temmincki pleco

louistheloach · 02-06-2009, 05:55 PM

I recently added a young bristlenose pleco to my 125. It is the first time I have had one. This may sound like a wierd question but about every other day when I see him he has a long string of poo hanging off him. I have not encountered this with my other cats or any of my other fish.

Is this something peculiar to temmincki's, or is it indicative of something being wrong with him. He seems to be appropriately active and eating.

Anyone else experience this?????

ltl

Jay · 02-07-2009, 09:11 AM

Good choice on the bristlenose, he will not bother your plants much while he is young. Although I have seen more that a few succumb to the temptation.

IME sounds like a healthy pleco to me. That is not an uncommon thing with any pleco. If the string is White, then there may be a problem, possibly internal parasites.

Jay

louistheloach · 02-07-2009, 01:34 PM

that is not good because much of the string initially was white....I mean we are talking 1.5 to 2 inches long.....I will pay more attention over the next couple of days (it is always there)

I thought at first just an adjustment period to the new tank new food etc. If it started out white but as days go by the string becomes increasingly brown with less white coming out, then do i still have to worry about parasites and are some parasites always present that may not be harmful. Also if they are parasites, does this now mean that my entire tank will become exposed and require treatment....especially the other bottom feeders...........ooooohhhhhhh

ltl

Jay · 02-07-2009, 02:38 PM

My understanding is that internal parasites rarely spread from fish to fish. But yes...keep an eye on it...2-3" is normal, white or mucus cloudy is not. There are some effective meds on the market, but before treating we want to be reasonably sure what is happening.

Jay

louistheloach · 02-09-2009, 02:24 PM

Jay,

I have been watching him (actually I think it is a female judging by the lack of whiskers so to speak) for a couple of days now. It is primarily varying shades of green to brown, sometimes lighter, sometimes darker. On occasion, after losing the trail, when the new one would start there would be a small piece (1/8 to 1/16 of an inch long) that would be whitish. This thing just eats and poos, as soon as one piece breaks off, it just starts over again.......this is probably way more inspecting, analyzing and talking of fish poo than I ever thought I would have to do...

what are your thoughts....

ltl

Jay · 02-09-2009, 06:06 PM

Quote:

what are your thoughts....

The pleco is fine, time to move on

Jay