Sick Clown Loach

[Jenny]

Hello all,

I have had four Clown Loaches for more than a year in a 55 gal tank with internal and external Eheim 2126 filter.They have always been very active until, about three weeks ago, one of them has become a loner and is not as active. I have added Pimafix and Melafix for the past week but he is no better.

Water:
0ppm - Nitrite
0ppm - ammonia
Nitrate - 40 ppm
PH 7.4

He is definately not his normal self - you can see from the photo below, his colouration has changed and now differs from the other three.

Can anybody suggest the next step - I don't have a quarantine tank, therefore, if I medicate it would have to be the whole tank.

His tankmates are a few plecos, tiger barbs, corys, pictus cat


In February 2006 I had an ammonia spike in the tank which was caught immediately and water changes bought it down to zero very quickly. I have tested every few days since and it hasn't happened again. I am still not sure what caused it.

[NancyD]

Hi Jenny, I'm certainly no expert but it seems like your nitrates are a bit high. I'd do water changes to get that down, under 20ppm, loaches are sensitive to water conditions. I can't really tell from your pic that anything obvious is wrong.
Nancy

[Emma Turner]

Hi Jenny,

Sorry to hear about your Clown Loach. The colouration looks ok, but it does look a little underweight.

Are there any other symptoms that you can tell us about? e.g.
-Is the fish breathing faster than normal?
-Have you added anything new to the tank recently?
-Have you noticed any aggression from the other Clowns or other tank inhabitants? (Botia do best in bigger shoals and it is possible that there isn't enough in your group).
-Is this fish feeding ok, and what are you feeding your fish on?
-Do they have plenty of caves and other hiding places?

Whilst your nitrate reading is a little high, it is by no means as disasterous as it could be, and more frequent partial water changes will help to reduce this to below 20ppm.

Until you find out exactly what the problem is, it is probably wise to discontinue with the treatments, as loaches are very sensitive to chemicals at the best of times, and treating for the sake of treating is not always the best thing to do. Hopefully others here will be able to advise further.

Emma

[Mark in Vancouver]

Aside from appearing lethargic, I can't see any specific signs from the photo. Emma's on the right track, though. I would do a 30% water change and halt medication until you know what you're treating. Maybe add a new charcoal filter to help diminish the medication.

Let us know if you can add anything in response to Emma's post. Changes like this don't normally occur without something having been added to the tank. Mind you, some clown loaches (if not the majority) are still wild-caught, and may bring with them unseen or unknown conditions, both parasitic and genetic.

For now, clean water is the key.

[Jenny]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, I havn't added anything lately - the last couple of days I have noticed that at least one of the larger loaches has been picking on him. He is always resting - kind of leaning against anything available, and the other loaches don't let him rest they start to chase him around. I did see the 'sick' loach eating the cucumber last night but he wasn't left alone for long.

I am slightly overstocked particularly on the ground, but there have been no problems for about twelve months, there are plenty of hiding places, pots, bamboo caves, slate caves, bogwood, plants etc.

I do 33% water changes weekly and half gravel clean weekly, change polyfilter in the internal etc.

My tapwater normally reads 20ppm Nitrate.

I know there is something wrong as, am I am writing this, he is in his normal hiding place and prior to this he has always been one of 'crowd' with the other loaches.

Not sure what to do - he looks very sad, that's if a fish can be sad!!!

[Jenny]

Sorry Emma, forgot to answer a couple of questions.

I feed the tank bloodworm, flake, cucumber, algae wafers, Tetra Prima.

The breathing is normal.

The tank spraybar is positioned to break the water slightly and there is also an additional aerator.

[Mark in Vancouver]

The "leaning" against objects is not normal, but the pecking order is fairly routine. You can expect Botia loaches to establish this system.

As for the leaning... An infection of the swim bladder? If the loach is not losing weight or showing other symptoms, I don't really know what to suggest. It sounds, by the way, that you're doing all the right things for them. Wait to see what others here might have to add.