Weather loaches not getting bigger

[MARITA]

For the past 2.5 yrs, my 2 weather loaches have been in a 30 gal. tank - BUT they do not seem to be getting any larger! They appear to be healthy, and I feed them gold fish flakes, shrimp pellets and bottom feeder pellets. Water perimeters are all fine and the temp is around 72 degrees. For water changes in the aquarium, I always use bottled spring water. The aquarium is in a quiet spare bedroom, so no stress is involved (we have a lot of noisy dogs and parrots). But they seem to be hiding out a lot - I sometimes have to move their little hide-out decorations, to make sure they are still alive. There are no other fish in that aquarium - only those two little loaches who do not get any larger. I'm not sure whether there is problem or not.

[glenna]

I am no expert, but loaches DO seem to have parasite problems....
did you do the whole quarantine and treat regimen when you got them? ...maybe they have a low level of infection that is keeping them from growing to their potential?

[MARITA]

Thanks so much for your reply. No, I never thought of it. They have been in the same tank for over 2 years. There are no other fish in the tank. Can you recommend a "medicine" for loaches to treat a possible infection?

[Dojosmama]

You indicated that when you do water changes, you use bottled spring water. By this, do you mean distilled water? Are you sure they're getting all the trace elements and electrolytes they need? It's generally not a good idea to use distilled water when doing changes, because it's lacking certain elements the fish need. It's healthier to just use dechlorinated tap water, treated with a conditioner that removes both chlorine and chloramine. This could be contributing to their lack of growth.

As for treating them, I wouldn't do that until I was reasonably sure what's wrong with them. Many of the fish medicines out there are harmful to scaleless fish like loaches. I believe the Maracyn meds are safe in half doses, and since there are no other fish in the tank, they could be used directly in that same aquarium. Just remove the carbon from the filter before dosing.

Perhaps you can research weather loach parasites to see if there are any that are slow-acting and long-lived within the host's body. They may not manifest any symptoms, however, and it could be difficult to determine if that is the problem.

Also, the size of the aquarium can limit the extent to which a fish grows. Two of them in a 30-gallon are okay there, but one can't expect them to get really big. Usually, in aquaria, weather loaches stay about five or six-inches long, unless they're in a really big tank, then they can grow to 10 or 12 inches.

I notice your temperature is a little high for them. Long-term, they shouldn't be in water any warmer than 70F, tops. This could also be giving them some trouble. Weather loaches like hiding places, but they shouldn't hide all the time. They're usually quite active and playful, with sedentary resting periods in between bursts of energy.

So, right now, I would suggest you stop using the bottled spring water, and lower the temperature in the tank. What is the pH of the tank? Dojos (another name for weather loaches) prefer it no lower than 7 and no higher than 7.6. If you're only slightly below 7, you can get by with that, as long as it remains stable.

Hope this helps.

-- Dojosmama

[Vihaga]

You could try garlic in their food if you're suspicious about parasites; a lot of people seem to think it helps, and it certainly won't hurt.


Also, my dojos hid out a good bit until I picked up some dithers for them and upped the number of hiding spots in their tank. If you've got room, adding some white clouds or adding more hiding spots may help them come out more.

[MARITA]

I am using "Spring Water" (bottled) since we have our own well water which is kind of salty. PH level is ok ... and they have plenty of hiding spaces. They really do not seem to be sickly, just hiding out all the time (when I'm in the room) and small in size. I will lower the temperature. I agree that I shouldn't give any meds until I'm certain there is a medical reason for it. Garlic sounds interesting - how do you feed that?
Maybe there is no need to worry, but I'd like to make sure that the little guys aren't suffering in any way. The tank is in a spare bedroom and perhaps they are active when nobody is around. What about oxygen - I have two airstones in there, but they do seem to get clogged up a lot and need frequent replacing.
I really do appreciate your comments - thanks.

[Vihaga]

There are commercial foods with garlic (New Life Spectrum Thera-A is one), or you can crush up garlic and soak their food in the juice.

Odd that your airstones get clogged. Is water going into them or something? If you're using a decent-sized HOB filter with plenty of flow (especially if the water level isn't at the very top), you probably don't even need them. Are your loaches going to the top and gulping air a lot?

[MARITA]

I have never seen the loaches swim up to the top; I keep the water level pretty close to the very top of the tank with every waterchange. I buy the airstones at Walmart since this is the only store in our small town that carries fish/aquarium supplies. The next petshop is 50 miles away. I guess I could check online since I get most of our other pet supplies for our dogs and parrots (and our horses, goats, donkies and cows!!) from online stores. The two loaches are our smallest pets - and give me the biggest headache at time

[Vihaga]

I wouldn't worry about oxygen if their breathing isn't fast and they aren't going to the surface.



Oh, I forgot. How big are they?