# Algea eater is turning white on his belly



## Stephaniem

Hi I have a 29 gallon fish tank, Its stays pretty clean thanks to my sucker fish, tonight my husband noticed that my sucker fish is turning white on his belly. We have been having problems with out fish dying, the black fish that we had were turning white, we thought ick and treated but they died anyways. All of the fish are very active and dont act like anything is wrong. Should I be worried.
Thanks


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## bmlbytes

What kind of algae eater/sucker fish do you have? There are several different types such as:
Chinese Algae Eater









Pleco









Oto catfish









These are the most common of the algae eating sucker fish. I think it would help to know what kind of fish you actually have in order to help diagnose your issue.

Also, ick usually shows up in little spots that look like salt. The fish does not usually turn white for no reason.

Have you recently done any water changes or added any chemicals to the tank? My tetras turned clear one time when I forgot the dechlorinator.


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## Ghost Knife

If it's a Pleco you are referring to this is normal as it occurs with age.


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## Sea-Agg2009

I would treat for infection to be safe. If one fish dies, you can say FRD (random fish death). If more than one fish dies, it's not so random. Melafix is a common antibiotic used to treat for a variety of internal and external infections. It is invert safe, and really has no detriments if you follow the instructions. I've found that ich treatments are not so great at saving infected fish. Once a fish is stressed and diseased, there usually isn't much you can do. Most treatments simply prevent other fish from getting what the original fish had.


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## Ghost Knife

If you do use Melafix be sure to use at half the recommended strength if you have any fish that are scaleless in the tank, such as a knife fish.


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