Loaches Online Forum

a couple of day days ago, I bought a dojo loach, It is not too active yet, but just now I noticed that the dorsal fin it missing and it does not look good, it has like a little blood in it, the loach swims now to the top, but i am concerrn about the little fin, I have clown loaches and tiger barbs in the tank... is it injured or it is some type of disease , fungus ???

new dojos are incredibly prone to fin rot, especially AIUI at this time of year. Does the fin remnant look pinkish and thickened as well as bloody? You're not helping the loach by keeping it in water which is too warm, either; it's a cold (temperate) water fish and probablt isn't up to coping with the faster proliferation of bacteria in the warmer water. Get it into an unheated tank with pristine water and keep up the water changes. If you don;t have a permament cold-water home for it, get it back to the shop or to someone who does have a cold water tank once i's better...

sophie wrote:new dojos are incredibly prone to fin rot, especially AIUI at this time of year. Does the fin remnant look pinkish and thickened as well as bloody? You're not helping the loach by keeping it in water which is too warm, either; it's a cold (temperate) water fish and probablt isn't up to coping with the faster proliferation of bacteria in the warmer water. Get it into an unheated tank with pristine water and keep up the water changes. If you don;t have a permament cold-water home for it, get it back to the shop or to someone who does have a cold water tank once i's better...

sophie is spot on. you can either keep it in a coldwater tank or gradualy bring the temp to a sub-tropical temp(around 21*c, 23*c at the very most).
also weather loaches grow to a foot! some species more!
if your tropical tank is big you might struggle to find space for a sub-tropical or colwater.i keep mine in a coldwater and soon going to change to sup-tropical.

thnks for the info. the temperature in my tank is at 71 f. so it is roughly 21 c the max temp is 73 f. should I leave it b/c I think it is cold enough or return it, I do not have any other tank to relocate it. i really like it, bit it is better to return it then I will do so. thanks so much. victoria

On another subject, are your Clown Loaches in the same tank? Clowns should really be kept at temperatures higher than 71-73 deg F. They do best between 79-84 deg F.

Emma