Loaches Online Forum

Hi all,

I have a small school of sidthimunki loaches (8 in total) that have been in my heavily planted tank for 2 years. They are all very active and are kept with SAEs, otocinculus and some amano shrimp. I have recently noticed the size difference in a couple of the loaches. While I have had them all for the same period of time, two are significantly smaller and thinner than the rest. Although they are still very active, they don't eat as much as the more robust ones.

Could they be wasting away? Possibly parasites? I have read a bit about skinny loaches and how they are sluggish, however mine don't meet the "sluggish" criteria.

I love my sidthimunki loaches and am very attached to them! Can anyone help me out with what could possibly be the problem and how I could treat them? Would I have to treat the whole tank if it were a parasite issue?

Thanks!

Best idea is to treat the whole tank if you think it is parasites. By now all the fish have been exposed, and any dormant stage of the parasites may be in the substrate. If you did not treat them all, but simply moved the affected fish to a hospital tank for treatment they could be re-infested when they return to the main tank.