Loaches Online Forum

The story :

I got a batch of 7" loaches and one developed skinny disease. It was pretty bad , looked like someone pinched the top of his head all the way in. I just couldnt bring myself to euthanize him, he had a full huge tail and he was always active and eating. For about a year, he remained in that shape, eating and acting normal but being real skinny. Now all the sudden hes starting to fatten up and the mark above his head is filling out. I treated him only once when I first got him with Mara 1 and 2. Never again has medicine been given to him.

Is it possible to beat skinny disease naturally? Every other clown loach Ive had develop skinny, didnt make it longer than a month. This guy just wouldnt give up. Hes recovered so well I can barely distinguish him from the other 30.

Being skinny is just a symptom for many different things. It could be parasitic, bacterial, fungal, stress, not acclimating, not eating or accepting new foods, or a combination of a few of these things.

In any case, a remarkable outcome.

Glostik wrote: Is it possible to beat skinny disease naturally? Every other clown loach Ive had develop skinny, didnt make it longer than a month. This guy just wouldnt give up. Hes recovered so well I can barely distinguish him from the other 30.

Yes, most certainly.

If the skinny was caused by a single worm (which is often the case), it is not immortal, and eventually will die (lifespan depends on the worm species). If the fish manages to hang on for long enough, it will be worm-free.

A better approach, however, would be to deworm the fish, it is much more likely that the worm will kill the fish first.

wow..30 clown loaches?any chance of some pics of them?

Anyway, i think in the wild, they do tend to survive compared to in captivity when it is infected by parasites due to stress related issues,transportation, adaptation to new environment and etc.