How to nurse a clown loach back to good health?

[cmcwong]

I have a total of 5 clown loaches in my fish tank. I recently noticed that the smallest of the 5 seems to have gotten much skinnier. I have isolated it in a separate holding cage, still within the same tank. I am going to purchase more flake food today-- I have been feeding them just shrimp pellets. How can I save this lil guy?

[Toothpik]

it might have skinny disease...purchase some medication that can rid it of internal paracites

[cmcwong]

it might have skinny disease...purchase some medication that can rid it of internal paracites

What type of medicine should I be purchasing? Will the rest of my loaches and Angel fish be affected by the med? Do I need to isolate this loach to a separate tank?

Thanks for the quick reply!

[starsplitter7]

Good luck with your Clowns. I usually feed my fish about 15 types of foods. When I am lazy about 5. (I have ten tanks with many species, but this helps the fish get all the nutrients they need.) I am a beginner, but I can get you started while you wait for some of the experts to come along. Skinny clowns often have parasites. The article below explains how to treat for parasites.

http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1

Here are some questions that will help people, help you.

1.) How big is your tank?

2.) How long has it been set up?

3.) Who shares the tank with the Clowns?

4.) Where do you live (country?)

5.) What are the readings for your tank? Ammonia? Nitrite, Nitrate, pH? Temperature?

6.) How big are your clowns?

[Toothpik]

well skinny disease is contagious and from what i read it wouldnt hurt to treat the whole tank..and yes the link given above would be a good option but if you cant get a hold on it just go to www.drsfosterandsmith.com and they have good meds for internal parasites

[Emma Turner]

Hi cmcwong,

What type of holding cage within the tank are you keeping the affected clown loach in, is it a small breeder type net/plastic tank? If so, this will be stressing the clown loach considerably. I would release it back into the main part of the tank and treat the whole aquarium several times with with Levamisole hydrochloride or Flubendazole (often sold as Flubenol, or Kusuri Wormer Plus).

You also want to be offering your clowns more than just flake (not all loaches take this) and shrimp pellets. Are you able to get frozen fish food from your LFS? If so, try some mosquito larvae, garlic-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis and krill (which you can chop up for smaller loaches) etc. You should also look for some good quality sinking catfish pellets/granules for your loaches.

Hope this helps,

Emma

[soul-hugger]

I don't have clowns myself, but I know most loaches enjoy a little vegetable matter in their diets. Spinach, cucumber, green peas and lettuce are just a few. With the spinach and lettuce, some people dip it briefly in boiling water and then pin it down to the bottom with something heavy. I use frozen defrosted peas for my loaches, and just pop off the outer skin. This may be a good way to get a bit more nutrition into them. I have also heard you can buy foods with medication in them.

Definitely take him out of the cage. Whatever he has the other fish have been exposed to anyway, and being in a little tank will only add to his stress. Fish are much more likely to get sick when they are stressed. Most of the time, when they are feeling good, their immune system takes care of the illness, and gets rid of it. That is why not all your fish may be sick.

I hope he gets feeling better!
soul-hugger

[cmcwong]

Hi All-

I really appreciate the advice. Glad to find this loach community! In response to Starsplitter7:

1.) How big is your tank? 15 gallon

2.) How long has it been set up? at least 5 years

3.) Who shares the tank with the Clowns? one angel fish that is 2.5in in diameter

4.) Where do you live (country?) US

5.) What are the readings for your tank? Ammonia? Nitrite, Nitrate, pH? Temperature? haven't taken any readings lately, but temp is 75deg farenheit

6.) How big are your clowns? The biggest of the 5 is 1.5in in length. The rest are a bit smaller.

From what I can tell, the sick loach only exhibits the very skinny top area. I thought he might have been chased by the others, so that's why I isolated him. Since reading these other posts, I released him back into the tank. I'm wondering how far along the parasites are. I'm just afraid that if I treat the whole tank, I would put the rest of the fish at risk.

If I start introducing more variety of food into their diet as others suggest, is it possible his immune system would fight the parasites (so long as I see him eating)?

I definitely would like to consider medicating the tank if that's what everyone recommends. I have on hand "Maracide" from Mardel Labs. Looks like this is for ick and other external parasites. This seems to be internal, so I should use something that treats that, no? Where can I purchase Levamisole hydrochloride? Would any of the other fish meds on the market work?

Thanks for the help!

-cmcwong

[chefkeith]

well skinny disease is contagious and from what i read it wouldnt hurt to treat the whole tank..

Actually, skinny or emaciation is just a symptom and not a disease itself. Several things can cause the symptom and some are not contagious.

[Toothpik]

really? i read in one of the forums it was but thats a relief to hear

[cmcwong]

chefkeith-

so do you think i need to just provide them with better food? the rest of the 4 loaches look very healthy, so it strikes me as odd with this smaller one. maybe they pick on him and i don't realize?

-cmcwong

[chefkeith]

I hate to say it, but there is no way to avoid trouble with this aquarium set-up.

Is there anyway you can rehome the clown loaches? The tank you have is not nearly big enough to house them. If you live near me, maybe I can help.

[Diana]

If any of the fish have internal parasites then they have all been exposed.
The best option right now is to treat the 15 gallon as a hospital tank and treat all the fish. Get a larger tank and begin the fishless cycle to get it ready for when the medication is done. By starting now the new tank will be well established. 5 Clown Loaches would probably be happy in a tank of about 45-55 gallons (4' long) for their first year. Once they have been medicated they are likely to double in size in the first month or two, and can easily reach 3+" the first year. You could even add a school of something like Congo Tetras or other warm water fish. (Metric: 200 liter tank, 1.2 meters long. 3" by the end of the year is pretty close to 8 cm)

Clown Loaches and Angels prefer warmer water. Raise the temperature by about 1-2*F per day until the temperature is closer to 80*F.
(Metric: Raise the temp by 1*C per day until the temp is closer to 26-27*C)

Levamisol is available in large animal feed stores. It is used as a wormer for farm animals.
It is also available in Jungle's Parasite treatment. Read the labels in the store.

Skinny disease is not just one disease. It is the effect of being infested with any of several parasites and possibly a bacterial infection. Treatment is to alternate antibiotics and anti-parasite meds. Levamisol treats certain parasites, and boosts the immune system. It is a good one to start with. When one round of this is finished I would then use an antibiotic like Kanamycin (Available in fish stores). Then go to a different wormer such as Prazi-Pro. It treats different worms. Then repeat the antibiotics, then a 3rd round of wormer. By alternating the medicines you are likely timing the treatments to kill the various parasites when they are vulnerable.
Yes, this is not an easy thing for the fish, but being killed by parasites seriously shortens their life. There are more complete details here at this site... somewhere.

Yes it is possible that one fish has something like this going on in a more advanced stage, and more severe than the other fish. By now, however, I can only assume that all the fish have been exposed, and may be infected.

[cmcwong]

How do I know the correct dosage for this medication? Will it give dosage for use in fish tanks? I assume it would be calculated per gallon?

Thanks for the continued advice everyone!

[chefkeith]

My advice-
Follow Diana's advice.
Also, learn more about the water quality. Since you got new fish your tank is probably going through a mini cycle. Get test kits for the KH, GH, Nitrates, Nitrites, and pH. Also either get a Seachem Ammonia Alert or get an Ammonia test kit. A TDS meter would be very helpful also. Test the tap water and the aquarium water. Post the results on the forum. It might also help to post some pictures of the aquarium and the sick fish. A picture usually tells a thousand words.