How can i get my sick loach to eat?

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:56 pm

Hi, I have a Sick Clown Loach, he is about 2 and a half inches long and has ich. I have medicated him and give him a salt treatment for 10 miniutes in a half gallon side tank. The ich seems to be gone but he is still skinny and will not eat, waffers or brime shrimp and usually hes all over the brime. Anyone know anything i can do? His health is realy concerning me he is stationary unless i put in the net and he has trouble staying level when he attempts to swim he is currently positioned at a 45 degree angle on the bottom with his tail on the rocks and head in the water. Anyone with and advice would be greatly appreciated.

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:59 pm

O yeah, i have the temperature set at 84-86 degrees F

cloudgodd · Post by **cloudgodd** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:56 pm

you can try soaking his food in garlic pure garlic only this usually will stimulate feeding, and it helps with parasites.

Ashleigh · Post by **Ashleigh** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:40 pm

When you say skinny, is there a 'pinched' look behind the head?
How long did it take him to lose weight? Even a healthy loach can last a couple of weeks w/o losing weight unless there is an underlying problem.

Have you ever treated for internal parasites? It might be something to look into, as for the treatment you are using for ich, its not really one Id personally use, although if he is recovering that is a good sign. It could be that he is still stressed from the treatement and take a while to resume his appetite once you have completed treating him, but I would look into treating for internal parasites just to cover that.

Cloudgodd has the right idea of adding garlic to your feeds, or you can buy brineshrimp that has already been prepared with garlic in a frozen form.

Ashleigh

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:42 pm

Ok, No i have not treated for internal parasites but ill look into that right away. Aswell as the garlic . Thankyou very much for your help

Ashleigh · Post by **Ashleigh** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:44 pm

Were are you located? There a number of good treatments avaliable in the UK as well as overseas.
Hope he pulls through

Ashleigh

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:56 pm

Im in the US. Right now i have him in a half gallon quarentine tank with an airrator . He seems to be more active in here, when I tried putting him back into the tank, but he drifted to the bottom and laid on his side. So I believe he preffers the quarentine tank. Ive noticed his skin is becoming pale though and it seems like the color is fading from the ends of his fins. Ihope this is stress but it doesnt look good.

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:58 pm

Sorry for got to in clude in the post, He doesnt look to be pinched behind his head but his stomach is flat and alittle bit sunken in when before it was nice and round.

Ashleigh · Post by **Ashleigh** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:07 pm

Well thats certinally a relief that he doesn't have the 'pinched' look but might be best just to treat whenever you get the chance. I believe Prazipro is good in the US, used in combo with Levamisole (can be ordered online), and then with an antibiotic. Treat with Levamisole before, then prazipro, then antibiotic after for any secondary infection. There are a fair few posts on dose amounts/length if you do a search for 'Levamisole' and also suggestions were to get it online in the US.

Silly question, but have you checked your water readings?
The symptoms you are describing (pale, loss of colour), sounds like stress, if you could post up a pic, it may help with more suggestions of what to do.

Ashleigh

loachfan69 · Post by **loachfan69** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:24 pm

ok thankyou I will definately make sure i get those to treat him. I had the water tested today at the fish store they said it was good, that it wasnt the problem. And amazingly his skin seems to be colored back to normal but his fin on his back the top fin ( im not too fish savy on terms and such) has faded halfway down towards his body to a grayist color closer to white then black, which is what it used to be. He does seem somewhat better , although still weak hes becoming more active. At this time i dont have a digital camera to provide pictures but ill try to get my hands on one as soon as possible from a friend. Thanks again you have been a huge help to me I appreciate it alot this loach has been a good buddy of mine for some time now I'd hate for something to happen to him.

doglover_50 · Post by **doglover_50** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:23 pm

Loachfan,

I hope your clown is continuing to improve. A half gallon quarantine sounds quite too small for a clown loach. Since you are in the US, you can pick up a 5 or 10 gallon tank (I'd suggest 10 gallon) to use for hospital tank.

There are other posts here that discuss treatment of ick, but ultimately he will need to be treated in a hospital for at least 28 days given the life cycle of ick, or returning him to your display tank could infect your other fish.

Whatever ick treatment you use, keep in mind that as a scaleless fish, the loach may need a lower doe than indicated on your treament bottle. I'm no expect, so please consult the ick posts!

Good luck with this guy,
DL

Diana · Post by **Diana** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:42 pm

Hi Loachfan, have a look through this site for Skinny Disease. This is not a specific disease, but is really a combination of parasites and bacterial infection. May not be what your fish has, but Levamisole is suggested as a treatment, and one of the side effects is that it boosts the immune system. A fish that has just had Ich, and has been subject to treatment might do pretty good to have a treatment like this, too. Levamisole treats certain internal parasites, which is often a concern when a fish is thin.

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