please help!

[keem]

I have a 55 gallon tank. It has 2 clown loaches, a few dojos, a couple of yoyos and a couple of black tetras and a tiny jurupari.

I have had a problem since last summer and have been trying so many things to remedy it. I have spent so much money on it too! My loaches are dying!
The jurupari is now showing signs of it too. One of the clowns, who have been very healthy up until now, might be but I am not sure.

Anyhow-their fins split and disintegrate. Eventually, their whole scales disintegrate and they die.

I have tried different antibiotics for this like erythromycin and maracyn2. I have done fungus tablets in the water. I have done melafix for two treatments. I even put peat additive to the water because LFS said my pH was too high and that would fix it--but then it turned out their dipstick test was not as reliable as a beaker test and that one showed it was normal pH.I have done so much to try to help but nothing helps. Honestly, I have done more then I listed, it is just so much to recall right now....

I have well water and put stuff in it to make it good for the fish. I also use a little salt in water changes. I started that last fall.

I feel so helpless! HELP!

What should I do?

[Emma Turner]

Hi keem,

Welcome to Loaches Online.

Sorry to hear about the problems you have been having with your tank.
If you could answer a few questions it may help some of us here figure out what is happening.

How long has the tank been running for, and when did you last add fish? What are your current water parameters? ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH? Also what temperature are you keeping the tank at? Clown Loaches and Dojos have very different temperature requirements, so I was wondering what the temp is in your tank. How often do you carry out water changes and what size changes are you doing? Could you tell us a bit about the maintenance you carry out on the tank? By the way, salt is not a good idea as your fish all come from fresh waters and do not encounter it in their natural habitats. Loaches, being slightly more sensitive than other species will certainly not be appreciating it's constant presence in the aquarium water.

Emma

[keem]

Wow! I didn't know this about the salt! I had read that it was great for all fish to add a little-and actually, it seems to prevent ick when the rotting thing is happening---

Anyhow-I do weekly 5-10 gallon cleaning/water changes. The temp now is at 74. Is that too cold?

I have a double filter on the tank--I had one left over from another tank I sold last fall so I decided to use it on this one to make the water cleaner thinking it would help the situation--but it hasn't.

I will test the water---BRB!

[mikev]

Sometimes the best approach to fin rot (splitting) is simply to improve water quality by more frequent water changes, without any drugs. Water changes also cut down the amount of the bacteria in the water. It will also wash away the salt which is probably making the problem worse.

I had this problem with a (new) Kubotai, who had developed nasty splits on the tail and the dorsal; 10% a day for a week cured him. (it worked for me, but if it failed, my 2nd step would have been to turn on the UV). Given that you have several loaches affected, UV may be the option to start with.

hth

[keem]

pH 7.5
Nitrate 5
Nitrite 0.3
Temp 74

Thank you for any help! I just don't know what to do!

[keem]

What is UV?

[mamaschild]

UV = Ultra Violet

I'm sorry your having problems

[TammyLiz]

I wonder why there are nitrites in the tank. Do you ever change all your filter media at the same time? Or rinse the filter pads in tap water that hasn't been dechlorinated?

By the way, 74 is a little low for clowns. A little warmer would be nice for them.

[keem]

The nitrites are supposed to be zero?

I have 4 filters in 2 filter machines.I usually change them two filters at a time (one machine at a time) about every 2 or 3 weeks.

[keem]

I have well water and at LFS, they said it is soft water. Don't know if that helps!

[Desi]

Do you have a water softner? The thing where you add big bags of salt to it to help the water?

[keem]

Yes. We have a water softener.

[mikev]

Your biggest problem is probably nitrites. They should be zero indeed. 0.3 would not kill a clown outright but it is a long-term reading, it would cause all kind of damage (oxygen deprivation --> damage to the immune system).

You need to figure out first why you are getting nitrite readings at all and suppress them asap. Adding Biospira *may* work. Adding a few cups of gravel from another (functional) tank *may* work too. Using Prime will work, but it is a temp. solution only.

(The likeliest reason for the nitrite reading is your antibiotic treatments --- how recent were they? If you added antibiotics within the last week, install new carbon to remove them, do a large water change, and then try to restart the cycle, as I wrote above.)

[keem]

The last antibiotic treatment was 3 weeks ago. It was the maracyn2.

Come to think of it, I had to take all of the filter bag thingies out during the treatment so they were not spaced out in their replacement as I usually do.

So--if I make the nitries at zero and increase the temp, it might help?

What temp should my tank be?

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

[mikev]

So--if I make the nitries at zero and increase the temp, it might help?

You must get nitrites to zero, as soon as you can. This is serious.

Temp is less important, you are close enough to the right values. In fact, with nitrites in the tank, slightly colder temp is probably helpful (more oxygen in colder water).

One more thing: for as long as you do have nitrites in the tank:

Continue with the salt in water. One of very few things salt is good for is as an antidote for nitrite poisoning. Get rid of salt *after* you solve the nitrite problem.