Help required, L46 Zebra Pleco bacterial / fungal tail problems

[AndyEllard]

Please can anyone help.

I have just noticed one of my zebs has a bad tail infection. I don't see him/her very often as it likes to hide alot, so not sure as to how long this has been going on.
I don't know how to upload a photo on this site so not sure how someone could help without seeing a photo!
I'm not sure what to treat it with.
Its tail is pale with no black to it and is a redish pinkish colour.

Any help would be greatly received.

 

[AndyEllard]

Hopefully this link works.

 

[AndyEllard]

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a472/carpcrv/Zebs/zeb.jpg

 

[scatz]

sorry, the photo isn't showing

 

[AndyEllard]

Hi Scatz,
does it show now?

 

[Doodles]

yup it is now, the link works and i just added it to thread as image.

What meds do you have?

 

[scatz]

ok, it is now
looks like its been injured recently, maybe through fighting?
if you have a hospital/quarentine tank, it would pay to move it over and perform small daily water changes, extra clean water will help it heal up, a clove of garlic in the tank, or some alder cones would help to prevent any fungus (cant see 100% from the pic but doesn't look like its fungused yet), melafix and pimafix wouldn't hurt either, but make sure you increase the O2 where possible when ading any treatments

 

[AndyEllard]

Thanks Doodles, Do you have any ideas on how to treat?

 

[Doodles]

See post above yours:yes:

 

[AndyEllard]

Thanks guys,

I have moved it to a quarentine tank, just had to get the temp up abit more first for this guy. I have added a clove of garlic and an additional powerhead with venturi. I will be getting some melafix or primafix tomorrow aswell.

Thanks again.

 

[Doodles]

Let us know how he gets on.

 

[phoenix44]

hi,
you will need to have him in a separate tank, as you have done and treat with furan II. make sure to complete the dosage, and add some salt to the water as well.
melafix is best use as a general cure, but in cases like this you will need something more powerful.

what your L46 has could easily be a bacterial infection and / or the result of a severely deteriorated slime coat.

 

[scatz]

i wouldn't recomend going full out with full dose meds and salt all at once when we aren't even sure it needs it.
from what i can see from the pic, there is no fungus, internal bacteria could be a possibilty, but thats just a guess, in the condition the zeb is in now, unneccessary dosing could do more harm than good.

you'll obviously need to keep a close eye on the zeb, any signs of infection or bacterial problems and you will end up having to dose with meds

 

[GrubbyGirl]

I agree with Scatz, it looks like a fighting injury, but there is no obvious infection so the key is to make sure it doesn't get infected. Melafix and pimafix and good clean water will sort him out. The stripes will be all back in a couple of weeks, the tail will take a little longer to grow back.

CARPCRV you just then need to figure out what you do with him when he's all healed as the fighting is likely to continue of you put him back, and male zebra's have been known to kill to defend their alpha status. If you put him back you may need to do some major remodelling of your tank to create 2 seperate territories. I am lucky with my 2 males, the beta male knows his place and just moves out of the way when the alpha decides he wants his cave. I'm sure at some point as my beta male gets older there will be a fight, but he's still young and I do have 2 seperate areas so they could be away from each other. At the moment though they mainly seem to hang out in next door caves!

 

[SmithRC]

ouch.... not a nice piccy to see... :cry:

I've not had to treat anything that serious thankfully BUT if I do get any signs of trouble from fighting I up my water changes (from once in a blue moon to something a little more sensible) and add almond leaves.

I know everyone has their favorite meds... I'm a fan of esha products, whatever you use, As Scatz said - make sure you up the o2 with any treatment...

Looking at the picture it looks like fighting - well it actually looks like injuries I've seen before when a male tries to get in another's cave... If they cant get the ocupying male out, they just chew on what they can get to - a possessive male will just stubbornly sit it out :wb:

 

[GrubbyGirl]

I just read an earlier post of yours and saw that you have a trio of Zebra's which must mean you have 2 males and one female. Maybe adding a few more females would help, or swap a male for a female?

 

[Jo Crane]

Male zebs will chomp and kill females too

 

[Darkstar]

I just read an earlier post of yours and saw that you have a trio of Zebra's which must mean you have 2 males and one female. Maybe adding a few more females would help, or swap a male for a female?

Not only is this costly - any idea how much female zebs cost or how easy they are to get... but more importantly it wouldn't work anyway.


As Scatz says, this looks very much like a fighting injury. In which case I'd just leave it to recover for a few days in a qt tank and then see where you are.
Some fighting is to be expected to begin with, however the fighting shouldn't be ongoing and constant. How many caves do you have in the tank?...

 

[AndyEllard]

Thanks for all the advice, I have put the zeb in a quarantine tank, and treating with Melafix once a day. It says on the bottle to treat for 7 days, then do a 25% water change. Is this best or should I do more frequent changes? At the moment it does not seem to be getting any worse.

Darkstar - I currently have 2 caves in the tank. I started off with 3 but only the 1 zeb went in any of the caves at first. (I thought I had bought 2 females and 1 male) Then this injured zeb started to go into a cave over the last couple of weeks on and off, which confused me as to weither it was actually a male. The cave that this zeb went into was at the other end of the tank (Juwel vision 180L).

GrubyGirl - I would like to get some more zebs but they are not cheap, and I have spent a fortune on other fish lately aswell, so can't really buy any more at the moment.

 

[scatz]

i'd still be doing water changes, treat in the morning, w/c in the evening.
not ideal but will still have some benefit