Golden DOJO Ich??

[nolmt1213]

First off, I would like to apologize if this post repeats any other. I have been on a mission with the internet and this site trying to narrow down what might be wrong with my dojo before I jump on and start posting questions, but there is SO MUCH information out there (of which many solutions contradict eachother) and my eyes are burning and head is swarmed with all of the possible scientific terms and ailments.

Background:

I'm a novice when it comes to fish; I've only been dabbling in the hobby for about 3 years when my brother moved out and abandoned his 55 gallon fish tank (with fish) with me. I am nowhere in the league of you folks on here with the maintenance and knowledge so please bare with me.

One of my tanks is the 55 gallon which I have two golden loach dojos that I have had for about two years now (I bought them together). A few months ago one of my dojos started getting brownish/red spots (I'm somewhat colorblind so it is hard to tell). I searched the "inter-webs" and discovered that is normal and he is fine to date. Now with my other dojo, about 3 weeks ago started developing a white spot around its eye and a white spot on it's back. I thought it might have been normal since it's pal started getting spots (obviously of a different color). But I decided to look up what it could be and that is when I found out it is not normal; but could be ich,a parasite, or who knows what else.

Symptoms: It really hasn't had any symptoms of being sick that I had noticed. Out of the two dojos, "browny" has always been the more active one (first one to get food when feeding, swimming up and down the tank) and the white spotted one has always been the one to just lay next to a rock or hideout.

The white spots; after trying to determine if if looks fuzzy, or sprinkled with salt, raised or what not, I cannot really tell the "texture" of it. All I know is the spots weren't there until recently. And it does seem to breathing heavily.

Since then I started out with putting Melafix into the tank for a about a week followed by daily water changes (using the gravel vacuum); after not seeing any sort of improvment I moved it to a quarantine tank (10 gallon, with filter and air stone) and started giving full doses (I didn't realize I was suppose to give half doses until recently) of Kordon Rid-Ich Plus. The directions read to give the treatment for 3-4 days until gone. After the 4th day the spots hadn't improved so I started questioning if it is even ich.

With hesitation because I feel like I'm starting to drug the crap out of my lil friend I recently started giving half doses of PIMAFIX to see if maybe it is a fungus or not as well as I gradually turned up the heater day by day to get it up to 81-82 degrees. It has been 5 days and at this point it still isn't improving. He doesn't seem sick, other than the constant breathing he still roams around the bottom, occasionally swimming up and around when i'm not looking (I walk up to the tank and he stops lol).

As for eating, he doesn't rush to the food when I'm feeding, but then again he never has. The food must be getting consumed because I see no weightloss/thinning occuring.

Thank you for reading and any suggestions would be great.


BTW (1). Prior to daily water changes and moving to quarantine tank, i did do a test of my water (except for Ph). Nitrite, Nitrate were 0, but ammonia was .25.
BTW (2) Curious question: I currently have ... 4 tanks and have put airstones in all of them for, well decoration (other than the undergravel filter in my main 55). But I have read that it is actually good for the fish..Silly question, but why/how is it good for them?
v

[Diana]

Air stones:
The rising bubbles also lift some of the water that was at the bottom of the tank. This is the water that is the most depleted of oxygen, and has the highest content of CO2. By lifting this water to the surface the CO2 leaves the water, and the water gains oxygen. As more water rises with the bubbles the enriched water moves down.
Some fish like to play in the bubbles, too.

The white spots do not look like Ich or any disease. It looks like the fish is losing some color. I have no idea why that might be, but there are some posts at this site about Kuhlie Loaches that lose their color.

Ich is pretty obvious bumps that do indeed look like grains of sugar or salt. This is not Ich.

Fungi usually grow on wounds, not on healthy tissue, and grows into fuzzy or hairy blobs. At first most fungi are white, but debris can get stuck in the mass, so it can look dirty. This is not any fungus.

Columnaris is a bacteria that can make the fish look white in patches. Hard to describe so it sounds different from the spots that are from the fish losing color, but it is different. The pictures are a bit blurry, so it is hard to see. Try googling the words Columnaris, or Flavobacteria columnaris, and see some images. The disease can get a lot worse than some white patches.

If the fish gets a minor wound, a shallow scrape then it can look like those white areas. You might not even see the flesh is missing, no hollow area. Just white. Is there anything the fish could get scraped on? How about a cave that the fish used to fit in, when it was smaller, and now it has to squeeze into?

As for the heavier breathing, that can be simply a sign of stress, but is also associated with Ich (that can get into the gills) and certain other parasites, and some diseases.
Since you have treated for several of these issues without curing the problem I would quit with the medicines and give the fish a break. Keep the water as clean as possible, perhaps some extra water changes.