Hello,
I asked this question in a forum on another site but didn't get a reply. Last Friday I purchased a tiny pleco along with some other tropical fish. Right away I noticed the pleco's tail didn't seem right. It looked like it had fungus on it. I left it alone for a couple days and started treating with Jungle Fungus Eliminator. The next day to my horror the fish had some blood on its fins and head. I left it alone since I figured the JFE would clear up streaked fins as it said on the bottle. Later that night I noticed my normally shy, peaceful swordtail pecking at the pleco as it was sucking algae from the glass. About an hour later I checked back and the pleco was stuck to the filter tube dead, and someone had obviously taken delight from snacking on him. I normally give my fish a proper burial but it was a pretty gruesome scene and I didn't want to get anything on my hands in case I got infected with some bacteria. This was about two nights ago. I am just curious if whatever fish ate it would get infected with the fungus which looks like the beginning of tail rot (a few of the guppies at the store already had it so it doesn't seem unlikely). I am supposed to add another does of JFE. The fish seem to be acting normal and I haven't seen any signs of fungus so far. Should I be worried?
Any help would be appreciated:)

Yes Jess you are correct, you do have reason to be concerned about your other fish.

It sounds like your pleco had a double whammy of Hemorrhagic Septicemia (an internal bacterial infection common to catfish undergoing stress) and a fungal infection....here's a link to info on the Hemorrhagic Septicemia

I would continue the fungal treatment, and make sure that your water stays pristine (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, minimal nitrates) and your temperature steady so as not to stress your other fish....

If I may offer some general advice to help prevent this in the future....
-Never buy a fish from a tank or system of tanks that contain ANY sick fish.
-If possible, use a quarantine tank for new purchases. Watch them for a few weeks before adding them to your "show" tank.
-If quarantine is not an option for you, be sure to acclimate your new fish by with the "bucket method" so that no tank water from the fish store is introduced into your tank.(dump the new fish and water into a bucket, slowly start adding small amounts of your tank water to the bucket. Over the course of 20-40 minutes slowly keep adding tank water to the bucket until the water in the bucket is mostly tank water...then scoop the fish out with a net and plop it into the new tank...this avoids adding contaminated water to your tank)

Good luck, you may want to have some antibiotics on hand just in case the other fish start showing signs of infection...

Oh my gosh, that sounds awful and painful! I will definately continue with the fungus treatment. The only meds I can get around here are the fungus eliminator and ich guard. I'm going on vacation next weekend and I can get to a pet store then and stock up on filter media, medicines, literature, etc. but I won't be back till the 11th of August so that's not so good. The closest pet store is about 3 hours away.

In the meantime, the tank temperature remains pretty steady because the heater has a thermostat that cuts in and out from time to time so there isn't any fluctuations in temperature. Should I raise the temperature? Right now the heater is set at 79°F. I also add aquarium salt at the recommended dose every water change. I change about 50% of the water weekly since my tank might be a little overstocked according to the one inch per gallon rule. (I have 1 cory, 2 neons, 2 glo light tetras, marble molly, balloon molly, pineapple swordtail). I also did not add any water from the bag when I transported the fish. I put them in a plastic tub and netted them out because I was told to do that and the water they came in smelled really bad. I just hope whatever it was doesn't spread. I hate seeing the little guys suffer. Thank you for the advice. Rest in peace scummy.

3 hours away? man that must be a pain sometimes!

Oh yeah it's definately a pain since all the fish and supplies I can get are from Walmart and they are already diseased when I get them or die quickly and I can't get many supplies. I can't even get filter media for my Aquaclear filters, so about once or twice a year when I do get to a pet store I have to stock up and spend about $200 or more on supplies and the people working there look at me like I have two heads lol. So when I do go I am also going to stock up on some medicines like Maracyn. I've never used any of the stronger medicines since I never had trouble with my fish until I started buying them at Walmart. How long is their shelf life? Is it worth stocking up?

Hey everyone,

I just figured I would let you know that it's been a week now since poor Scummy passed away. So far it seems like his illness did not spread. All the fish are active, have healthy appetites, and no signs of fungus or redness. I stopped the treatment today since I was having a spike in ammonia levels. I did a 50 percent water change, added a new carbon media bag back to the filter, added a triple dose of Cycle just to be safe, and so far so good. I'd like to thank you guys for the advice, and when I do plan on getting another algae eater I will definately pay more attention to what kind of condition it is in. If anything else happens I will keep you posted. Thanks again:)

I think I would go the online ordering for supplies if your pet store is that far away....


That would really suck!!!

I never even thought about ordering online! I order stuff online from Future Shop but it never occured to me that I could order fish stuff. Thanks for the idea. I'm going to look for some Canadian stores on Google that sell stuff over the Internet. Thanks:)