Help Please

[dietz31684]

Good evening. I need some help, my clown loach started to get milky white areas on it (dont know if its a him or her) This was about a week ago, it is eating fine and was only a small spot so i didnt panic. It is not little ick dots but rather milky patches on it. Now it is has a lot more, having trouble getting good pics taken but posted some anyways. Now it has gone to my other clown and he developed a small milky looking spot. I will go buy anything that I can to help these little guys, I would be very upset if i lost one. I have had them for about 5 months in a 29 gallon. I do 30-40% weekly water changes and have a ph about 7. Like i said, they have been doing fine...he still comes out and eats, but stays in the corner otherwise and keeps his fins tight to his body. any help would be greatly appreciated. One thing that i did do is add API root-tabs for plants, but I hope that these would not cause such a reaction being "fish safe" very scared cuz i have a boita, a kuhli, and sumo loach also and just moved so no quarantine set up....uhhhhh

[img]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg20 ... C01017.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg20 ... C01041.jpg[/img]

[dietz31684]

and obviously did that wrong....striking out all over the place today...

[Diana]

Milky white patches sounds like Flavobacteria columnaris, a bacterial infection.

It can be treated with most aquarium antibiotics.
Other things that contribute to this disease: High nitrates. Keep the nitrates under 20 ppm with frequent water changes.
High temperatures. Not much you can do when the fish thrive in much warmer water, but for fish that are OK in cooler water then you might reduce the tank temperature by 1-2* per day to about 75*F. (1*C per day to 24*C). Do not do this to Clown Loaches, or other very warm water fish, though.
High level of organic matter in the water. Thorough gravel vac, perhaps several. Remove as much organic matter as possible from the water.

It goes by several common names.
Saddle Disease (Often starts on the dorsal surface of the fish)
Columnaris (from the Latin name)
Mouth 'Fungus' it is not a fungus, but may look like it.
Fin Rot- it is one of the bacteria that can cause fin rot.

[andyroo]

Folks,
I think I may have asked this before, but can't find it, so:
Is it appropriate to dose a larger tank by soaking food-tablets in the medication? I'm thinking specifically of the locally available version of Levamisol, which makes my water go yellow and a little funky.
A

[Diana]

Many meds can be dosed by soaking the food, or making the food sticky then dusting the food with the medication. The dosing and which meds can be used this way are worth researching, though.

When the medicine is in the water the fish are getting a low dose, whatever is absorbed through gills and digestive tract as the water passes through.

When you add medications to food the fish are getting more medicines into their system and you do not want to overdose.

I do not know what is the amount of Levamisole to add to how much food to make the dosing correct. Do you suspect parasites? Or are you using this to boost the immune system?

There are antibiotic fish foods available in some places.