I believe my Weather Loach is sick... Help?!

[Asmodeus]

I have had Weather Loaches in my aquarium for about eight months now, with absolutely NO problems to speak of. I began with two, and just recently I have added two more to the family as I have taken an immense liking to these little guys. They brighten up my day every time I look at them.

However, one of my newest additions has recently, (beginning about two-three days ago), become quite sluggish and was using a plant to "hold himself up", which I thought was perfectly normal, as I know Weather Loaches have awkward sleeping positions, and my others like to perch in plants as well.

When I returned home from school this afternoon, I went to feed the fish, and when one Weather Loach did not show up for role call, I began to look around for him until I noticed his head poking out from his favourite little hiding cave. He was upside down, and I had pretty much reached the conclusion that he had died. I reached in to remove him from the aquarium, when all of a sudden, he took off (although not as speedy as usual). Since then he has barely been moving, and as of the last time I checked, he is laying on his side.

I have never heard of any "common diseases' that Weather Loaches may carry... and all of mine have been extremely healthy up until the time when this little guy began acting this way. Thier water is kept pristine at all times, so I can't see that being the issue...

If anyone has any ideas as to what may be wrong with my little buddy I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me. As absurd as this may sound, my loaches are actually a big part of my life and it breaks my hear to see one of my little buddies suffering this way.

[loachmom]

Hello Asmodeus and welcome to LOL,

I'm sorry that your loach is not doing well. I'm also sorry that I do not have any experience with weather loaches. There are many knowledgeable people here that will be able to help.

In the meantime, if you click on the search option at the top of this page, and then type in

weather AND loach AND sick (type it just like that, then click search)

you will get a whole page of threads about sick weather loaches. Wish I could do more. Good luck!

[Asmodeus]

loachmom - Thank you for the welcome. =] And also for your assistance. I wasn't aware of the search option yet, as I just joined this afternoon, but I will go and try it right now.

I'm really hoping I'll be able to figure out what is wrong with him, and a way to help him get better. My loaches really mean a lot to me.

Once again, thank you very much for your kindness and assistance!

[loachmom]

You're very welcome, Asmodeus.

Hope all goes well.

[Emma Turner]

Hi Asmodeus,

Would you be able to provide us with a few more details such as water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH), size of tank, water temp, filtration, how often and how much water do you change etc. Also did you quarantine your new additions before adding them to the main tank?

Emma

[Asmodeus]

Hi there,
Of course. I realized shortly afterwards that it was rather foolish of me to leave those details out.

The pH is always kept between 6.0 and 8.0, as that is what I have been told is most ideal for loaches of this particular species. The temperature is kept between 50 and 60 F to satisfy my loaches as well as thier tank mates, and I beleive it was around 64 the last time I checked... It is a 40 gallon aquarium, and I keep my 4 Weather Loaches, 1 Green Botia, 5 Corydoras, and 2 Shubunkin Goldfish. Every week or so, a 20-25% water change is done, perhaps a little more (40% or so) if need be.

No, I did not quarantine my new additions. To the best of my knowledge, I have only ever done the usual "leave-fish-in-bag-while-sitting-in-new-aquarium-to-get-used-to-new-water-temperature" and I do not combine the water from the bag into my aquarium. Would you be suggesting that to quarantine new additions is the best thing to do? If so, I will most defiently do that from now on.

Thank you for your time, and any further assistance will be greatly appreciated.

-Alyssa

[Diana]

Hi Alyssa
Quarantine is a very important step in keeping your main tank healthy. You never know what a new fish has been exposed to; what it may be bringing into your tank.
Many Loaches are wild caught, and can carry parasites. Even hatchery raised fish can bring in diseases to a tank. If you have not already found the info here at Loaches about parasites, please read some of it. VERY informative.

Having a quarantine tank offers a number of safety measures.
1) You can observe the new fish for several weeks or a month to wait for some latent disease to show up.
2) Fish can be treated in a quarantine tank without exposing your main tank, plants and beneficial bacteria to the medicines.
3) If the water at the store and your water are different the Q-tank can be set up to match the water chemistry the fish are accustomed to and gradually changed over to the chemistry in your main tank. A month's worth of slow acclimation is much better than an hour of swapping water around, or drip acclimating.
4) Q-tank can be used as a hospital tank for a fish in the main tank that gets sick, isolating him for treatment. Can work as a 'maternity ward', breeder tank, and many other uses, too.

