A little quick background first. A week or so ago, I noticed I could not find my male bristlenose pleco. He is pretty shy though, so I wasn't too worried. A couple days later, I looked in the large output tube for the sponge filter, and it looked like he has gotten stuck in there and died, as his fins were kinda tattered. I pooped the tube off, however, and he swam away. I noted that he looked very skinny, but I didn't know how long he might have been stuck in there, and figured he would plump back up soon enough. Well, he has continued to be rather sunken bellied, and seemed to be acting a little odd (not hiding as much, kinda lethargic). Today, I noticed what seems to be some sort of growth in his mouth. I can't tell if it is a tumor, or a fungus, or a bacterial mass, or WHAT it is. He looks fine elsewhere; eyes are bright, skin looks healthy.
Hopefully someone here can provide me with some insight on treating this.
The tank is 25 gallons. I can run water tests later, but it should be fine. I do weekly water changes of 25-50%. The tank is stocked with the breeding pair of BN plecos, around 12 chili rasboras, maybe 5 cherry shrimp, a few amanos, 4 or 5 brigs, an oto, and maybe 15-20 very small baby bristlenose, all around 1 in. Nothing new has been added for months.
Here are photos of the growth, and you can also see how skinny he is. It seems to be preventing him from eating...
Without flash...
With flash...
Hopefully someone here can provide me with some insight on treating this.
The tank is 25 gallons. I can run water tests later, but it should be fine. I do weekly water changes of 25-50%. The tank is stocked with the breeding pair of BN plecos, around 12 chili rasboras, maybe 5 cherry shrimp, a few amanos, 4 or 5 brigs, an oto, and maybe 15-20 very small baby bristlenose, all around 1 in. Nothing new has been added for months.
Here are photos of the growth, and you can also see how skinny he is. It seems to be preventing him from eating...
Without flash...
With flash...
