Loaches Online Forum

When my goldfish first exhibited symptoms of sickness (clamped fins), Petsmart had told me to use a medicine for fungus. That was beginning of last week. It was not until AFTER I added medication, that I discovered the danger for loaches & medication (stupid me). I tried to dilute meds by small waterchange.
Anyway, after I posted my last msg this morning, I found one loach not moving - dead : . I know it is not wise to add stress to the remaining one, but either way he may have a better chance in the new tank (no goldfish & no medication). I pray he'll make it & then will carefully administer medication. As of now, I can't detect any spots on him. This is getting really frustrating and I hate to see any animal suffer.
I blame myself for being so ..... STUPID. Some things I simply didn't know and weren't told, but I should have done my research first.
I really hadn't intended on fish, we already got dogs, parrots, horses, goats and a couple of cows. I somehow ended up "rescuing" the goldfish from our son who "just wanted fish" - but carelessly set up everyting wrong and the fish would have died within a short period of time. After a pretty bad argument, I took over caring for them. The closest Petsmart/Aquarium store is 50 miles (one way) away in Flagstaff; we only have a Supercenter Walmart here in Winslow. Between bugging Petsmart,etc with questions and doing some computer research, I had been left on my own. Just an explanation, not an excuse for my ignorance. Glad I found this board. I really love watching the little khulis and would like to set up an exclusive tank for them. They are more adorable than the fish to me .
Sorry for this long post - had to vent a little.

First of all don't be too hard on yourself. I just started fishkeeping close to a year ago and you would not believe what I have learned and continue to learn every day. Believe me, I have done some pretty dumb stuff just because of not knowing any better.

You will find this forum to be a blessing when it comes to dealing with your fishy issues. I always come here first. I don't trust the people at the LFS (no offense to anyone) as I have been pointed in the wrong direction so many times by them and seeing that half the time they don't even know what species they are selling is not very encouraging.

You learned your first valuable lesson today...loaches and medicine...tricky, you have to be very careful. I am sorry to you lost one of your fish but I hope the other one will pull through, keep us posted.

Welcome to the board,
Krista

You are so right; I called Petsmart and then two Aquarium Stores in Flagstaff -- and I got different answers to same questions every time
Yes, I am hoping that my little loach pulls thru! right now he is in the new tank (with new decoration to hide) and he is not moving a lot.
I don't want to add ANYTHING at this time to give the poor fellow a break.
I will keep you posted.
PS: Thanks for understanding. I will always consult here first.

MARITA wrote:You are so right; I called Petsmart and then two Aquarium Stores in Flagstaff -- and I got different answers to same questions every time
Yes, I am hoping that my little loach pulls thru! right now he is in the new tank (with new decoration to hide) and he is not moving a lot.
I don't want to add ANYTHING at this time to give the poor fellow a break.
I will keep you posted.
PS: Thanks for understanding. I will always consult here first.

No problem and glad that you have joined us. There are many people here with a wealth of knowledge so this is always a good place to start.

I also learn a lot just by reading the other posts, and don't forget the freshwater forum for any questions not related to loaches.

I've got my fingers crossed for you and your little guy, keep us posted.

Good luck,
Krista