Strange Clown Loach Deaths, Please Help

[cgoldsmith_99]

I have a pack of 6 loaches. One day the biggest loach (4inches) was dead, all of the rest are still doing fine.

Key Stats:

PH 7.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10 PPM

There are other bigger fish in the aquarium (125gal) but the body had no signs of damage. His mouth was open and one gil was bright red. I feed them a combination of frozen brine, frozen blood worms, varieties of sinking pellets.

Any thoughts on what might cause this? A friend of mine had a similar issue with a few of his healthiest looking loaches.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[shari2]

Did you notice any flashing or lethargy in the fish recently? Any increased slime coat or dulling of color?

Don't think I have enough info to say anything much, really, but here is a link to gill flukes since you mentioned the open mouth and bright red gill:

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:30 ... =clnk&cd=1

you can see if that may have anything to do with the behavior you noticed or is a possibility. Sorry I can't be more help. From your description it could be almost anything...

[Emma Turner]

Hi cgoldsmith_99,

Sorry to hear about your clown loaches.

In addition to the questions Shari has asked, the answers to a few more questions may help us to figure out what has happened.

How long has your tank been set-up for?
How long ago were the clown loach added?
What sort of filtration do you have on the tank?
What maintenance do you carry out on the tank?
How often do you carry out maintenace on the tank?
Anything new added to the tank recently (new fish, treatments etc)?
What temperature is the tank water?
What other fish species are in the tank?
Any other fish species affected?

Emma

[cgoldsmith_99]

Thanks for the link on flukes, I will watch my other loaches to see if they exhibit any of this behaviour.

Regarding your questions:

-Tanks is 125 Gal
-Been set-up for 6 months
-Loaches have been in the tank for 3 months
-Filtration is Magnum Canister Filter, 20 Gal Wet-Dry Filter that pumps 500 Gallons an hour
-Bi-weekly 20-25% water changes and tests
-Did add a 8inch silver aro about 4 weeks ago
-Only other fish are 3 Fronts and a fire eel

One other note: about a week ago one of the larger loaches was acting extremely aggresively towards the other loaches during feeding (unsure if this is the one that died), but that is the only abnormal behaviour I have noticed.

[Emma Turner]

I'd suggest upping your partial water changes to at least once a week if you've got clown loaches. All I can suggest is to keep an eye out for any abnormally fast breathing, gasping at the surface, or rubbing against the substrate/decor.

Good luck,

Emma

[mikev]

One other note: about a week ago one of the larger loaches was acting extremely aggresively towards the other loaches during feeding (unsure if this is the one that died), but that is the only abnormal behaviour I have noticed.

Not a diagnosis, but unusual aggression sometimes is caused by a parasite or other disease. Parasite may be either internal or external, for instance, I've seen this caused by fish lice. If you see more aggression, examine the fish very carefully for parasite signs. In case of fish lice, they may "park" in the gills and this would cause irritation.