My Loach has a problem.

[Laspalmas]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum, did not realize it existed, I thought I was rather unique having old Clown Loaches...
My 3 Loaches were purchased in 1987 so they are 22yrs old. They are in a 30 gallon tank along with a pigmy Plecostomus and 2 Columbian Jewel Tetras.
The largest of the 3 Loaches is about 6 inches long, the next 5.5 and the third about 4 inches.
I am posting here because the middle one has a black cancerous looking growth on the side of his face and has had it for 4 years now and it is getting bigger, being at this moment about 2-3 centimetres in size. It does not seem to bother him because his behavior has not really changed and he is always eating well.
What I want to know is:
-Has anobody seen anything like this on a Loach before?
-Is there any way to treat it?

Any information would be greatly appreciated as you can guess that I am very fond of these guys since we have been together for so long.

[chefkeith]

I've never seen anything like that on a loach before. I once had a Tiger Barb with a cauliflower like growth on it's nose. It acted normal and lived about as long as the rest of the Barbs in the tank. There wasn't much of anything I could do to treat it. A few times when the growth got large enough, it would fall off and bleed a little. I'd usually quarantined the fish in another tank when that happened. The cancer would always grow back no matter how I treated it with medications.

Congrats on your loach keeping. 22+ year old loaches is a great accomplishment. You've kept the loaches longer than anyone that I know of that has posted here. I'd love to see some pictures and get some details of the tank, where you live, what the water source is, and how you cared for the fish.

[Laspalmas]

I've never seen anything like that on a loach before. I once had a Tiger Barb with a cauliflower like growth on it's nose. It acted normal and lived about as long as the rest of the Barbs in the tank. There wasn't much of anything I could do to treat it. A few times when the growth got large enough, it would fall off and bleed a little. I'd usually quarantined the fish in another tank when that happened. The cancer would always grow back no matter how I treated it with medications.

Congrats on your loach keeping. 22+ year old loaches is a great accomplishment. You've kept the loaches longer than anyone that I know of that has posted here. I'd love to see some pictures and get some details of the tank, where you live, what the water source is, and how you cared for the fish.

Thanks for the compliment, I've had these guys so long, I don't remember what life was like without them. As far as the aquarium, its just a well planted (some fake, some real) 27 gallon with lots of petrified wood so they can hide when they see someone new come up to the tank.
The water is just tap water with the slime coat stuff added. I live in Gatineau, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. (just across the river from Ottawa, the capital of Canada.) Our water has always been very good, with a slightly earthy lake-water taste to it. (noticed that after a long absence from home). I feed them sinking Shrimp pellets, some flake food and the occasional fresh californian blood worms that come in the frozen packet.
They have moved over 5 times, including from one city to another, one got a really bad case of ick, I did not know at the time about the scaleless issue and almost killed them with the medicine; one of them turned white and became covered from head to tail in a cottony substance. I finally got the right medicine and he defied the odds and totally recovered.
The same Loach, while I was doing a yearly overhaul cleaning of the aquarium about 7 yrs ago, jumped out of a cooler I had placed them in which was on the floor and I accidentally hit with my foot, startling him; he was bouncing 6 inches up and down off the slate floor so, without thinking, I grabbed him with my hand and threw him back into the cooler; while I was looking at him, making sure he was ok, I noticed there were curious red stains appearing in the water and then I noticed blood coming from my hand - he had given me a four inch long razor blade like cut on the bottom edge of my palm with his little retractable horns! I was impressed!
They have outlived sooo many different types of fish I have put in their aquarium, but of course, no fish bothered them and they didn't bother any other fish themselves either. Things have been quiet for a couple of years and an algae problem I had was solved when I purchased the pygmy pleco (they cost more than the regular Pleco but they stay small, and don't become aggressive as the others do as they get larger). I had a major algae problem because the aqurium is in our sun room which, of course, gets tons of light so the Pleco has been invaluable in getting rid of the algae.
I figure the abundance of natural light has contributed to the Loaches good health.
I will post pics soon...