Loaches Online Forum

Hello all,

I think I've posted here before but it's been years and I don't remember. I original found you when I got [supposed - now I am skeptical] angelicus botia or botia kubotai from Petsmart to take care of my snails. Long story short I bought two, went the Levasole route, lost one, replaced him, and successfully treated both and they were with me for three or four years. They died within days of each other, mysteriously, a few months ago and none of the other fish in the tank were affected so I chalked it [possibly mistakenly] up to old age. I have four [or three? can only ever see three at a time now] that are going through QT now, I started them on Levasole but suddenly found white spot, now I am doing high temp + salt + Rid Ich because they have it pretty bad. One doesn't look so good, two seem to be doing okay. Hopefully they will make it.

I can't thank the community enough for the Levasole treatment path & for all the useful information I've gotten here over the years, just browsing & stalking.

Now for the real question, my Bala who is 5 or 6 or 7 or possibly older, is laying on his side a lot, sometimes upside down, not swimming strongly or often, doesnt seem to want to eat, appears a little skinny, and I am just all out worried about him. A little background: purchased two Balas when I first started keeping in '05. Had NO idea how big they got and they were in a 2.5g for a few months. Upgraded them to a 10g and couldnt get them into anything bigger for a year or so. This stunted their growth dramatically. The biggest I could get after was a 29g, and while transferring them, Remus (now deceased) vaulted himself out of the tank, hit the floor, and a week later, passed into the big fish tank in the sky. His buddy Sirius has been alive and kicking since, is about 4 or 5 inches, hasn't grown any and though I've wanted to upgrade the tank, I haven't been able to. He's been okay mostly being a loner, he usually just hides in the plants, comes out occasionally to eat. He was doing just fine this morning, then this evening I noticed this behavior. I've tested nitrite (0) ammonia (0) and nitrate, which is the only thing that is high, somewhere between 40 and 80. All other fish in the tank are fine. I am about to do a 25 water change.

As a sidenote, I almost entirely abandoned this tank last year, because of some personal problems, but have been actively caring for it again as of 6 or so months ago. Didn't really lose any fish in the meantime, it just got let go a bit.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as battling two different problems in two different tanks is not fun at all.

Thanks guys.

I am no expert in fish treatments, but I think doing 25% changes and vacuuming both tanks is definitely a start (Use different equipment so you don't cross contaminate.) I would say the high nitrates are taking its toll on the Bala. I would do 25% changes once or twice a day, until both tanks show signs of improvement.

Good luck. I know how rough it is to be in your situation.

Ditto Starplitter. Lots of water changes. Get the nitrate as low as possible, under 20 ppm for sure, and under 10 ppm if at all possible.

Once a fish starts drifting sideways, upside down and otherwise not really able to control their movements then whatever is going on has probably gone too far to fix. All you can do is improve the situation for the other fish.

thank you for the replies. unfortunately the bala did not make it through the night, but all other fish in the tank have been fine. still not sure what went wrong.