sidthimunki behavior

[Loach1]

Hi all. I'm new here, but not to fishkeeping. I recently bought a group of seven sidthimunki loaches which are in my quarantine tank, along with five small Congo tetras (about 1 3/4 inches). I noticed that whenever I look at the quarantine tank, there is at least one loach that is "bothering" the Congo's by trying to smell it or nip it. The quarantine is a bare tank, no substrate, no decorations. There are usually five loaches that are swimming together mid-water, and two that are somewhere else.

I bought the loaches from the lfs, and this store did have ich in another tank. I bought the loaches anyway, because sidthimunki is not a common loach around here, and I really wanted a group. When I got the loaches home, I noticed a couple of ich spots. I've followed the ich sticky on this forum, and am treating with 1/2 dose of Jungle Ich Clear, every few days, along with raised water temp and water changes before each dose. There is no more visible ich on the loaches, and hasn't been for about five days now.

One of the loaches is very, very thin. One is kind of thin, and the others are at a good weight. The very very thin loach does not seem to eat much. I am feeding them NLS Grow. All the other fish in the tank seem to love it. I noticed that the very thin loach will grab a frozen bloodworm or mysis shrimp, and suck on it.

I have two questions.

#1 Why do I always have a loach that wants to harass the Congo tetras? Do you think he's just bored in the bare tank?

#2 Would you treat for internal parasites after the ich treatment is done (for the very skinny loach)? Or would you try to fatten him up with more frozen food first?

[Diana]

If the Ich medicine does not clear the internal parasites, then I would wait long enough to do a couple of big water changes, and run some Activated Carbon for at least 24 hours to remove the last remnants of the Ich medicine. Then treat for the next problem. Not a good idea to mix medicines unless both packages say each is safe to use with the other med.

While you are treating for Ich, keep trying different foods, you might find something the thin one will eat. You might also flavor it with fresh garlic; some fish will eat garlic flavored food, even if they are not interested in other foods.

[Mad Duff]

As far at least on sidthimunki bothering the Congo's that is just sid's for you, they can be absolute pests if they want to be. When I got my first 10 they would bother the Danio choprae that I had in the tank but when I added the second group of 10 they calmed down a lot and kept any aggression to themselves, I then added the final group of 16 and now they are so busy interacting with each other its almost as though they dont even realise there are other fish in the tank.

For the skinny sid's try levimasole, I got some liquid from my local vet and it worked a treat and they are all nice and chunky now.

This is what I did when I used the levimasole:
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... levimasole

It would also be worth reading this article:
http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1

[Loach1]

Mad Duff and Diana- Thanks for all the advice! Later today I'll try to get some frozen cyclopeez. That should be small enough for them to swallow without having to suck on.

If need be, I do have a vet I can ask about the levimasole that might help me.

Mad Duff- Wow! You have a lot of sids! What size tank are they in? I have a 40 gallon planted tank with a medium-largish angel, and three fancy plecos. I hope when the sids are well enough to go in with the angel, that they do not do any damage to her fins.

[grizzlyone]

You might want to put your location in your profile. It would help us know how to best suggest that you might be able to procure any medicines that you might need since laws and availabilty vary from place to place



Kevin

[Loach1]

You might want to put your location in your profile. It would help us know how to best suggest that you might be able to procure any medicines that you might need since laws and availabilty vary from place to place



Kevin

I will update my profile later today. I live in Southern California.

[grizzlyone]

Thats cool.

You can probably find pig/sheep dewormer at any feed and seed, horse or farm type of store in your area.

I use one that comes in a opaque bottle about the size of a bike water bottle with white powder in the bottom that can either be filled with liquid that will stay good for a couple months or you can just use the powder and add it in the proper dosage to your tank and will last up to a year. It is sensitive to light, so the darker you keep it, the better. The same goes when you put it in the tank.

The brand I use has a green label and brand name is Levasole.


Cheers,

Kevin

[Mad Duff]

Mad Duff- Wow! You have a lot of sids! What size tank are they in? I have a 40 gallon planted tank with a medium-largish angel, and three fancy plecos. I hope when the sids are well enough to go in with the angel, that they do not do any damage to her fins.

As of next week all the sid's will be in their own 75 gallon tank

You may have to keep a close watch on the sid's with your angel, they can be feisty little things and I have had a lone sid harass two full grown golden severums and 2 7" tiger botia's in the past . I had my sid's in mixed with cory's for a while but had to remove them because the dorsal fins on the cory's were getting damaged by the sid's .

[Loach1]

As of next week all the sid's will be in their own 75 gallon tank

You may have to keep a close watch on the sid's with your angel, they can be feisty little things and I have had a lone sid harass two full grown golden severums and 2 7" tiger botia's in the past . I had my sid's in mixed with cory's for a while but had to remove them because the dorsal fins on the cory's were getting damaged by the sid's .

Hmmm.... I'm thinking maybe putting the sids with the angel is not the best thing to do. There are also three fancy (and expensive!) plecos in this tank and I would be quite unhappy if the sids chewed on them. What to do, what to do. I'll have to think on this awhile.

Are there any other loaches that would stay small and be mild mannered?