Remember that 'quarantine' means that no equipment is used in both tanks, and wash your hands between tanks and so on. Quarantine works both ways, too: Your fish might have had some disease and gotten over it, but maybe there is still some organisms in the tank that could infect the new fish while their immune system is slow (because of the stress of relocating several times over the last few days or weeks)

[Asmodeus]

Diana - Thank you ever so much for all of your helpful information/advice, I appreciate it.

I am planning on upgrading to a larger tank in the near future, so perhaps the one I have now can become my Q-tank.

I will also take your advice on reading about Loach parasites, as I really don't know a great deal on them yet.

Also, for a bit of an update... This morning, as another helpful member of the forums suggested, I did an (approximate) 35% water change, since it appears as if my little guy may have nitrate poisoning or something of the like. I will continue to do a partial water change for the next several days to see if he continues improving. Since I arrived home from school today, he has not been laying on his side, and I've actually seen him swimming/playing with his buddies a little. I'm happy to see ANY improments.

Thank you again,

Alyssa

[Munkee]

Just checking in to see how the new fella is doing? I also wanted to ask after our conversation yesterday, if he is appearing grey all over, does it look as if his slim coat is sort of peeling away?

When mine was very ill and I managed to bring him back from death's door, he was not spotted anymore; turned grey, breathing rapidly, laying on his side or using objects inthe tank to prop him up, and shed a good layer of slime then after a few days of water changes, he was showing improvements.

I hope we can turn this around for your guy as well. Do you have any photos if what he looks like now that he is ill?

[KLKelly]

Take your water to the local fish store and get exact readouts for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph and KH if they have that test. They will test for free. I don't like to take "it is okay" for an answer - I have them give me the number and I write it down.

Goldfish need a ph above 7.

How big are your shubs? These goldfish can get very big and are big waste producers (I"m a goldfish and dojo fan). Depending on their size - just for two fish alone you may need to increase your weekly water change amounts or frequency. Loaches and the others add to the load on the tank. Adequate filtration is important too. You may be underfiltered for your bioload of goldfish and loaches.

When a fish is acting sick its important to make sure your water is happy before treating for illness. An ammonia increase, nitrite showing or a ph crash could be factors. Treating with antibacterial for example would crash your biofilter and going through a cycle with that bioload would be extremely hard on all the fish.

Finally - it is always a good idea to treat a tank with goldfish for gill flukes (parasite). Gill flukes are hard to eradicate though and I go by a prazi dosing schedule recommended by aquatic vet Dr. Helen Roberts. I can post on this later.

Making sure your water is okay is the most important thing first and foremost.

[Asmodeus]

Hey there, thanks for taking the time to check up on him...

As of last night, I had noticed some white/greyish "spots" on his skin, which covered his back, his sides... basically everywhere. His fins and tail were also beginning to fray and turn a "copper" color...

I wasn't sure as to exactly what was wrong with him, so I moved him into a hospital tank (with proper air/filteration etc), so that there was no possibility of him spreading parasites/disease to my other loaches and fish. By this time, he was barely moving at all, and it was a desperate struggle just to simply keep himself upright, rather than on his side. I noticed that his breathing was slowing and that he seemed like he was on his way out.

Sure enough, when I awoke this morning, my little buddy had passed away. I will miss him terribly, even though he has only been with me a short time.

I believe that what instigated all of this in the first place was the conditions of the original tank from which I purchased him from. There were, evidently, numerous loaches that were not healthy; some even looking the way my little guy did... but I had come a rather long distance to buy one, as there are limited aquarium stores which sell Weather Loaches in my area, and I really didn't want to leave without one. When I chose him, he appeared perfectly healthy, active and disease-free. I honestly don't know what happened...

I do still have three other Weather Loaches who are perfectly healthy and will continue to take good careof them, though I just wish my new guy's life didn't have to end so quickly...

[Munkee]

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this. I really thought we could help him. I am very saddened by your loss.

Sometimes there are parasites, underlaying illness, water problems, anything can go wrong with new fish. You just never know.

Keep an eye on your others to make sure they remain healthy. gain, I am so sorry.

[Asmodeus]

Yes... I thought we might be able to save him too. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

I really appreciate your efforts to help me/him, though.

Needless to say, I don't think I will be adding any 'new' fish to my aquarium for a while... in the meantime, I'll enjoy the ones I have, and do all I can to keep them happy and healthy.

Thanks again