Neoplex bad for common plecos

[hyp3rcrav3]

I used Neoplex in my 95 gallon to help cure some silver dollars of fin rot. I had already used Lifeguard. Lifeguard halted the advance of the disease but it didn't seem to cure it. I changed water and ran carbon for a couple of days and then added Neoplex. Much to my surprise, it killed my pleco. At first he was active as usual. Then he hid in a clay cave. After a couple of days he was still there. I put some zucchini in for him and he didn't come out. The Synodontis was backing into his cave since the pleco wasn't pushing him out. That's how I figured out he had died, probably yesterday. I pulled him out and put in some prime to neutralize ammonia until treatment for silver dollars is over. As sad as that is, it will probably benefit the tank in the long run to not have a giant pleco in the tank. I now have room for some Siamese algae eaters to control black hair algae. I may even get some loaches to clean around the rocks. Now I can safely salt the tank. There is at least that.

Addendum, I have seen that Neoplex is fine with plecos. It may have just been this individual fish had a bad response. By way of example, I am allergic to penicillin.

 

[DMD123]

As bullet proof as we may consider some fish like plecos, they can respond to meds quite differently. Ive had the same situation where the fish that needed the treatment handled the meds just fine but another fish in the tank that had appeared to be perfectly healthy ended up passing. The tough thing is that we should be moving the sick fish out and treating in a hospital tank of its own but the stress of catching and moving could make things worse.

Sorry for you loss, but probably better on the bioload in the long run.

 

[hyp3rcrav3]

As bullet proof as we may consider some fish like plecos, they can respond to meds quite differently. Ive had the same situation where the fish that needed the treatment handled the meds just fine but another fish in the tank that had appeared to be perfectly healthy ended up passing. The tough thing is that we should be moving the sick fish out and treating in a hospital tank of its own but the stress of catching and moving could make things worse.

Sorry for you loss, but probably better on the bioload in the long run.

That is how I'm looking at it. It was a beauty of a pleco. He was well fed and happy but he did make more work. He was the primary reason I didn't just salt the tank although I do have a fat old Synodontis in there.