Pleco loosing colour??

Byron

Prime and similar conditioners detoxify ammonia by changing it to ammonium which is basically harmless to fish. Test kits read ammonia and ammonium as ammonia, so the water test will show .25 of ammonia but it will actually be ammonium which is harmless. Plants will grab the ammonium fairly quick, if they are plentiful. While you will see the .25 after the pwc, a couple days later I would expect not. As long as you're using a ammonia detoxifying water conditioner, you're fine. And this will not be the cause of the problem with the pleco, if it is a problem; I don't know this species well enough to go beyond the obvious stress agents that we've already covered.

B.

stephanieleah

Weird, I almost posted a similar thread today. My pleco has had two or three cases of what looks like dry skin, sort of flaky but it doesn't look like ich. Then it goes away in a short amount of time (hour or two). Today I noticed a little red spot on the tip of her fin (not where the flaky stuff was) and I thought maybe she's just swimming through her tight little hiding places and bumping herself about and getting skin issues as a result. I don't want to underestimate what it could be but it's so inconsistent that I don't want to over-worry it. I'm surprised to hear people comment that a pleco could react to .25ppm of ammonia...I better watch my levels.

I hope your pleco is okay!

SophieThomas

I was also surprised to hear that plecos can react to that level of ammonia considering I have read that 1.00ppm< is considered to be toxic. Obviously this varies dramatically from fish to fish. I hope you figure out what is wrong with your pleco!

Byron, thank you for confirming that for me. I have known that specific information about Prime but I have heard very contradicting opinions on whether products like that should be used so the reading of ammonia, although expected, still leads me to worry a little. My pleco has stayed completely fine since my last posting and even the weird spikes down his side are nearly gone. I will be adding more plants to both tanks tomorrow.