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what is the whiteness?
Posted: 09 Mar 2004, 21:13
by Reprisal
this is my bristlenose pleco... i just got recently and it started to develop these white splodges
im wondering what it is?
isit skin peeling off or somehting??
help?
Posted: 09 Mar 2004, 22:08
by pleco_breeder
Looks like the start of a bacterial infection. Most any shop will carry medication to treat it with.
Larry Vires
Posted: 09 Mar 2004, 22:19
by Barbie
It actually looks like it might be a heater burn, to me. Has he been hiding behind one? I recognize this, because I've had it happen to plecos twice, in tanks where there was either minimal cover, or they were driven from their favorite hiding places by too much other catfish type activity. Mine healed just fine, with burns quite a bit worse than that one, if that is indeed what it turns out to be. Just keep up on water changes while he heals and watch the patch for redness or sloughing. If it starts that, dab the spot with iodine (which actually makes me shiver to think of how uncomfortable that sounds, but hopefully he won't think so!) 
Barbie
Posted: 10 Mar 2004, 21:10
by Reprisal
its my friends pl*co and he does hide behind the heater lots, and thank you for the replies
Posted: 10 Mar 2004, 21:21
by Barbie
Try moving the heater somewhere else in the tank for now, or just at a different angle that he doesn't like as well. Adding some driftwood or a cave or two for him to be comfortable hiding in will usually keep him from repeating the injury or making it worse. Hope that helps!
Barbie
Posted: 11 Mar 2004, 01:21
by Birger
You can also get those protective covers for heaters to protect against hitting rocks, they will keep the fish from touching the hot tube.
Posted: 12 Mar 2004, 03:22
by plecosaur
I haven't seen heater burns, but I've seen the effects of bacterial infection on some of my pleco's and the outside of their skin is a white color with the skin still intact. A treatment with flagyl always made it disappear. I used to work in one of the chain petstores and we'd get around 100 common pleco's a week. A lot of them would have similar whiteness that I described. I've only ever seen this kind of whiteness on the underside of a pleco, usually near their belly.