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.Plecomania. wrote:yeah maybe i'll pass. lots of people use them for shrimp so i thought what the heck, but if it will be a fry hazard then nope!

still alive. 0 improvement.

try to use epsom salt. Might help him if he has indigestion.
Hope your Bn recovers.

thanks man. I am using epsom salts. originally i overdosed i think but now i put in 1/8 of teaspoon per 5 gals and that should be tolerable for plecos.

Also using meds with Metronidazole which should kill off any intestinal infections.

I usually use 1 tablespoon per 10 gal if i need it.

1 tablespoon per 10 gals is ok for plecos?

I have used it with Gibbiceps and it did not affect them at all.
I think i even went to 1 tablespoon per 5 gal.
I've also used this with clown loach. doesn't seem to affect them like salt.
I feel epsom salt is quite safe.

so he is on day 3 now of the second treatment. it only got worse, he is huge now. i am still hoping that the meds will work but at some point i'll have to freeze him as i do not want to put him through the pain of exploding.
can this guy go for a week w/o food? it has been 6 days of hunger total.
I planned on feeding him tomorrow if he got any better but he did not get any better so i don't want to feed him. no place for food to go.

I guess i'll try the third treatment today, more salt and more meds.

I don't know about plecos, but I have a Corydora sodalis that is blown up like a rubber ball (one of those small balls you'd get out of a $0.25 vending machine) and eats, swims, etc. and has been like that for about four months now. Not sure what the condition is, but it is chugging right along. I figured it would die after a month like that, but nope, just awkwardly balances its ball like belly on the substrate...

sounds like bloat to me. if its a female it could be because of egg binding or w/e.
When i see bloat I try to treat it. i really don't want to lose my BN plec, especially since i am fond of him and i promised someone that nothing bad would happen to him. i was so confident that i sold off two possible albino males i had. now i can see i prob should kept them.

.Plecomania. wrote:so he is on day 3 now of the second treatment. it only got worse, he is huge now. i am still hoping that the meds will work but at some point i'll have to freeze him as i do not want to put him through the pain of exploding.
can this guy go for a week w/o food? it has been 6 days of hunger total.
I planned on feeding him tomorrow if he got any better but he did not get any better so i don't want to feed him. no place for food to go.

I guess i'll try the third treatment today, more salt and more meds.

Maybe try to increase
The epsom salt dosage
Nothing to lose at this point. Try for maybe 2 days with higher dosage . I think it can takenit without food for a week as yours is already quite big . Really hope he recovers

yeah i increased salt to 1 tablespoon per 10 gals. used more than recommended meds (about 1.5 times more) and raised temps past 84F.
it's all or nothing now.
still alive.

Give him time, A healthy fish can fight off allot on its own. I wish you and him all the best luck and hope it turns out well.

I've used Metronidazole in the past with the female of my breeding pair of angelfish; it really helped out a lot with her mouth rot-like problem. What I did was I soaked a shrimp pellet in a little tank water with a tiny sprinkle of the powder mixed in. This really helped her out, and she recovered relatively well from her infection. http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =2&t=38687

Sadly, just yesterday I had to put her down because she wouldn't eat, was struggling to even swim off the bottom of the tank, and her pectoral fins were nearly completely scarred/eaten away; she hadn't recovered fully after the treatment, but that was completely not the med's fault: there was so much scarring left from her outbreak. She had been eating well since June when the treatment ended, but a couple weeks ago, she lost sight in one eye, and didn't improving at all thereafter. I use clove oil for an anesthetic. It is a natural anesthetic for fish and gradually puts them into unconsciousness; they then slowly stop respirating. Thankfully, I've only had to put three of my fish down since I began keeping an aquarium. I am happy to say though, the male angelfish of the breeding pair has since grown to full size and has long filaments on every applicable fin! He is in excellent health.

I sincerely hope that your plecostomus revives. As stated, healthy fish that come down suddenly with an illness do still have a good chance of pulling through; and I believe Loricariids in general are the hardiest type of catfish out there. You are doing your best and are giving the greatest of effort: just keep at it, as that is the key.

.Plecomania. wrote:yeah i increased salt to 1 tablespoon per 10 gals. used more than recommended meds (about 1.5 times more) and raised temps past 84F.
it's all or nothing now.
still alive.

Hope he improves soon btw have you started to see lots of poop from him?

no, no pooping.

sad news

He was essentially immobilized by pain this morning, plus he got stuck his tail to the filter intake overnight and wasn't able to swim. he has blown up so much that i just could no longer stand by as he suffered so i had to euthanize him today. i was even planning on feeding him today since he had gone too long w/o food. but looks like he had gotten too weak to do anything at this point.

Looks like i began treatment way too late for this guy to make it

o and yes the med i chose had Metronidazole in it - that was the primary med i wanted to use for internal infections.

I am so sorry to hear that! I hate trying to express my sympathies in writing since words alone can't accurately convey feelings (at least, mine); it just seems so impersonal in comparison. I know what it's like to lose a pet that is more than just that: a member of the family, a friend. No one can truly experience another person's feelings in exactness, but I think I can say I feel very similarly when it comes to these sad events. So, please remember you're not alone; I hope knowing that makes you feel a little better. I remember the first pet I lost: I felt that I would just want to be done with caring for animals on a personal scale. I didn't let that stop me, and I hope it doesn't stop you; there is much joy to be had in keeping pets, and I always have to remember that death is a natural part of life.

I know that we all wish you the best. Just keep going; I've found much reassurance from the members here at PlanetCatfish, and I wish to share that reassurance with you.

thanks for the kind words. i often feel the same as you when someone has a loss. words and cliche' sayings can seem too common but they're better than nothing. so thanks a bunch! I find it tough to put sympathies into words too.

I raised this guy from fry. he has been in my care for a very long time. it will be tough to find an albino male BN pleco as gold and nice as this one.
But on the bright side, when i do get a male, it will introduce new genes so that my plecs do not get inbred.

his sibling female is going well in her 40gallon community. lesson learned: I have to keep feeding greens to my tank even though i have few BN plceos compared to my hypans. and less frequent feeding for the hypans too.

You're welcome. I'm glad you've found the positives in all this: that's much better than I have done!

Sorry for the loss
its really hard to lose our fish.
yup at least youll be introducing new genes.