What's This ??!!

I was just taking a pic of my platy ready to drop and I caught a close up of my pleco. It looks like something on it's back.

What is it?! I've only had this poor thing since December 29th!

http://i42.tinypic.com/2w6fjn5.jpg

Looks like a bacterial disease or possibly a reaction to water conditions.

What's your water parameters looking like now?

Still dealing with a bit of an issue.
Added prime


Saturday
PH 6.4
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 5
Nitrate - 40


SUNDAY
PH - 6.4 (its dropping. Was 7.6 end of Dec)
Ammoia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrtate - 30


Monday
PH 6.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - between 0 and 0.25
Nitrate - 30

Were there any water changes done during these days?
Did you add more plants recently?
What is your tap water parameters/

Ammonia going down looks right, nitrites going down looks right, however there should be an increase in nitrates as its the end process of the ammonia breakdown.

I did a water change on Saturday.
On Friday I added all brand new plants. All my plants had died or in the process of dying off. So added the plants and flourish tabs.



TAP WATER

PH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

How long has your tank been fully running for?

7 months
Had a mini cycle last month from pure stupidity!

Only changes to tank;
added pleco - Dec 29th
added new plants - January 5


I've had water issues ever since adding pleco

dee0107 said:

I did a water change on Saturday.
On Friday I added all brand new plants. All my plants had died or in the process of dying off. So added the plants and flourish tabs.



TAP WATER

PH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

Click to expand...

dead plants could add ammonia. I would get your water right by doing regular water changes before attempting new plants.

higher the ph the more toxic ammonia will be!

I have always thought the white patches were the plecs slime coat as a reaction to stress in order to protect itself from potential disease.

ph fluctuating as well as ammonia and nitrites will stress your fish and if the plants are dying they will not be removing any nitrates so water changes will have to be done more often to remove them.

prime is only a temporary fix and you shouldn't have to keep using it, your tank should be stable and treatments used in emergencies.

jessonthenet said:

dead plants could add ammonia. I would get your water right by doing regular water changes before attempting new plants.

higher the ph the more toxic ammonia will be!

I have always thought the white patches were the plecs slime coat as a reaction to stress in order to protect itself from potential disease.

ph fluctuating as well as ammonia and nitrites will stress your fish and if the plants are dying they will not be removing any nitrates so water changes will have to be done more often to remove them.

prime is only a temporary fix and you shouldn't have to keep using it, your tank should be stable and treatments used in emergencies.

Click to expand...

My ph has been ranging between 6.4-6.6
That's my tap water that's high.

I was told to use prime as my water conditioner at water changes. Which is what I was doing. I had to add plants as well due to an aggressive male fish. Poor female was being cornered in the tank.

if you add high ph tap water to low ph water with a very big difference like that it is going to cause massive fluctuations depending on how big the water changes are.

keeping plants are a nightmare of their own. Stabilizing your water is priority and even plants can alter your ph.

Are you able to give a total break down of your tank I am very interested to see what is killing your plants.

Can you not just add fake plants until your tank is sorted since if the conditions are the same then it is likely the new plants will die also.

I think using prime is fine to aid your tank but not good as a remedy since the readings in your tank will keep going up and down and the fish will feel this. Prime will detoxify so much then the readings will creep up again and then using prime again, shouldn't have to be like this.

I prefer to find the cause and stop it rather than keep fixing something.

How often do you change your water and how much as it is odd if you do regular water changes for the ph to be that low. Do you use RO water?

dee0107 said:

7 months
Had a mini cycle last month from pure stupidity!

Only changes to tank;
added pleco - Dec 29th
added new plants - January 5


I've had water issues ever since adding pleco

Click to expand...

not enough bacteria for waste production. plants dying not sure?

hi, just a note on Prime. A few drops should be added at each wc . It rids the water of cholrine and chlormides ,which will kill your fish if your town water supply uses them. However, a CAP FULL of Prime can be used in emergencies, and as others mentioned , you wouldnt want to be using a cap fulL daily. hth,
Georgie