Clown loach illness?

[krpenn71]

One of my loaches dosn't look right it looks kinda bloated and his eyes are kinda bugged out with white rings around them he dosn't seem as active either. they've been fine for about 2 years now their in a 50 gallon aquarium and i havn't changed any thing.

[Emma Turner]

Hi krpenn71,

What are your current water parameters on? - ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH?

Emma

[krpenn71]

Hi krpenn71,

What are your current water parameters on? - ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH?

Emma

Havn't checked cant find my testing kit

[Emma Turner]

You really want to test the water ASAP. Eye problems are often a sign of poor water quality, so that's the first thing to do. A large partial water change might be a good idea too. If you can't find your test kit, then borrow one from a fishkeeping friend, or else take a sample to your lfs to test.

Emma

[krpenn71]

You really want to test the water ASAP. Eye problems are often a sign of poor water quality, so that's the first thing to do. A large partial water change might be a good idea too. If you can't find your test kit, then borrow one from a fishkeeping friend, or else take a sample to your lfs to test.

Emma

I changd the water right after i noticed the problem. Not because of the problem but because i wanted to move the tank so i drained all the water and rinsed all the gravel. I'll get the water tested but theres nothing wrong with the other fish and one is a clown loach and i've had thm about 2 years with no other problems. I was told it ls most likely pop eye so i'm treating them with melafix hope it works. Thanks.

[Mark in Vancouver]

You should take some of that tank water to your nearest fish shop and get them to test it thoroughly. You really need to address the water chemistry before you can start adding medicine, as it might make matters worse.

[krpenn71]

Okay i tested the ph with a swimming pool test kit and the ph is high around 8.2 or so but from what i've read it is hard to get down. I just wonder if anyone has used lemon juice for this one drop in the tester drops it to around 5. Don't know if that would make any difference anyway its the same water the been living in for 2 years now with no problems. Will take the water and have it tested tommorow. hope he makes it through the night. just stays hidden now dont even come out to eat.

[mikev]

I just wonder if anyone has used lemon juice for this one drop in the tester drops it to around 5.

Dont do this to the tank! A rapid drop in Ph will kill a lot of your fish; if you need to bring the Ph down, do it very slowly, using preferably something like driftwood or blackwater extract.

You probably do have a problem caused by water --- long term exposure to high Ph may be the root cause especially if your water is also very hard. A rapid increase in Ph is probably even worse.

Hopefully your fish will make it through the night, but to give you an advice, one would need some more data:
1. Tap Ph
2. Hardness (if you cannot get the kit, say at least where you are!)
3. Ammonia
4. Nitrites
5. Nitrates

Regardless of the current situation, it is a very good idea to invest in the kits ...

[Eyrie]

Reading your posts I'm confused as to how often you do water changes.

[krpenn71]

I try to do about a 20% water change once a week and this has seemed to work very well for the last 5 years since i got the tank. The water i'm using is well water( I live jsut south of Houston) with a PH of around 8 and is pretty hard with a lot of iron. Again this is the same water i've been using since day one. I have added a water softener but the spigot i get the water from is before the water softener. Should i be using the sofetened water instead? The PH is a little lower but i didn't know if the softened water would have any adverse affects on the fish because it does contain more salt. And as i've sad i haven't had any problems so far so if it ain't broke don't fix it. I have lost fish in the past but its after i've had them for a couple years and its usually one here and there. I had a lamp eye tetra that i got when i bought the tank that just died a month ago and i have a pleco that is as old as the tank but i dont think you can kill them. Now the sick CL is hiding and won't come out should i just leave him alone?

[krpenn71]

Ok i had the water tested.

79F Temp
8.0 PH
0ppm Ammonia
3ppm Nitrite
0ppm Nitrate

[mikev]

Please recheck, this is unlikely (nitrAtes at 0???)

However -- if you got the numbers right, you have a very high concentration of nitrItes, and this is likely to lead to disease and deaths quickly. If the nitrItes are correct, massive water changes and Prime to detox nitrites, no meds until you got water stable, if you cannot get Prime today, add a little aquarium salt, it also detox'es nitrites.

Knowing your water hardness (and your well source hardness as well) would also be very helpful. Here is some of the story: 8.0 together with very hard water is pretty bad, and seems to be lethal to most plecos within a few months; it surely not a good place for loaches either. However -- since you have a pleco which is surviving, possibly it is not all that hard, in which case, it may be ok to ignore the hardness and simply bring the Ph down a bit with driftwood; if the water is very hard, you need something most substantial, like a R/O machine...

[krpenn71]

Please recheck, this is unlikely (nitrAtes at 0???)

However -- if you got the numbers right, you have a very high concentration of nitrItes, and this is likely to lead to disease and deaths quickly. If the nitrItes are correct, massive water changes and Prime to detox nitrites, no meds until you got water stable, if you cannot get Prime today, add a little aquarium salt, it also detox'es nitrites.

Knowing your water hardness (and your well source hardness as well) would also be very helpful. Here is some of the story: 8.0 together with very hard water is pretty bad, and seems to be lethal to most plecos within a few months; it surely not a good place for loaches either. However -- since you have a pleco which is surviving, possibly it is not all that hard, in which case, it may be ok to ignore the hardness and simply bring the Ph down a bit with driftwood; if the water is very hard, you need something most substantial, like a R/O machine...

I was told the nitrites were supposed to be under 5 ppm and i also just changed the water right after i noticed the problem. The pleco is about 5 years old and the CL's are about 2 to 3 years old with no past problems. and yes the water is fairly hard but all my fish have been thriving for 5 years i've lost a few tetras and barbs but thats it.

[mikev]

I was told the nitrites were supposed to be under 5 ppm

No, they should be ZERO (not detectable). Nitrites are a poison, not an irritant.

[shari2]

I agree with Mike. The nitrItes should definitely be zero. The presence of nitrites in your tank could be indicative of a mini cycle. NitrAtes at 5ppm would be nice. Personally, I can rarely get mine below 15ppm

Since you've had the tank set up for 5 years with no problems it is probably overdue for a major cleaning, unless you've done that? Usually it's recommended to do a major substrate cleaning at least once a year (even up to breaking down the tank and rinsing substrate), and filter cleaning (with tank water to not kill the beneficial bacteria) around once a month. If not, you end up with old tank syndrome which usually leads to a dropping pH, though that is obviously not the case in your water.

In any case, pop eye is linked to water issues in some cases, especially the presence of nitrItes:

http://www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm

Since the clown is both bloated and has popeye you may be looking at dropsy. Read the article above. Try to diagnose the problem--look up popeye+treatment on google or any other search engine and see what it is you are really dealing with.

hope this helps.