Dwarf Loach w/ Missing Tail?

[Soujirou]

Hello, I'm brand new here and I decided to reigster because I need help with a sick/injured dwarf loach.

About a week and a half ago I purchased 6 dwarf loaches. One of them seemed smaller and not as active as the others. Recently we had an earthquake that freaked them out and sent them into hiding.

All of the loaches are fine except for one I found hiding under a log I inadvertently hit. It was very small and very inactive. It looks like it is missing its tail. I believe its body is intact and I think I see small slivers of a tail. Unfortunately I cannot get a good picture. I soaked some garlic in a melted bloodworm cube and put that in the tank (sans garlic). The loach is out in the open and more active, but still less active than the others and not eating.

Does anyone have recommendations on what I should do? And do loaches ever nip at each other's tails? I only have harlequin rasboras (which are peaceful and get chased by the loaches occasionally) and the dwarf loaches. None of the rasboras have had damage to their tails although their tails are bigger than the dwarf loaches' and slower as well. And will a loach's tail grow back? Thanks.

[helen nightingale]

welcome along

sorry to hear about your loach problem. i hope the earthquake didnt do too much damamge to your area.

are your dwarf loaches one of these species, just to check?

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... grolineata

they dont have a fierce reputation , so shouldnt nip each others tails or other fins.

to make sure your loach has the best chances of recovery, make sure your water is very clean. (ammonia 0, nitrite ), nitrate 5 (-10), sorry if this is obvious to you, some people know, some people dont)

i would probably put some melafix in, but i am sure some other people here will have different thoughts.

was the loach eating OK before its accident? what food do you normaly give them? prawn might be worth a try, and my loaches can never resisst hikari sinking carnivore pellets

is the sick loach just small, or is he very skinny too?

i hope he will be fine

[Soujirou]

My loaches are the first species and I have only observed them chasing my rasboras around but never catching them despite being much faster.

I do keep my water clean and lean on nitrates (5 - 10 ppm, trying for 5) and it is also fairly well planted so there should be plenty of O2 as well.

I will try to find some Melafix but should I give a full dose or half? Because I believe loaches can be sensitive to medications/chemicals.

Even though most of my loaches hang out in the open and seem pretty comfortable, I rarely see any of them eat. But since the food disappears and most of them are larger than when I got them, I assume they are eating. They also ate most of the snails that were in my tank. I had been feeding them Hikari sinking wafers and bloodworms, but I should probably get proper carnivore foods.

The loach is both small and skinny. It hangs out in the open and can swim ok. I did notice this morning that while it was in the corner, two other loaches kept brushing against it and it would not move.

[helen nightingale]

it certainly sounds like you know what you are doing

dont worry, the rasboras can be very fast when they want to be. my harlequins are now bold enough to sneak food from the bottom, right under the loaches noses.

i suggest trying melafix at half rate to be safe. i know a few people hate the stuff, but i have never had a problem. you are right, loaches can be very sensitive to medication (and bad water) because of their very small scales

somebody else may be able to suggest something else as well.

is the loach skinny like in this link:

http://www.geocities.com/pktechlizard/skinny.htm

[Soujirou]

I think I see what you meant by skinny. I would say my loach is actually more thin than skinny because it still has the same streamlined shape and doesn't have any dimples or sunken in areas on its body. I guess it is better to say that it is just smaller. However I will keep a look out on my other loaches. Thank you for the heads up.

Also if I do need to medicate a loach, do you think it would be best to keep it in the main tank or a quarantine tank? I do not know if isolating it from its own kind would stress out the fish further or not.

[tariesindanrie]

The great thing about Melafix is that it won't hurt the other fish or your biofilters- if you need to treat with antibiotics or other meds, I would definitely transfer the patient to a Q-tank- otherwise, the company of his/her shoal does a world of good (as long as nobody's picking on them).

You sound like a great loach parent. We'd love pics of your tank if possible

Glad all is well after the quake. I grew up in San Diego, and I know they are no fun.


Kate

[Diana]

The fin may grow back, it depends on how deep into the flesh the injury is. If it is just the fin, and the actual muscled part is intact then there is a good chance of full recovery.

[Soujirou]

Yeah thanks for all of your help. I did not see any open wounds and the body is intact, so I am hoping it will grow back although it gets around pretty ok now.

And once I figure out how to get algae to stop growing I will be more than happy to take pictures ^~. It's getting better but one species always seems to pop up randomly.

And I guess I should ask now but is Melafix ok on shrimp? I got one shrimp that hitchiked on some plants or with fish. I put the Melafix in the water I was adding as part of my water change and when I added it to the tank, the shrimp darted to the top and started swimming at the surface before settling down. I had never seen it at the surface before.

[Ashleigh]

Yeah thanks for all of your help. I did not see any open wounds and the body is intact, so I am hoping it will grow back although it gets around pretty ok now.

Long as the loach has a good body weight and is looking healthy and active, even if the tail doesn't grow back, I shouldn't think it would be a problem;



My little clown with half a tail, must be near 2 years now, possibly 3 that I have had him, he came like that from the shop, no growth has ever occured and it has never caused him any problems-hes actually one of the most active clowns in the tank


Ashleigh