Mystery spot on Pleco

[Mrepman]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post and I came here in hopes that someone will be able to provide me with some helpful information. I woke up one morning and found that my Pleco has a sore just a little bit back from his eyes on his back. The sore is pinkish with a big white spot in the middle, which almost looks like dead scales that are going to fall off. The environment in my tank is generally pretty peaceful. I just recently rescued a clown loach from a bad situation. I have two logs in my tank, one smaller and one much larger. My pleco loves to hide out in the smaller log and the clown loach wanted to sleep in there with him. They both seemed to be happy with the situation but I am wondering if maybe he could have gotten scraped up sharing the small space?

When I brought home the clown loach I dosed the tank with MelaFix for 3 days as directed. Before this, I tested the water and all my levels were spot on. I am getti
Has anyone seen this before and have any helpful tips on how I can get this guy on the mend?

Thank you!

 

[Mrepman]

I also want to note that all other fish in the tank are perfectly healthy

 

[L-ko]

Hi,

Add tropical almond leaves, alder cones or something else that is naturally disinfectant to the water. Change the water more often.
See if it improves.

Do you have a rod-shaped heater in the aquarium? That is a place that is often affected when the animals try to hide behind one.

Greetings
Elko

 

[Mrepman]

Hi!!
Thank you so much for the advice! I will do more frequent water changes and look into those products. I do have a rod shaped heater but I have not seen any of my fish try to get behind it. The tank is right next to my desk and I work from home so I spend a lot of time watching what’s going on in there, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. Do you have a recommendation on a better heater that is safer for the fish?

 

[L-ko]

Hi,

I don't know if it's really the heater. But it's a typical spot. It could also have another cause.
I would first observe the possible heater problem. In most cases, the heater is not the real problem. Rather, it is that there are too few hiding places in the aquarium. I would do something about that first, if possible.

Greetings
Elko