Loaches Online Forum

I have noticed no one has truly has an answer for the mysterious floating symptom. It has been brought up to my attention when my bigger albino dojo loach had his tail floating but as heavy he is, he doesnt truly float. kinda. One of my smaller dojo loach has a severe floating issue. What seems to cause this problem? does anyone actually know????

Now the loach's illness has become more pronounced after I have performed a 40% water change.

Welp, he has now croaked... nevertheless I still want to find an solution for future references on this forum.
My nitrites is 1.0 ppm
nitrates 1.0 ppm
ammonia 1.0 ppm
pH is 7.4.

Did 40% water change yesterday right when I saw the floating loach issue appear.

With ammonia and nitrites showing positive on the tests there is something wrong with the water.

The nitrifying bacteria ought to keep the ammonia and nitrite at zero.
They turn these into nitrate, which should read higher than 1ppm. I do not know of a common aquarium test that actually reads in 1 ppm. Usually 5 or 10 ppm is the lowest noted value above 0.

While there is ammonia and nitrite showing, do enough water changes (volume and frequency) to keep the ammonia under .25ppm and the nitrite under 1.0 ppm. Use a dechlor that locks up the ammonia and nitrite. Seachem Prime is one example of a dechlor that does this.
Add 1 teaspoon of sodium chloride per 20 gallons of water (does not matter if it is American gallons or imperial). This will minimize the amount of nitrite that crosses the gills.

You can also add the bacteria this tank needs. Look for Nitrospira species of bacteria. Do not waste money on anything else.