Is my loach sick?

[AnneMarie]

I think one of my clowns is sick, he is not very active, breathing very heavy and his belly looks big; but then he is a very piggy eater. There are no visable marks, no signs of Ich, no reddness in the gills. I know this sounds weird, but he just looks off. Should I isolate him? I have a 20 gallon that is almost empty of fish, I could use it as a hospital tank if need be.

[shari2]

It is really hard to say based on your description AnneMarie.

Is this a constant state lately, or could the rapid respiration have been due to a flight or fear response? Is the bloating constant, or does it go down after feeding? Is it increasing? How long have you noticed it?

Moving a fish into qtank is a stressor. unless you're fairly certain there's an imminent need for treatment?

You may want to look around at 'dropsy'+ symptoms+freshwater fish, or 'bloat' . . .

You could also read this article on Aeromonas hydrophila