fungus on royal plecos

[hotplecogirl]

Hi,I have a 265 gallon tank,plecos only.There are 4 water melon royals about 7-10 inches and about 10 other small wood eating plecos.Well i noticed fungus on the fins in a few spots and on the head.I started doing more water changes and added salt.What is a proper med to help with these guys.Thank you in advance for your help and have a great day.

[nvcichlids]

any pictures?

[hotplecogirl]

sorry for the crappy picture,bad camera,not much better photographer.

[hotplecogirl]

better picture.

[Linus_Cello]

Have you considered other medication, namely either Pimafix (and perhaps followed by Melafix), or API General Cure. I had posted about 6 weeks ago my L-114s coming down with some illness of fungus or some parasitic growth. Finally decided it was some kind of velvet, and API General Cure was the best treatment; API GC seems to be a good "all purpose" cure and may work for you. It's suggested to remove any carbon from your filter if you use medication.
(I've been updating my L114s progress on monsterfishkeepers; I should put an update on this forum too.)

My only other thought would be to increase aeration with some air stones. Good luck.

[RickE]

It's hard to tell from the pics, but it looks almost like hexamita (often seen in discus), but I don't know if plecos are susceptible to it.

[hotplecogirl]

thank you for your help.It appears we need more on pleco disease and treatment threads.I searched for hours looking for a similar thread with no luck.

[hotplecogirl]

i am thinking of using binox Jungle.I have used it for other problems but never plecos.Thoughts,concerns?

[andregurov]

Doesn't look like a true fungal disease at all (besides which, they are pretty rare in fish); rather a bacterial problem. I assume all of your tank's water parameters are in order? No ammonia spikes lately? I would execute quite a few water changes and treat with salt, and avoid antibiotics until you have a definite diagnosis.

[hotplecogirl]

I have increased water changes from the first day i saw a spot,added salt and more air.The param has been fine.There are 10 other plecos with no spots at all.Maybe just keep this up.

[MatsP]

What are your actual levels of nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and pH for these fishes? And if pH is lower than 7.0, what are the GH/KH values?

It is often hard to tell the difference between fungal and bacterial infections without sampling the injury spot and looking at it through a microscope. If salt is not helping, it would suggest that the problem is bacterial.

--
Mats

[CanadaPleco]

I have increased water changes from the first day i saw a spot,added salt and more air.The param has been fine.There are 10 other plecos with no spots at all.Maybe just keep this up.

Any update on how your treatment is going? Did you use the Jungle Binox?

[hotplecogirl]

The binox did not work:{.I used salt and pimafix and that worked over time with frequent water changes.I lost 1 out of 8 infected fish.Just one fish has a small spot on his dorsal fin which should be gone soon.