck!!
I'd say he's gotten a bacterial infection from the dirt on the floor.
Put him in a seperate tank and treat with antibiotics.
Plecos are very hardy. If he is swimming around, there is a good chance he will survive. The salt and stress coat are a good start, now just keep the water clean. I would add a nice cave or something he can hide under and or keep the lights off to reduce any stress. Hopefully he pulls through. Good luck.
I would put him in a hospital tank and treat him with just salt and stress coat, Feed him as normally and give him some rocks,etc to hide in, Good luck with him,
A fish can remain outside of water at a max of probably 45-55 min.The longer it stays, the more it dehydrates.If your fish had been out for too long, his internal organs may have been dried up and damaged.If he still suffers in the next few weeks, consider euthanisation.
However, it is the last option, maybe for the moment, get an air bubble to keep the water well oxygenated to further increase the speed of hydration for the pleco.Also, reduce the amt of food fed to the fish as in its current state, it would most likely not eat much and the excess food would only cloud the water and create further health probs.
Good luck in reviving ur pleco.
He should be okay and be on the repair. Sores on fish are just like they would be on us. The salt will help repair the wounds just be careful that they don't become infected. As long as he can swim and breathe and is eating a little he'll do okay. I agree that you should watch how much you're feeding him, any big jump in ammonia/nitrite/nitrates will probably cause some undo stress while he's recovering form this ordeal.
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