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hey
i have a 7.5" snowball pleco

and ive noticed that his weiner or what ever its called has turned all white and it kinda looks like it MIGHT be spreading

does anyone have any ideas on what this could be?

one more thing hes in a discus tank with 5 clowns

and i have no rocks or anything in there just bare glass a large peice of drift wood and a few things for everyone to hide if they wish

and the pleco would always swim and hide when i came around
to feed or to turn the lights off

but now he just stays rights where he is
he does move but he could care less if im there now
just off from his normal self

thx any reply would help

From the sticky at the top of the forum:

Help us to help you with your sick fish:

When making a post to the hospital forum, you will save valuable time by providing the following to us. Post what you can now then bring the rest back later if you are missing something. Copy and paste the info into your post as a guideline, then edit out what is not needed. based on symptoms, we may ask for more info later.

It is also important for us to know what country you are in so we can recommend medications that are actually available to you.

ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

Water Parameters
There are many things in a fish tank that can cause a fish to appear sick, when natural toxins or water chemistry are not just right.

Ammonia:
Nitrite (note the “I&#8221:
Nitrate (note the “A):
pH:
Temp:

If you do not have one or more of these, please take a bag of water to the fish store and ask them to test it for you. Most will do this for free. If not, try another store. Make sure you write them down so we can review the numbers with you.

Tank Information

Tank Size (gallons and dimensions if known (20 gal long versus regular 20 or 20 gal high):
Stock List (Quantity/Species):
Fish size for larger fish (a 5 inch angel or a 9 inch oscar has a different effect on water parameters than a half-dollar size angle or a 3 inch oscar).
Filtration (ex: Penguin 330, Whisper 40, Fluval 204, etc).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Additives
Tell us what you add to your tank or replacement water like conditioners to remove chlorine/chloramine, fertilizers for plants, aquarium salt, pH adjusters, etc. Describe for us how often you use and how much.

INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SICK FISH

Be as descriptive as you can and provide pics, if possible (see the post about how to add pictures at the top of the hospital forum).

We not only need detailed information about what you see ON the fish, we need to know about it’s behavior. This does not attempt to capture everything, but gives you some ideas on how to present what you are seeing. Don’t limit yourself to what is here.

Examples of some physical attributes
Pale, darker, grey fuzz/white fuzz/off-white fuzz, grey slimey film, blue haze, gold dusting, salt grains/spots, blood bordered white area, ulcer, pustule/boil, cloudy eyes, protruding eye, eroding fin, etc.

Examples of some behaviors
Lethargic, rapid breathing, sits on the bottom, hangs out at the top with head down (or head up), darting in a spiral fashion, swimming slowly without orientation, choking, flicking against objects in the tank or gravel

Post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what size tank, the white is it fluffy, or just a pale white, is he flicking and rubbing.

ammonina 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 7.6
tank size 124gal.

and all i can tell is that its white

no rubbing
he just sits where he is and doesnt do hardly anything

I would say it is normal.

The one on my pleco is lighter than his body.

Just a note: When most fish appear to have "weiners", they are usually the fish's ovipositer, meaning that the fish is a female. Because all catfish reproduce externally, a penis would be completely pointless.

[font color="#C00000"]Please do not re-edit this post, the word which you used is unecessary and is offensive to many people.[/font]


[font color="#008000"]People who find the word penis "inappropriate or offensive" need to grow up. It is more appropriate than the slang term "weiner". Replacing that word with "gonopodium" is incredibly incorrect, as a gonopodium is a modified anal fin and has nothing to do with a penis. If you are going to change it "gonopodium", then I'm just going to keep changing it back because it is incorrect and makes me look ignorant. If you're going to change it again from the correct scientific term, then at least putting in another stupid slang term would be better than putting something completely incorrect. And I stand by my facts and opinions.[/font]


Last edited by Cory Addict at 09-Jun-2005 20:11


Last edited by sirbooks at 10-Jun-2005 13:40

Last edited by Cory Addict at 10-Jun-2005 16:57

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

yea the one on your pleco might be lighter
but it has probly always been like that

mine hasnt
and he acts differently now

its almost kinda looks like its goin clear, like you can see through the white

i dont know what to say
i just dont wanna lose him cause of something like this

i just lost a gold nugget pleco for some unknown reason
was fine one day the next he was stiff as a board

i NEVER lose fish
he was my third fish ive lost in 2 years

and i just cant see my pleco gettin sick in my discus tank
just hope that my discus dont get sick




Last edited by fishaholic at 10-Jun-2005 11:01

fishaholic, do you have a tank you can use for quarantine and treatment? The ovipositor problem on its own would probably not be something I would be concerned about on its own, but combined with lethargy I think it is troubling. It could be an infection of some sort. If you have discus in the tank it will be harder to select treatment options that won't cause stress to them as well.

BTW, referring to anatomy with correct scientific terms is in no way offensive. As Cory Addict mentioned, a gonopodium is not a reproductive organ per se but rather an anal fin that has been modified into a tube shape for depositing sperm. The only fish with this modified fin are livebearers. Personally I would rather see the word "penis" than wiener or something.

hey
the only other thing that i just noticed is he is very fat
and doesent like to move and he is breathing very heavy, and rapidly

i have another tank but i dunno if 10 gals is large enough for him

hope someone out there knows somethin,
thx
Chris

Are any scales sticking out? It sounds like he may have dropsy or something similar. Is he still eating?

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

nope no scales stickin out
he only looks fat on the underside, almost kinda looks like hes gonna pop.

i threw an algea waffer in about 2 hrs ago and he hasnt touched it from what i can see

what else is similar to dropy?

Thx again
Chris

Fishaholic, I think I know what is up with your pleco.
It is a FEMALE and SHE is full of eggs!!
That is why the belly is swollen and the ovipositor is showing.
Your fish is not a male by the sounds of it.
It sounds like your treatment should be purchasing a male pleco of the same variety so she can mate.


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i dont think that pleco mate just like that
i heard that is very hard to breed pleco
you need a very large tank and it has to have mud or somethin like that in it cause they burrow in the mud or something like that

maby im wrong i dunno,

wont she lay eggs anys ways ,they just wont hatch unless fertilized
:88)

If it's a common pleco it's hard... If it's a full-grown female bristlenose I wouldn't be surprised.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.