# bloated pleco?



## fishygirl42 (Jun 1, 2006)

my pleco is about the size of my first finger, and it lately has been round in the belly area. and when it goes to eat, it starts to float to the top! he then has to drop the food and go back to the bottom. is there anything that anyone can tell me because i am totally lost and i am afraid for him. im really confused.

thanks in advance.

sarah


----------



## goldseverum109 (Mar 7, 2007)

it is rare to have a sick pleco, they can stand almost anything, but mine died after a few years, due to the fact that did not realize he needed a much bigger tank, how big is your tank, and your fish? they can grow to 24'' supposedly! is he the only fish in the tank, you should try not feeding him for a few days or sticking to a green diet?


----------



## fishygirl42 (Jun 1, 2006)

my pleco is on a algae disc diet and gets one small disk every night. i did't feed him last night though. He has plans to go to another friends tank in a little bit, but now he is in a 18gal with one platy, one CAE and two baby platies.


----------



## goldseverum109 (Mar 7, 2007)

i dont know much about treatment, except maybe hold back on feeding, i guess in my opinion it could just be to small of a tank, some1 who knows more about sickness' should help you.


----------



## fishygirl42 (Jun 1, 2006)

revise- i think that he has air in him, not just bloated for food reasons, if it was just food, he wouldn't float to the top.


----------



## 1stfishies (Feb 25, 2007)

True, I would suggest getting a Bristlenose Pleco, they don't get too big and would be great for your tank. I have one and I did some searching on it, it says they only grow to be like 4-6" at most. If you like him and he gets better, I would DEFINATELY get a bigger tank.
Good Luck


----------

