My loaches are sick! PLEASE HELP!

[LeilaLovesLoaches]

Hello! I have two wonderful Clown Loaches and two Dojos. When I came home tonight I had two dead fish and everyone else didn't look so good. The clown loaches are darker than usual, not moving around much, breathing fast, and have cloudy eyes. The dojos have no physical symptoms other than they are not moving around much and are breathing fast as well. The only other two living fish in the tank ( a tetra and a gourami) appear to be fine. I tested my water and the nitrates are a bit high and the ph was a tiny bit off so I put stuff in to fix that. I just don't know what could have happened so suddenly to create these symptoms! I just did a full cleaning a couple of days ago, but everyone seemed fine. Does anyone have any ideas? I put in a dosage of Melafix because it was the only medicine that I could find this time of night that seemed as if it might help. Thanks,
~Leila

[ckk125]

Any photos?Cloudy eyes?

[shari2]

Hi Leila,

Can you give us more info? What size tank? How long has it been set up? What results did your test give? Anything new added to the tank? Temp? Water changes?

First thing, try to get better oxygenation if they are breathing heavy. Lowering the water level so that the return water from your filter splashes into the tank is one way to do this.

and welcome to LOL.

[LeilaLovesLoaches]

It is a 29 Gallon tank that has been established for almost a year and a half. There is plenty of oxygen both from the filter and a huge bubble wand that runs across the back wall. I have a biowheel filter for up to 50gal. The temp always runs right about 80 degrees F, and I have not added anything new for months. I did change the filter and top off the water of the tank about 3 days ago, but did nothing different than I usually do. The test strips I bought last night were cheap ones from Walmart and they tell you what is the right color the strip is supposed to turn, but don't give you a chart to tell you what is wrong if it turns another color (how pointless is that.) I know my nitrates are high and it showed my PH was off. I got some PH neutralizer and added that. I'm on my way now with a sample of water up to the local fish experts as soon as they open. I'm almost certain it is a problem with the water quality since it happened so suddenly and only a couple days after adding water. Thanks for your help and let me know if yall have any more suggestions! They made it through the night so hopefully they can stick it out a little longer.
~Leila

p.s. I do not have pics of the cloudy eyes for the person whom was inquiring. My biggest clown loach has been lying on his side with his head in a little cave thing so I haven't even seen his eyes since last night.

[Martin Thoene]

Hi Leila and welcome to Loaches Online.
You will note that you've been asked lots of questions. It's a necessary part of the detective work we have to try and do in order to help you out.

Firstly, we don't know your level of knowledge so if anything sounds preachy or patronizing please don't take it that way. We need to establish your base-line of knowledge and help you from that point.

The first most obvious thing here is the mix of the fish. This is not relevant to your current problem, but it's important for you to know.

Here's some information that you absolutely should read. You may find it conflicts with information you may have been given by wherever you bought the fish.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/cl ... cracanthus

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

http://www.loaches.com/articles/weather-report

The most obvious things you will find are the ultimate size potential of both species, and their temperature requirement disparity.
At 80F your water temperature is ok for Clowns, but way to high for permanently keeping weather-loaches.

Shari asked about water-changes, but you have mentioned topping up the water. Do you actually change a percentage of the water from the tank on a regular basis, or are you just topping off evapourated water? If that's the case we need to discuss water-changes because they are the ultimate best thing you can do for your fish.

I'll finish here and let you come back with some more information and any comments you have.

Fingers crossed for your fishies

Martin.

[LeilaLovesLoaches]

Thanks for all of your help. I just returned home from several local fish stores and my largest and oldest clown loach, Stevo has passed away. The good news is everyone else appears to be doing better. My other clown loach still has cloudy eyes, but his coloring is doing much better. All the fish have resumed normal breathing and activity except, George, the clown loach with the cloudy eyes. The people at the fish store I go to say that maybe for some reason the water had more chlorine in it than usual causing the problems I encountered. I did 20% water change (and to answer your question yes I do water changes not just topping off) and added 5 tsp. of aquarium salt as instructed by my local fish experts. Hopefully this will do the trick. If you were concerned in reguards to size of my loaches, I have a friend with a large tank if I ever need to relocate them due to their size, but they seem fine for now. What is the best way to adjust the temp to their liking? Add cooler water? I've had them for several years and they have done fine with the 80 degrees. Also, what is the usual lifespan of weather and clown loaches? Thanks again for all the help!

[shari2]

Here's some info on dojo loaches:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

and some on clowns:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/cl ... cracanthus

hth

[grizzlyone]

Most folks will say that the salt is not good for your loaches. I listened to the pet store folks and still have a big carton that I only use for salt baths in an emergency (Epsom Salts are much cheaper though).

Also, its always a precaution for me, but I swear by Prime from SeaChem.
In addition to taking out Chlorine, it also converts ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites to a non-toxic form that can still be used by plants and bacteria so it doesn't harm your bioload.

I add it a couple times a week just to prevent any spikes or problems. Its about $10.00US. A bottle with 250ml treats about 2500 gallons.


I also have a couple emergency Purigen pouches as well that I use in my non-planted tanks. They actually remove all the ammonia, nitrates and nitrate so I use them sparingly. They are nice because you can recharge them by putting them in bleach over night and they have saved some fishys when things get out of control.




Kevin

[Ashleigh]

I did change the filter

Can I just ask, did you change all the filter media? Or did you just give it a rinse with tank water.
The reason I ask is that if you have indeed changed part/all of the filter media or even rinsed it under tap water it will cause a decrease in the benefical bacteria being housed and an ammonia spike may possibly occur which could explain the sudden deaths of your fish.
Cloudy eye can be associated with a problem with the water quality, you may be best to possibly take a sample to your nearest fish store and ask them to test it for you are get the exact readings, not if its just fine or not.
Just for a future note, the paper strip tests are not as reliable as the liquid based in my experience, I know these are slightly more expensive but they do last an awful lot longer and are much more accurate in readings given.
Good luck with the fish, hope they are doing a lot better

Ashleigh

[LeilaLovesLoaches]

Thanks for the helpful product suggestions Kevin. As far as the salt goes, I have used it with them before and just usually use a half dosage of what is recommended. As far as the filter goes, I did actually put a new filter in, but left the biowheel, which keeps all the good bacteria in addition to adding some Cycle (bacteria). I took my water this morning and the only thing that was high was the nitrates so I did a partial water change when I returned home. I'm extremely broke so I won't be able to afford any better testing supplies right now, but at least I can take it to the store and have them test it for me. Thanks again everyone for all the help!

[LeilaLovesLoaches]

I just returned home for the evening, and the gourami and tetra and moving about and eating. The loaches appear to be breathing regularly, yet they are not moving about as much as normal. Is this just normal as they are recovering from a high stress situation?

[shari2]

Based on what you've just seen happen it seems fairly clear that something was happening in the tank. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that yes, they were stressed.