Pleco bloat and not sure he’s eating

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hi guys. My dude has been hanging on the glass in the same spot daily and he doesn’t seem to rush to food. Also veggies I leave in there seem untouched by morning. His diet has been mainly the Morning Wood Repashy and he was eating veggies before. Haven’t found hardly any poops in the tank whereas before there were lots.

parameters 0/0/20, temp 77

He may have an obstruction or hard time eliminating.

 

found blog post on a pleco forum where the user did epsom salt baths and claimed it cured the pleco, but the pleco died a few days after. Not sure I trust the epsom salt route.

Flint is a bristlenose pleco.

Edited September 14 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

What I would do is a low dose of Epsom salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that is safe i have used that level of salt before with bristlenose you can add it  to the tank for 5 days and fast or you can quarantine and do it bloating in bristlenose is common problem it's usually egg bound females when they don't have a male or diet related if there getting to much protein I would add a good quality algae wafer to his diet EBO algae wafers or tropicals algae wafers have a high algae content @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

Edited September 15 by Colu

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/14/2024 at 6:07 PM, Colu said:

What I would do is a low dose of Epsom salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that safe i have used that level of salt before you can add it  to the tank for 5 days and fast or you can quarantine and do it bloating in bristlenose is common problem it's usually egg bound females when they don't have a male or diet related if there getting to much protein I would add a good quality algae wafer to his diet EBO algae wafers or tropicals algae wafers have a high algae content @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

So for a previous bloating issue with the black neons I did  1 table spoon for 1 gallon but that was a dip, I think 15 minutes. This 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is ok for him to be in for the 5 days straight (not a dip?)

What % algae should I look for in a food if I can’t find those brands? Do you think this one looks good? Algae is the first ingredient.

Edited September 14 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 9/14/2024 at 11:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

So for a previous bloating issue with the black neons I did  1 table spoon for 1 gallon but that was a dip, I think 15 minutes. This 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is ok for him to be in for the 5 days straight (not a dip?)

What % algae should I look for in a food if I can’t find those brands? Do you think this one looks good? Algae is the first ingredient.

Low dose of Epsom salt over 5 days  is safe for bristlenose a higher dose in a bath is more effective I wouldn't go above 1 table spoon for 5 gallons with bristlenose  you want food containing spirulina. chlorella.  Some foods will also have lithothamnium. ascophyllum nodosum. laminaria digitata. Such as tropical high algae discs that contain 52% algae 

Edited September 15 by Colu

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ok, I set up a quarantine tote for Flint. Never thought I’d have to use the big net that @nabokovfan87 sent me once, but with Flint’s growth, it was necessary and easy.

I thought he didn’t survive the transfer because he sat there motionless, omg.. I went to grab a flashlight so I could watch his gills but by the time I got the flashlight I saw he had moved to the little chunk of driftwood that is in there. What a relief. Poor guy had been in the same spot in the tank for days. I think he has very little energy due to the discomfort. With plecos you never know if they’re sleeping or what, and then they become active at night. They are so shy. But a few times I got up during the night to put food in for him, he was still in the same spot on the glass. Previously I’d check in the dark and he’d been all of the tank, busy doing pleco stuff. Hanging on the glass during the day was new for him too. He was almost always on the wood before. And no poops found during maintenance.

The Qt tank was 2 degrees difference, so I think he was just taking a few moments to adjust. I put the log tunnel in there also because he’s very shy and will stress and camouflage if he’s exposed. 2 Tbsp of epsom salt per 5 gal is in there (****EDIT: this was typo -it is 1 tbsp per 5 gal); I dissolved it in a jar of the tank water. Extra air going too.

Edited September 15 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

With the  higher dose of salt keep very close eye on him in case he has reaction hopefully you will see some improvement in next 24-48hr 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/15/2024 at 7:01 AM, Colu said:

With the  higher dose of salt keep very close eye on him in case he has reaction hopefully you will see some improvement in next 24-48hr 

I am sorry , that was a typo . It is only 1 tbsp salt per 5 gal. I fixed the typo. 2 tbsp total for the 10 gal qt tote.

Edited September 15 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hey guys look what Flint made!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

He still needs to pass more through his digestive tract, and he is still fat. Day 2 of Epsom.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Things seem to be moving along for my buddy. Here is what I siphoned up this morning. And he has been fasting.

Flint:

[quikv6]

If you end up feeding him,  you can also safely put a small amount of Epsom salt in the food.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I wondered if I should feed him peas after he completes the 5 days in the epsom bath.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:58 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I wondered if I should feed him peas after he completes the 5 days in the epsom bath.

Do you have any repashy soilent green or super green?  Garlic guard + that might be a good way to go too.

Glad he's doing better.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/17/2024 at 5:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Do you have any repashy soilent green or super green?  Garlic guard + that might be a good way to go too.

Glad he's doing better.

I have it, yep 👍 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Flint seems quite a bit more active now. I have been siphoning out the waste daily. There’s not incredibly much each day, but it’s there. It’s more of a scattering of broken up waste rather than solid mass. The most was on day 1 of the epsom treatment.
 

Since it is the evening of day 5, I changed 20% of water and offered skinned pea. He did investigate it and I even blacked out the tank for some time, but it doesn’t seem he likes it, so I made a tiny bit of Repashy Soilent green with skinned peas in it. I just used enough Repashy to bind it. I think he did eat some of that. I only gave him a small amount.

I would have changed more water but being I live in the south, it comes out of the tap pretty hot. I added some ice to get it to match tank temp. I will change more water tomorrow and will try to age it a bit so I don’t have to bother with the ice.

Oh, also the new life spectrum algae max wafers came in as well. Maybe tomorrow I will offer some zucchini? 

[Colu]

Is there a noticeable reduction in the bloating 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/20/2024 at 9:38 AM, Colu said:

Is there a noticeable reduction in the bloating 

Yes, definitely. I want to take a picture, but he is shy.

Edited Friday at 02:01 PM by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@Colu  

 

He wasn’t eating prior to quarantine, and was fasted for 5 days in quarantine. Finally he will accept something.

Edited Friday at 07:49 PM by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 9/20/2024 at 8:48 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@Colu  

 

He wasn’t eating prior to quarantine, and was fasted for 5 days in quarantine. Finally he will accept something.

Good to hear sounds   like the  epsom salt had a beneficial effect 

Edited Saturday at 11:13 PM by Colu

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Flint is back home now. He released a long poop In the tank as he left the net! 🤣

There is new lava rock in there. He thinks I can’t see him.

If he didn’t do the camouflage he’d perfectly match it.