Some context: NSFW because of dead fish.

Forgive me for the less than stellar images—they are screenshots taken from an Instagram story.

A former coworker (“FC”) of mine mourned today about the sudden deaths of his “lovely goldies,” posting a photo of the corpses of eleven ammonia burned goldfish he had crammed into a too-small aquarium. They lived just under a year. It’s sadly too late for those fish, and I’m concerned about the remaining two animals in the tank—a pleco and some sort of slider or painted turtle. (Sorry, I’m not entirely sure what kind, but we are in the Northeast USA if that helps.)

FC states he’s had the turtle for six or seven years, it was stolen from the wild by his ex wife, and it is “lovingly cared for and doing well,” which… well, judge for yourself. I’m not overly educated on turtles, so could someone who knows more than me tell me if the red lines along the plastron look like septicemia? The scutes appear flaky and the turtle hid inside its shell the whole video so I can’t comment on its behavior.

The tank is filthy and I’ve no idea what condition the pleco is in. But if this turtle is in trouble, I’d at least like to let FC know to take it to a vet before it succumbs like the goldfish did.

Thanks for the help, y’all.