my reticulate loach is sick

[shannon]

i have a 25 gal aquaium that houses only loach species and corydoras catfish with ph neatral water heated to 26deg c and 1mm diameter substrate that is 2 or so inches thick. just recently i have noticed that one of my reticulate loaches seems as though it is bleeding from around its mouth area. the fish is still feeding well enough but isn't quite as active as normal. it doesn't seemed at all distressed does anybody out there have any clues as to whats up with my fish?

[shari2]

Hi shannon. Do you mean yoyo loach when you say 'reticulate'?
How many fish and what kind are in the tank? 25g is rather small for most loaches...are any other fish showing any type of symptoms? Is the fish actually bleeding, or is it just redness in the mouth area? Do you see any signs of barbel degradation?

[shannon]

hi there thanks for the reply, it is the yo yo loach that i am describing and none of my other yo yo's are showing any symptoms ofthe sort. the barbles seem ok, and over night the redness seems to have faded a little.it fed this morning but still seems quieter than it usually is. it tank mates include 3 other yo yo's 4 kulhi loaches 2 bristle nose cats and 8 corys of 4 different species.

[mikev]

Any chance you can post a photo of the bleeding yoyo?

Some yoyo's can show pretty intense red color at the tip of their mouth and barbels, this is not a disease, just comes with growth.

None of the photos in the yoyo's section show this, but look for comparison at the photos of Striata (Zebra Loach),

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata

if you are seeing a similar red, it is not something to worry about.

[shannon]

hi again, my loaches mouth looks very similar to the one that you mentioned but slightly more extensive.i have tried to catch a photo but that proved rather difficult. what would explain the less activeness than usual then?

[shannon]

with regards to the redness forming with age, what sort of time frame are you talking? my loach is around 12 months old and this redness in question seemed to form over night and has if anything faded in the last 6 or so days.

[mikev]

Just how much red they show in their mouth depends on a particular animal, some may have none.

Best if you do post a photo to confirm that this is not a disease. Also, seeing the photo of the loach may help in guessing if anything is indeed wrong. As yoyo's grow beyond about 3" they do become less active and hide more, so you may have simply a case of maturing. Beyond about 3" (3.5, 4 -- depends on the animal) they start growing much slower, need less food, and don't have to look for food all the time -- thus, activity drops.

So lets see how he looks like and make sure we see nothing wrong.

[mikev]

with regards to the redness forming with age, what sort of time frame are you talking? my loach is around 12 months old and this redness in question seemed to form over night and has if anything faded in the last 6 or so days.

I think I noticed this with mine at about that age. Lets see the photo, this will work much better than guessing.