Rubbernose Pleco Tail Problem

[Brian085]

I recently bought some new fish with included 2 rubbernose plecos. The next day (today) I noticed some was wrong with my plecos tail.

1. What is the size of your tank?

55 gallon

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10
Ph: 6ish
Api test kit.

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water?

Freshwater

4. How long the aquarium has been set up?

2 months for fishless cycling.

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?

2 Angelfish
2 German Blue Rams
6 Lemon Tetras
2 Rubbernose Plecos

Bought yesterday.

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?

No, they were the first fish in tank.

7. What temperature is the tank water currently?

75.5


8. Are there live plants in the aquarium?

Yes.

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity.

Ehiem 2217.

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)?

None.

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)?

Little sun light in afternoon. Lighting hours are 12-9pm

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate?

60% the day before buying fish.

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule?

Flakes, friezed dried foods, algae tabs, and sinking pellets.

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?

One pleco has been moving around a lot while the one infected has been hiding for the most part.

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis.

No.


Here is a blurry pic I took.

Here is a picture I have taken from google and edited to show infection spot.

Most of the tail seems to be gone and in place is a yellow fuzzy infection. The yellow fuzzy bulges out more than the tail about less than a cm wide of bulging. Sorry for not being able to get any good pictures. I'll try to look into getting it fixed.


Thanks for any help or advice.

 

[pinkertd]

Was the tail normal when you placed the pleco in the tank? It would seem to me that something had to be going on with the pleco tail when you bought it and the symptoms just hadn't shown yet. I'm a little stumped by anything "yellow" showing.

 

[Brian085]

I did not notice anything wrong but I may have missed something small. Here is a good picture showing the problem.

Thanks for the help!


Edit: Looking at the picture I notice white parts on the top which got me scared of ich. I went right to the tank and checked and I do not see the white parts shown on top of the pleco there in the picture. So I will assume the white is only some sand on top not ich.

It seems the two plecos have switched places with the injured one swimming around a lot and the non injured one hiding today.

 

[Kivstev]

My suspicion would be some form of Flavobacterium. Sometimes is can appear as a yellowish fuzz. The tail rot is a common symptom as well.

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/67/2/750.pdf

"Several species of these yellow-pigmented bacteria have
been associated with diseased fish, including Flavobacterium
columnare, Flavobacterium branchiophilum, Flavobacterium
aquatile, Flavobacterium johnsoniae, and Flexibacter maritimus
as well as other unidentified gliding bacteria referred to a
Cytophaga-like bacteria"

What are those white spots on the back of the fish?

 

[Brian085]

What should I do about this bacteria? I am pretty sure the white spots are sand on the back since it was not there after I uploaded the picture.

 

[Kivstev]

What should I do about this bacteria? I am pretty sure the white spots are sand on the back since it was not there after I uploaded the picture.

Moving fish is one of the most common triggers for this type of illness - so there is a good chance you would not have noticed anything beforehand.

The following is all based on what I think the fish may have and what I would do if they were my fish. There is rotting away of the tail fin, correct?

I would put him in a hospital tank ASAP and treat him with a good negative gram antibiotic such as Kanamycin or Oxytetracycline. If it is Flavobacterium, you don't want it to become systemic as it is almost impossible to cure at that point.

I would also topically apply Methylene Blue directly to the tail. Normally I would also add salt baths, but with plecos I would be wary of doing so. 1 TBLS/10G in the hosp tank will not hurt them.

You can add 1 tablespoon of salt/10 gallons to the main tank after the water change in relative safety to all the fish. This will help the bacteria from sticking to and infecting the other fish. Keep the water temperature around 75 in both tanks should you use a hospital tank - which I would say is mandatory at this point.

A 50% water change in the main tank should also be done to cut down on potential pathogens since virulent forms of Flavobacterium can be easily transmitted to your healthy fish. I would change the water twice more in the next week - 25% each time while replacing the amount of salt removed from the water changes.

Here is some educational material for you: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html

 

[Brian085]

I set up a small 5 gallon tank for the pleco adding 2 teaspoons of salt. I have a sponge filter running in the tank. I put some filter floss in another one of my tanks to get bacteria in the hospital tank. I also did about 50% water change on the main tank adding 5 tablespoons of salt.

I'll try to find some MeBromine, Potassium Permanganate, Methylene Blue today, but if not I will try dipping the tail in some Hydrogen Peroxide.

 

[Kivstev]

I set up a small 5 gallon tank for the pleco adding 2 teaspoons of salt. I have a sponge filter running in the tank. I put some filter floss in another one of my tanks to get bacteria in the hospital tank. I also did about 50% water change on the main tank adding 5 tablespoons of salt.

I'll try to find some MeBromine, Potassium Permanganate, Methylene Blue today, but if not I will try dipping the tail in some Hydrogen Peroxide.

Jungle Clear Water contains diluted Potassium Permanganate. I believe it is a ~3% solution. It has worked well for me with a Convict's fin rot. If you use it, make sure you don't get it near the fish's eyes or gills. Also, Hydrogen Peroxide will neutralize it should you need it to - it will stain just about anything so just be aware of that. This may all be in that article I linked to so sorry if I'm repeating info.

Terramcycin (script antibiotic which is actually Oxytetracycline) in ointment form works well also. I asked my Vet for some as it's common for use on dogs and cats. Good luck.

 

[Cerianthus]

Is there any chances of more pics before doing any medicating? I cant seeed to identifyy the problem from previous pics.

Rendering judgement from description can be detrimental to what could be nothing or other problem. Even with pics it is difficult to determine.

I would test water at this point, if you have not, and monitor for more definite sysmtoms???

 

[Kivstev]

Let us argue this.

He already has listed his water parameters.

Maybe one should wait until the whole tail rots away or possibly becomes a systemic infection? There is no way to tell positively what the fish has from even pictures by your own admission. One can only make a educated guess.

Please inform me why it would be wise to wait and 'monitor' serious tail rot. I call it serious since a good part of tail fizzled away very quickly. How can applying topical treatment to this possibly be detrimental - even on the extremely unlikely chance that it is a true fungus or some parasite? Maybe stressing the fish a bit is the only answer I can come up with. I can hardly call this type of tail rot possibly 'nothing'.

Is there any chances of more pics before doing any medicating? I cant seeed to identifyy the problem from previous pics.

Rendering judgement from description can be detrimental to what could be nothing or other problem. Even with pics it is difficult to determine.

I would test water at this point, if you have not, and monitor for more definite sysmtoms???