Weird white blotches

General
Where do you stay? Secunda, Mpumalanga
How long have you been keeping tropical fishes? 18 years
How long has the tank been running before you added fish/this fish? 6 weeks before fish. 3 months before adding the pleco
What fish do you have in your Tank (type, number and size)? Angels 6, swordtails 6, rosy barbs 6, labeo bicolor 3, rams 3, zebra/leopard danio 20, various tetras 15, a horde of corys, plecostomus 2 and a hi-fin pleco
When did you last buy any new fish? a month ago
Which food are you feeding and how often do you feed? Tetra Pro Colour, Tetra Pleco wafers


Disease
Describe the problem that the fish is having (behaviour, breathing, excretion (droppings), food intake, colour)? pale white blotches and lines over hes body
Is the fish eating? Yes
Has the problem occurred before? No
Have you treated the problem and how? No treatment yet
Have you had any other problems in the past? Yes
What were they? Just a physical injury that was treated with saline solution
Did you treat for these problems? Yes
How? Pool salt 3 tablespoons on 340L tank

Your aquarium & Maintenance
How big is the tank. (L x b x h)? 150cmX45cmX50cm
How many litres of water? 337L
What type of filter do you run? Dophin C-1300
What is IN the filter? Sponge, ceramics, purigen, bio balls, filter wool
How many litres per hour is the filter rated for? 1300L/h
How often do you clean your tank? Every fortnight
How do you clean your tank? Gravel Vac and water change between 30-50%
How much water do you take out for Water change? 30-50%
Do you prepare your water for water changes? How and what do you add? Yes I use a 240L prep tank with a internal filter and a heater. Only additive is dechlorinator
What water do you use. (Tap, bore hole, RO)? Tap water
What substrate do you have? Garden variety pea gravel
What else is in the tank (Rocks, plants, fake plants, shells, anything else)? Driftwood, variety of plants and 6 large quartz rocks

Water parameters in your aquarium
Describe the water (smell and colour)? No noticeable smell and slightly yellow from tannins
Temperature of the water? 24 degrees C
General hardness (GH)? 16d
Carbonate hardness (KH)?6d
Ammonia: unknown
Nitrite (No2-)? 0
Nitrate (No3-)? 10
pH? 6.8
How did you test these? Have you checked the expiry date on the test kits? Tetra Test 6 in 1 exp: 2013-09

Lights
What light do you have? 1X 36W 10000K T8 tube
How long is the light on for? 10-12 Hours
Do you have lots of plants in the tank (real or fake)? Evenly spread real plants
How do you fertilize the plants? No fertilizers used

If possible, can you post some pictures of
(1) The sick fish
(2) A close up of the sick fish, and/or effected area

(3) the full tank.

The malawis in the photo has been moved to another tank

 

My plecos have also had this. I think its normal. Mine were fine for years after that started.

 

Oh I forgot to say... According to the previous owner he is a bloodline purebred

 

Yiip i agree with @Franna, my pleco and my ancistrus have whitish bloches on them and they have had it since i got them.

 

This the Pleco that had his tail section torn? Think a possible scenario may be along these lines... Recovering from his injury has compromised his immunity quite a bit... leaving him open to any little parasite he will normally be able to fight off. Dusky patches on Pleco skin is usually an indication of this....

You can try a "generic" parasite treatment,but they usually dont work all that well because of resistant parasites.... Got access to a microscope? Can talk you through making a positive ID and treating accordingly....

 

@azurekoi does that mean my pleco and ancistrus are sick.

 

@azurekoi yip it's the same one that got hurt before. This is Secunda... Binoculars are high tec in this place

 

@A Bauer - not sick,but could have a parasitical problem - have a good look though,some Pleco's do have lighter,natural colouration patches,before you treat.

@Double-D - Try a generic anti-parasite treatment then.... Watch your other fish closely for any signs of "flicking"...

 

Sorry @Reedfish,but Columnaris is NOT a bacterial infection,but parasitical..... Quite a common parasite in our tanks - gets out of hand some times and can be a big killer then...

 

I've noticed that my plecos (I keep a Gibbi, a Leopard, and "orange marbles") tend to change colour depending on lighting conditions and their moods, which can often give their skin a very blotchy appearance. My Gibbi will often go from almost yellow/light brown in appearance to very dark brown, and he is perfectly healthy. From your photo it's hard to tell whether your pleco is simply changing colour or whether it's an actual infection of sorts. Is the texture of the blotchy areas any different from the rest of the skin?

 

Many Pleco's do change their colouration from day to night(Protective measures)...this however I do believe to be a parasitical problem @Zeiphex...

 

My plecos have always seemed to change their colouration pretty randomly, but yes, that would make sense. I've never had common plecos (I find the more exotic ones to be much prettier) before but I imagine they are pretty similar with their colour changing habits. The one in the photo does seem a little whiter than I've ever seen them though. I've never seen a parasitical problem on a pleco before, but I would imagine that in addition to the skin being a different colour, the skin texture might be a little different than normal?

 

Have imported,landed and quarantined thousands of Plecos in the past... When they come up with blotches like that,is when I reach for my microscope and start seeing what parasite I'm dealing with... just my experience with them...

 

Thought I will just show a pic of mine. I do not think there is anything wrong with it.