loss of whiskers!!

[shane harripaulsingh]

hi
i got this clown loach whose been struggling for a week now and a day ago i noticed that his whiskers weren t there. there are lit reminants of whiskers below his mouth but the ones above are no onger there. he has not been eating either and i think that he is starting to get thinner.
has anyone seen this before? what do i do?
its a 2 ft tank with 2 other loaches and a red tailed shark( hasnt been showing any aggresion towards the others). really dought that it is a water prob, chlorine or ammonia.

[Emma Turner]

Hi Shane,

Sorry to hear about your loach. It sounds like it could have some sort of bacterial infection.

What are your water parameters - ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte? Bacterial infections are more often than not caused by poor water quality, so it is a good idea to check.
How long has the tank been set-up for, and are any other fish showing signs of distress?
How often are you changing water on your aquarium, and how much do you change?
What substrate do you have in the tank? Hopefully it is either sand or fine rounded gravel (anything sharp can cause barbel erosion).

If you can provide us with more information, then we may be able to advise further.

Emma