Sick pleco, please help!

Can anyone help me? My common pleco suddenly stopped eating just over a week ago. Fine one day, a bit quiet the next, and now his abdomen is swollen, he isn't eating or pooping, his eyes are a bit sunken, and he is hiding away out of sight. No other symptoms - no red streaks, flashing, gasping, rushing to the surface or anything like that. His colour is a bit darker, but that is probably because he is hiding away in his log most of the time, which is very unlike him. He gets courgette most days, shelled peas every 7-10 days and the occasional New Era plec pellet, but he prefers courgette. Because of the corys, I'm always careful to remove uneaten food, so I don't think he would have eaten bad food. He is nearly 9 years old.

Tank is a Rio 300, ammonia & nitrite both 0, pH is 6.6, nitrate 20-40 and temp 25C. Other fish are some tetras, some corys, hatchet fish, scissortails and a Bosemani rainbow. No new fish has been added to this tank in a couple of years and all the other fish are absolutely fine. Weekly water changes and gravel wash of around 25/30%.

He won't eat shelled peas (he won't eat anything). I've tried a course of Interpet No 9 with no results, and also tried dosing the tank with 1tblsp Epsom salts per 10 gallons (worked out at 7 tblsp). Have also been doing mid week water changes of 10% to see if this would help.

I don't know what to do. Can anyone suggest anything else I could try? I'm really concerned about him. Thanks.

Sounds like some things ailing him or he's older than you think and its age related?
You could try worming the tank with Microbe Lift Praziquantel over 5 days with a water change each day. Its mild but seems better able to shift some worms than the one off sorts.

Hi, thanks for getting back to me. I did a 25% water change on Saturday morning and topped up the Epsom salt (I'm using 1 tblsp per 10 gallons), then dosed with Kusuri Wormer Plus that I had to hand. There doesn't seem to be any change in him, though he does show an interest at feeding time by swimming about and nosing at the food, but then he doesn't eat. I've done another 25% water change just now and plan to do the second dose of the wormer in the morning.

Thought I saw a tiny amount of poo floating out of his log on Sunday morning, but he still seems swollen. I've been putting in a very small piece of courgette every other night to try to tempt him, and there was a small scratch on the piece I've just removed, so I'm really hoping he might be starting to recover, but it's hard to tell. If the second dose of the wormer doesn't work, I'm not sure what else to do. I've ordered some Octozin that should arrive tomorrow, but I don't like dumping meds in at random. I'll keep doing 25% water changes twice weekly to keep his water really clean.

He probably is around 9, as he was tiny when I got him. I'm going to be gutted if I lose him!

Could be as Brenda said, just old age, Worming again might see him right 40ppm Nitrates could have annoyed him too, I do hope he recovers for you both

I put the second dose of the wormer in this morning. I'll do another water change on Saturday and keep an eye on him. I have some Octozin to hand now, but part of me feels this is some kind of organ malfunction in him / age related rather than anything else. All the other fish are still fine and nothing has changed recently. Even though he is quiet and not eating, he is still swimming up to me every morning when I open the blinds, then he goes back into his log, so he is still responsive - he came out to see what was going on when I did the water change. I've become very attached to him over the years, he's a real character.

Remove the fish and treat with Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salt).

Have been trying the Epsom salt, but no luck with that either sadly.

I am new to pleco planet and am interested in outcome of your pleco and what helped because I have an l240 that is bloated.

from experience bloat in plecs mostly caused by a bacterial infection inside their stomach to their bowel... infection causes swelling and subsequently the fish cant poop and becomes bloated....
bacterial infections usually take hold at times when the fish is stressed -> caused by poor water quality and parameters majority of the time...

prevention is better than cure here thats for sure...

apart from the epson salts i would treat with some sort of bacterial treatment... and make sure water quality/parameters are the best you can do....

IMO its a myth that herbivores will get bloat when fed meaty foods... had a 397 fry escape a fysaver in zeb main tank... fed only meaty foods the 397 actually grew very quick and sported very strong colours... same with b/n and whiptails that share tanks with hypans...

common plecos are normally very strong fish and bullet proof... they can live 30+ years old and reach 60cm plus in size... they will tolerate fairly high nitrates... and a quick story to back this up...
my mate was away for a week and his pump failed and his community tank was a total wipeout except his common plec.... when he cleaned the stinking tank out a few days after he came home the water was like sewerage syrup littered with fish bones... but at the bottom he found one pleco alive and active..... it still lives today in his tank years later...

How's he doing today?

Unfortunately, my plec died about 6 weeks ago. I had treated for bacteria, but no luck. Water quality wasn't an issue and no other losses recently(other than a very old cory). I now wonder if he had a tumour, as looking at some photos, his eyes had started to sink into his head a few months ago, and for the last month of his life he was eating a lot more than usual, but I guess I'll never know for sure. Absolutely gutted at losing him, he was a real character. Have recently acquired a pair of bristlenoses who are thankfully thriving, couldn't face getting another big plec after losing him. Thanks for coming back to me though.

Truly sorry for your loss

I had her isolated for about a week and a half. Treated with Epsom salt and didn't feed her. There was no change. The lfs in San Diego where I bought her from recommended I put her back in main aquarium because he believed she is holding eggs. Since then she has been eating but still bloated. Not sure if I made the right choice lfs owner seemed very knowledgable about plecos.

Sorry posted on wrong thread