L134 - abrasion

[Mehi]

Hello, few weeks ago my L134 has graze oposite fin on the crest. It was abaut two months ago and until that time the catfish has such white sign. But yesterday I saw that this mark is quite darker. Is that new pigment or i should worried becaouse it's something bad? please help.

[apistomaster]

Your L134 specimen appears to me to be in poor condition.; verging on the edge of death.
It should have been given time in a separate quarantine tank and treated for internal flagellated protozoan parasites and worms plus gill flukes.
It should be diverted to a small treatment tank that has a bare bottom with caves and some piece(s) of wood.
I would medicate with metroniadazole, praziquantel and flubendazole in the water.
I would also feed it daily with live worms, frozen blood worms and a sinking catfish or carnivore tablet presoaked in UltraCure PX which contains all the above listed medications. Provide good aeration and an aged filter with no carbon. This specimens, should it live, will need a couple months to regain normal health. The water only needs to be kept medicated 7 to 10 days but I would continue with the treated food about a month.
Here is a what the GelTek UltraCure PX is:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/23761/product.web
This is really the best way to get the best meds delivered internally. The same drugs are used in the water but are sold in a more soluble form.
The directions on the UCPX bottle are misleading where it talks about feeding it as drops to the fish. That is nonsense but the product is very good if used per my recommendations.

You should not expect too much. This specimen is in an advanced stage of deterioration but I know how expensive L134 are. I breed them and they are one of my favorite plecos.

[chris1932]

I have seen this before. Its not good. Follow Larrys directions and there is a 50/50 chance the fish will make it. There is also a pond koi product called bio bandage could be worth a look. I keep my fingers crossed for you and your fish.

[worton[pl]]

Hey,

could you provide photo of this fish in water? I just cannot recognise this disease and it bothers me a lot :/
Also what other fish are in its tank?
Larry are there any chances that this white patches before fin are caused by physical damage and fish is in totally bad condition because feeding competition in a tank was to strong for it to handle?
It really looks like it is going to die very soon and looks like main reason will be starvation whatever has caused it.

Regards.

[apistomaster]

It sure looks to me like it never was in good condition and that without the TLC, meds in QT you just lost your window of opportunity to save this fish.
chris1932 gives it better odds than I for a recovery.

I do not believe you are dealing with a specific disease but rather the end scenario of uncontrolled parasites and a hard passage through the OTF distribution chain since capture in the wild to latent recognition the fish was in serious trouble.
All the armored catfish can be difficult to evaluate when the they are freshly imported because they all look beat up some but their plated exteriors mask some what problems that would be more obvious if they were a Cichlid or Tetra. Sometimes the best clues is a sunken belly and little more to go on.
I am of the school of practice that assumes the worst and begins the prescribed treatments in quarantine and the qt period should be 4-6 weeks.
This is enough time to beat back the parasites enough, for the fish to better assimilate their food and more quickly regain their health.
We cannot completely eliminate the all the parasites wild fish carry but what we can do is bring them under control and allow the fish to recover enough for their own immune systems to manage the parasites. The problem is that from the time of capture to the time fish reach our tanks may run 2-4 weeks and during that period they are fed little if at all and subjected to overcrowding and too many stressors to list here. Suffice it to say most fish, I would say especially the armored catfish, appear to be hanging on better than they really are.
The collectors and importers do a better job with a fish like a wild discus because they are better educated as to best handle them and discus are quicker to display signs of distress. Both wild Discus and fancy plecos are expensive but the trade has been slow to take more pains to deliver a healthier fish. I know wild Discus are caught by more specialized collectors while I suspect everybody who can catch a pleco is doing so. Discus have been an important OTF product much longer and the catfish part of the business is newer and way behind in the learning curve.

[worton[pl]]

Hey,

thanks Larry.

I hope this fish will do it. And I'm still waiting for photos from under water.

Regards.