Loaches Online Forum

Hi,
im new on here, and i have a clown loach that is very thin and his tail seem to be square at the end instead of been pointed and it has a split down it, his nose seems to have been bitten.
he is lying next to the thermometre at the minute.
I had a sucking loach in with him but have removed him now,

i dont know if he is eating, as i have hardly seen him as he was hiding in the tree stump i have in there(decorative one)
but just lately he has came out and lay outside of it.

I dont know what kind of medicine to give him.
I have had him for about 3 years and had no problems with him before.
done a ph test and it was 6.2

Hi carolg. Sounds like it may be a combo of long term parasites that led to bacterial infection.
Levamisole for the parasites and a good broad spectrum antibiotic like Maracyn I and II or Kanamycin.
Being in the UK, I don't think you can access them without a vet. Hopefully some of our UK members can direct you with meds that are available to you.
I know Mad Duff is using myxazin with his fish, but I'm not at all sure that's what you need.

Levamisole is avaliable in the UK in the form of Levacide from any vet thats willing to treat farm stock, they will also order it in for you if you explain the situation, my vet is willing to order it in upon request when I need it, it works out about £11.50 for 500mls or so.
For the bacterial part Im not sure what to use, Ive been trying a couple of products since Shari mentioned to me that secondary infection is possible, one that I have seen my clowns showing some response to is King British Bacterical Control, although if antibiotics did become avaliable I would willingly use them.
HTH

Ashleigh

i went to my pets at home store to find maracyn and prazipro but didnt stock it, told me of 2 places that does have it but it is too far away from me. and since i dont drive, i wouldnt be able to go there.
the girl in the store asked me what i was feeding him and i said flake food and she looked disgusted, she said not to feed him that and suggested using kings british catfish pellets. So i bought some of them, see if i can get him to eat.

i will get some bacterial control from my local hardware shop tomorrow and try that.
I got some white spot treatment today asweel, and have added that.
if i get some bacterial control could i use it with the white spot treatment?

I have found a website with fish medicines on it, just wondered if any of these would be suitable for my poorly clown loach

http://www.waterlife.co.uk/seaquariums/ ... edications

I have some waterlife sterazin , can i use that.
i am going to get some kings british bacteria control.

which should i use

If your fish doesn't have whitespot you don't need that in the tank. Too many medications will stress the fish rather than help it.

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Thanks for the pic carolg. Helps a lot!

He doesn't appear to be horribly skinny, but is heading that way. Based on what I could see there are slime coat issues, and possibly fin rot. The spot on his nose you mentioned I can't see well, but seems it could also be an infected wound or an open sore?

Has he eaten any of the catfish pellets?

Can you give more info on the tank he's in? Size, temp, filtration, other inhabitants, water change regime?

Oh, and welcome to LOL.

I dont think he has eaten any of the catfish pellets, i put cucumber in, and pinned it down with a rock where he was lying but neve touched it.
he is now floating around the surface with his nose poking out,
i have a 3 foot tank, with a fluval 3 and a air stone,(lots of bubbles)
changed water yesterday and today, and added bacterial control today.

i did have a sucking loach in with him but i removed him cos i thought he was bullying him.

oh and the temperature is 25 degrees cantregrade

his nose seems to have been bitten or chewed
this is why i removed the sucking loach
thought that he done it to him

got up this morning and sadly he was gone.

Well, let me continue in this topic, with my "problem". I am not even sure if it is a problem, it could be normal thing.

I am giving my best to take a decent photo of the potential "problem" that one of my young clowns may have.

If you look at the fish, it is healthy, active, full belly, nothing wrong at first site. Normal loach. But if you look at its RIGHT side, around pelvic fin there is a "grey" dot. It is not on the skin I think, it is inside of the fish.

There is no illnes in my tank, everything seems to be in order. I have that loach for almost 2 years, no health problems. I just suddenly, a few days ago noticed this "grey" spot, (visibile only from the right side of its body) dot like around its pelvic fin. I think the grey "spot" is getting a bit larger with time, but I am not 100% sure. No other clown have that.

Any ideas? Does this remind anybody on something. Meanwhile I will try to get a picture...the clown is jouvenile and fast little guy, so it is difficult task.