bn pleco air gulping, normal?

is it normal for a bn pleco, because i know commons do it.

mine, jumps with half it's body out of the water(near the fish tank wall), then attaches on quickly, forming a large air bubble between his mouth and the glass wall, he continuously sucks it, but his gills are not moving. is this a indication of illness?

water parameters are fine, but i do have a sponge filter and he is on melafix treatment.


this is the first time i witness my bn pleco doing this, been raising it for 2 years.

I think this is normal behavior, as long as he's not constantly near the top of your tank.

Hi,could you please answer a few questions in order to determine what may be going on because i don't think that is normal behaviour at all.

How often and how much water is changed?
Do you have gravel and if so do you clean it regularly?
Do you oxygenate the water?
What filter do you have?
What size is the tank?
What other fish are in the tank?

Hope you don't mind the questions but it will help us help you.

There will probably be more to follow

I'm sorry but that is def not normal. Sounds like the is not enough O2 in the tank.

Need to know the answers to Jim's questions

One other thought,has he only started doing it since you started medicating and what are you medicating for ?

How often and how much water is changed? every 2 days
Do you have gravel and if so do you clean it regularly? no gravel
Do you oxygenate the water? yes with a 30 gallon airstone
What filter do you have? sponge filter
What size is the tank? 10 gallon, quarantine tank
What other fish are in the tank? just him and a female pleco

medicate for possible sign of bacterial infection, red streaks on fin and just ripped finnage (not fin rot tho)

I would clean the bottom of the tank due to possible bacteria film down there, if you are changing water every 2 days then the max I would change is 10%. Also consider adding a 3 stage Hang on Back filter...

How much water are you changing at a time?

Any live plants in the tank?

Do you give the bare bottom a good clean regularly?

Is the plenty of water surface agitation?

Has he been behaving like this only since you added medication?

What do you feed?

Have you any photo's?

How long has the tank been running and is it cycled?

Might be a good idea to put a thin layer of smooth gravel on the bottom and treat with esha 2000 and esha optima.Also be an idea to add another filter with a good outlet to give some water current and better filtration.

How much water are you changing at a time? 15%

Any live plants in the tank? nope

Do you give the bare bottom a good clean regularly? i siphon out the poop everyday, but the bare bottom tank is also siphoned every 2 days

Is the plenty of water surface agitation?yeah lots of bubbles ripping thought out the tank

Has he been behaving like this only since you added medication? ever since i moved him to the quarantine tank.

What do you feed? cucumbers, algae wafers, peas, carrots

Have you any photo's?nope no camera

How long has the tank been running and is it cycled? it's been running for about a week, after i noticed the redness. cycled with 50% old tank water, from his parent's 55 gallon tank.

he not air gulping anymore, but is not attaching himself to anything, and seems lethargic and weak, might be bloat, but i don't see any reason for him to be bloated from the diet, treated him for hexamita a while back too. is also not eating.

every strange never experienced this before in my 2 years of raising him, raised him from a egg, his parents are doing fine.

O.K first of all was the filter you are using taken from the tank he was in before ?

If not,the tank isn't cycled,you cannot cycle a tank by just using water from another tank unfortunately.

How long has he been in this quarentine tank?

O.K here is what i think...It sounds like he has a bad bacterial infection,maybe even possibly septicemia if he is bloating but maybe a number of things.

Moving him to an uncycled tank will of made the situation twice as bad as he will now be stressed which will make his illness worse unfortunately.

Can you put some of the filter media from the tank he was in into this tank?

Does the female look healthy and is she eating?

Hi,just realised you have another thread about a female with the same symptoms,is this correct?

Have you tested for ammonia as your fish are displaying several symptoms of ammonia poisoning. As Bristlenoses has said the tank has not had time to cycle.

Do you have any Nutrafin Cycle or a similar product for neutralizing ammonia and nitrites

Sounds like a bacteria problem. This is why i do not keep my BN in bare bottomed tanks. I've found them far happier and healthier when kept on some sort of substrate. I have fine layers of sand in with my BN.

their both not eating, their both in the same tank because i think they might be sick, i didn't want to take the chance of infecting my super reds with what ever these two might have, i will add the old filter from the old tank, and see how it goes.

is esha 2000 or kanamycin better for treating bacterial infection?

If you can get Kanaplex then use that in conjuction with Furan 2.Clean both tank bottoms well and put a thin layer of sand or gravel on the bottom (smooth gravel not sharp).Make sure you always use water conditioner before water is added and make sure it is at same or similar temperature before adding.

If you remove the old filter from the other tank that will make the other tank go into a cycle so don't remove it unless there are two in there.Add some live bacteria instead,like API strezz zyme plus.

Make sure you remove any carbon before treatment.

What filter is in the other tank?
Have you got water test results?

*Moved to Pleco hospital*