Loaches Online Forum

I've been browsing and reading looking for some answers...but I'm still not sure if there's anything else I can do.

I have two clowns that are under stress and I'm trying to help them.
Several purchased at the same time have already died... these two were the strongest...but that's not saying a lot.

Two more clowns in the tank are 100% fine, good color and activity and feeding...also new purchases from a DIFFERENT LFS after the deaths of so many from the one LFS.

The two sickly ones don't appear to be eating (or much), aren't as active (but have randomly played for VERY short times). They do NOT have clamped fins (yet), but very fast respiration and prefer to lay in one spot, isloated, breathing fast. Their color is more muted than the healthier looking ones.

No outward signs of ich on anything in the tank.

The two in distress are smaller and thinner, but not so thin that I'd suspect skinny disease (yet)... more from not eating for awhile.

Tank parameters are excellent, although I do have PH on the higher side, but it doesn't fluctuate. I have liquid rock water, so using a mixture of R/O water is the only way I can lower my Ph and keep it stable. I try to buy from LFS's with similiar water parameters, and acclimate carefully.

No other inhabitants in the tank are stressed or having problems.

Unfortunately, I think that something was up with the LFS where these were bought since both are behaving the same way.

Problem is, I'm unsure what to do/treat them for!

I'm checking and double checking water parameters, doing regular water changes... just basically making sure they don't encounter ANY water quality issues to compound the problem.

However, they're not improving. They're not exactly going downhill...other than not eating which will further weaken them... but for now (and for about a week), they've held their own.

I hate seeing them suffer! I really want to see these guys pull thru...but what to treat them with? I truly have no idea despite looking at everything and anything...

Most of all, whatever it is... must be loach safe, of course!


Can anyone help me out?

Hi Decembrr, and welcome to Loaches Online.

Could you tell us a little more about your loach aquarium in order for us to build up a picture of what the problem might be?

- How long has the tank been set up for?
- How soon after setting the tank up did you add fish, specifically the clown loaches?
- What are your exact water parameters? ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH?
- What size is the tank, and what sort of filtratration are you using?
- Do you have a good amount of flow and oxygenation?
- What temperature are you keeping the tank at?
- How many and what other inhabitants are in the tank?

If you can provide us with answers to these questions, hopefully some of us will be able to give you a few ideas.

Emma

Tank is established... approx 1.5 years old. Fish were slowly, nearly immediately added using "Stability" and filter materal from another established tank. (not "mini-cycle" senstive fish at the time)

Amonia=0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=20-30
Temp 80*
Ph about 7.6 in this tank
Water changes are done with a mix of R/O and well, weekly.
Heavily planted w/ CO2 Injection (DIY)
Play sand substrate, several small pieces of driftwood, and two rocks.

This tank is a 40 gal (not loach permanent home), with a fluval 205 (no carbon unless needed to remove meds or other short term treatment)
It also has a powerhead filter (polisher) that I currently have set to inject as many bubbles as it will (a stream of bubbles equal to about what 3-4 airstones might produce). I usually have the powerhead running, but have it adjusted for LESS surface agitation because of the plants/CO2...but since adding these guys, have upped airation to max it provides. Plants have stopped pearling, due to CO2 loss at surface, but the increased airation is "pearling" the water quite well.


This is my "transition tank", or hospital tank of sorts. I generally put new fish in here when I bring them home for a few weeks, especially shy fish like the loaches. I have a 20 gallon with 6 guppies and a cory with similar parameters (slightly lower ph) that I use for species sensitive treatments (after original inhabitants are moved to another healthy tank) and 10g bare bones tank ready to go for treatments that are plant/fish sensitive or that will destroy the cycle.

Other permanent inhabitants are two corys, 5 mollies and small rubber lipped pleco. (bottom, plant, and glass cleaners! ) These stay in this 40g tank.


The loaches will graduate to a MUCH bigger tank once they pass their luxury quarantine time....IF they pass.

Currently, NO meds are being used... as I have no idea what to use, if anything. I don't want to just start dumping stuff in there. I've been frantically searching for reasons why these two are so stressed, and what, if anything, I can do to help.

As previously stated, two from a different LFS are fine. Eating, normal respirations, normal clown behaviors all around. But two are definitely having a rough time, both from one particular store. No other outwards signs of illness (clamped fins, parasites) are present, other than these two are thinner. But they're not eating either, from what I can see. I don't know how much longer they can last with no food and being so stressed to breathe.

I just don't know if this is (probably) something that happened to them prior to purchase AND if so, is there ANYTHING I can do to help them recover? They're not *put me out of my misery sick* (yet), as they are still more than capable of swimming/darting away from me quite fast... but their breathing is just so rapid... ALL the time.

Thank for any and all help!

Nicki

This sounds exactly what is happening to my 5 Clown Loaches at the moment (used to be 6, one died). They aren't interested in food at all, they have short spirts of energy and run up and down the glass and dart between hidey holes, but the rest of the time they will just sit there with little movement. I thought there breathing was normal as they all breathed quickly, but now i think about it, it is pretty rapid. Needless to say i will be keeping a close eye on this thread.

Good luck

Camo

Decembrr - sounds like you got a nice setup. Do you use ferts for your plants? One thing I might say though, if you were getting true pearling from the plants and now you arent that means you might have less dissolved O2 in the water, not just less co2. Pearling happens when the water starts to become saturated and the oxygen, instead of dissolving into the water, forms bubbles. If you can get pearling and have lots of plants, Id go back to that method, and you oxygen levels should be great during the daytime. Then take your powerhead and put it on a timer so it goes on either at lights-out or slightly before, and aim it so it creates a good amount of current at the tanks surface. You can use the venturi if you want, I find them not to be reliable and a good current with some rippling action will work just as good.

Not wanting to hijack this thread at all but i just got home from work to discover 4 of my loaches swimming about the tank while the lights were on, i put some pallets in there and those 4 ate, the 5th one i'm really worried about now as he just sits beneath the log, popping his head out now and then, and occassionaly having a little sift through the pebbles, mean while theres a couple food pallets no less then 5 inches from him. I still have hope for him though.

Let me begin by saying that I am in no way an expert, there are many, many wize people on this board. I just wanted to share my experiences in the past with you. I had a undergravel filtration system in my tank and it caused nothing but trouble. I had so many bacterial infections I didn't know what to do...dropsy, fin and tail rot, cloudy eye, swim bladder, popeye and other things I just was not sure what they were. All my fish were sick with something. Some of them just laying on the bottom of the tank. It was sad.

Well, tried the maracyn combo with no luck, then I went to another LFS and they recommended a med called Nitrofurizone. At this point I was willing to try anything, some of my fish were literally almost gone. So I got the med and started it that night. The next day no improvement, however on day 4 they all seemed to pep up a bit and on day six they were doing really sell. I medicated them according to the instructions for 2 weeks and every single fish pulleld through. So naturally I am an advocate for this med. It is sort of a catch all...it treats gram-negative and gram-positive and if you have a bacterial infection I say go for it. It worked wonders for me. I highly recommend it.

It does turn your water yellow but it saved fish of mine I was sure would die.

I keep it stocked in my fishy medicine cabinent.

Just food for thought.


I hope things work out for you.

Good luck,
Krista