Loaches Online Forum

Best I could get. The angles and lighting is strange near this tank. All the videos wouldn't focus either. So the pictures are as good as i could do. I will try and get more as soon as possible. The last video finally looks crystal clear. Maybe you can add this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4R7CaWYDzpw

















While you are here Shari, my pleco looks to have fin rot. Overnight he lost nearly 3/4th of his fins. I put melafix and a bit of prime in the tank. I have the water parameters listed in the freshwater section. In the pic above you can see the plecos fins. I added melafix and a dash of prime to the water.
water tests

ph 7
ammonia 0
kh 5
gh 5
nitrate 10
nitrite .25

Thanks LO. I'll link the video, it is very helpful to see the weakened condition that comes with later stage skinny. He is SO thin...I hope he makes it.

Yes, I'd say your bristlenose definitely has bacterial fin rot. One of the major causes of this is stress. Fin rot is usually caused by Aeromonas or Pseudomonas, both of which are gram-negative and ubiquitous. As water quality declines, or when under major stress, some fish will succumb. Both you and Mad Duff seem to have run into this with fish that were stressed due to moving.

Treatment is with a gram negative antibiotic and/or salt at half the normal dose for loaches...about 1tbs/10g. You have a problem, however. The striata needs the levamisole asap and the bristlenose needs the antibiotic.
It looks like you'll need a concurrent treatment, but I do worry about slamming your newish biofilter with antibiotics so soon.

What antibiotics do you have on hand, if any?

If you can get it, Nitrofurazone is good for this type of problem.

"Jungle Fungus Clear" has nitrofurazone, furazolidone (both synthetic antibiotics that treat gram-negative and gram-positive infections), and potassium dichromate (an antifungal).

Any antibiotic that will treat gram negative bacteria should help. Some are harsher than others. I generally prefer nitrofurazone for fin rot, but it's hard to get nitro by itself. Generally, it comes with other meds as a combo (like the Jungle product).

If you could email me the largest file size photos of pic #1, 4, 9, 10, and 12 I might be able to crop them or fix them up a bit. I appreciate it LO.
Hope your fish get through this.

i think the only thing i have access to is fungus clear at the lfs. i have api fungus cure, ich treatment, ammo lock, pottassium permanganate, and methyl blue. will methylene blue work, parasite clear?


i have treated the tank with melafix already. all other fish seem fine except the pleco.

could i treat the skinny botia with the levamisole in a smaller one gallon tank?

I am going to have to wait till lunch to get this for the poor guy! Hope he survives.

you could, but at this point the additional stress might do more harm than good. if you decide to do so, make sure you have a very comfortable environment that matches his current one to limit stress, lots of air and water movement, a good place to hide, and a good view for observations (and pictures ).

Hope they make it, LO

Kate

I think im waiting this treatment out. Then treating for levimasole hcl.

im going to try and get him to eat bloodworms today.

these botia hardly want anything to do with algae wafers but addinig just a few worms ruins the water quality quick in this 10 gallon.

Ill keep trying to get more pics as well. Ill try and email them tonight or tommorow. real busy at this moment.

well i just got home and this pleco looks like hes clamping up quite a bit. poor guy. i medicated the tank but i guess there isn't much more i can do but wait.

The pleco was all locked up in death. poor guy died while i was gone. i treated the tank but it may have been too late. poor guy, rip!

i am taking him back today to the lfs and going to pickup some algae flakes. i noticed on the bottom of the fish, that the insides seemed to be eaten out. it looks like something bacterial. poor guy.