Clown Loach in need of Medical Attention

[NDininno]

Ok, to start here is a little history\base to get an idea of my tank setup. I have 1 Chinese Algae eater, 1 Chinese pleco, 4 glofish, and 2 clown loaches. Emporer 280 bio. Medium gravel (B&W), some plastic plants, and a large piece of mopani wood.

1 of my loaches started acting a little strange 3 days ago, hiding more often and moving lethargically when out. I got it to come into the open at feeding time and its dorsal, and 2 pelvic fins were pulled close to its body. A few hours later I noticed tiny white spots on its body and rapid breathing, which immediately I thought was ick. There were only about 7 I could see, not quite like the 'salt sprinkles' I have read so much about. They also seemed spaced almost evenly. Reguardless I did a 40% water change and half dosed with ridick. Today the spots are gone, the fins are all out, but there is a tiny bit of fin rot on the fins that were pulled close to the body as well as the tail, and it is still breathing rapidly. Also, I slowly upped the temp in the tank from 75f to 81f, which is pretty much as high as I can go without stressing the rest of the tank.

I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to lose my loaches! Out of all my fish I have grown most attached to them. Any suggestions? I have tested my water over and over again and actually brought samples to stores to professionally test and my water quality is excellent. I'm stumped!!!

[shari2]

What size is the tank? What are the water parmeters? ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness?

81F is better for loaches. If it was ick keep treating for several days after the spots are gone.

Do you have any pics?

and, welcome to the forum.

[NDininno]

Thank you. My readings are the following:
30 gallon tank
n03-20
n02-0
hard-120
alk-40
ph-6.5
Ammonia - ~0

[NDininno]

Is there anyone that can help me out? My loach is still breathing very rapidly and is obviously in pain. I have not seen any improvement in its breathing or the tattered fins.

[Diana]

Have the spots increased in number? Is it Ich?

I would do another water change, and continue doing them. Get the nitrates much lower than 20 ppm.

Fin Rot is often caused by a bacteria Flavobacter columnaris. It is most active in warm water (over 76*F) and when nitrates are high.
Water changes will reduce the number of bacteria in the tank and lower the nitrates.

Ich does not have to be a full blown infestation, all over the fish. Often it will start in the gills (fish breathing hard) then show up on the body. The more water changes you can do, especially vacuuming the bottom of the tank, the more Ich you are removing. Ich falls off the fish and stays on the bottom of the tank to reproduce. Higher temperatures increases its metabolism and makes it fall off the fish faster.

[starsplitter7]

Hi there,

I am a relative beginner (3 years keeping fish), so I don't have the expertise that the other keepers have.

Everything you have done sounds like the standard treatment, but I would recommend that you lower the water level in the tank a couple inches. Since your fish is in obvious distress, the extra water flow should help him feel better. It increases the the oxygen by splashing the water. Raising the temp, which is critical for the treatment of ick, reduces the oxygen. However, you will want to consider keeping the tank at 81-82, because Clowns don't tolerate cooler water like 75 degrees very well. When treating for ick, people often raise their tank temp to 86-90 degrees. The 81 degrees should be the normal temp for Clowns.

Also you will find that the Chinese Algae Eater will eat less algae and become aggressive as it grows. You want to consider trading it for a small herd of Ottos or a small algae eater like a Bristlenose.

I hope this holds you over until one of the more experienced keepers has the time to contact you.

Good luck and welcome. Tanja.

[NDininno]

Edit: The spots have not increased in number, but have become less prominent when viewing directly. When viewed from the back or front of the fish, they look slightly raised from the natural skin surface.

I have already dosed twice with ridick after doing water changes. From start to finish I removed the carbon from the filter, leaving physical media in the filter. I did 25% water change and dosed half the recommended amount. I then waited 2 days and did a 45% water change and half dose. Yesterday, (1 day later) i did a 20% water change but no dose. Today I will do another water change. I'm debating taking out the rocks completely, but this will leave my plastic plants with nothing to hold them in place.

[NDininno]

Hi there,

I am a relative beginner (3 years keeping fish), so I don't have the expertise that the other keepers have.

Everything you have done sounds like the standard treatment, but I would recommend that you lower the water level in the tank a couple inches. Since your fish is in obvious distress, the extra water flow should help him feel better. It increases the the oxygen by splashing the water. Raising the temp, which is critical for the treatment of ick, reduces the oxygen. However, you will want to consider keeping the tank at 81-82, because Clowns don't tolerate cooler water like 75 degrees very well. When treating for ick, people often raise their tank temp to 86-90 degrees. The 81 degrees should be the normal temp for Clowns.

Also you will find that the Chinese Algae Eater will eat less algae and become aggressive as it grows. You want to consider trading it for a small herd of Ottos or a small algae eater like a Bristlenose.

I hope this holds you over until one of the more experienced keepers has the time to contact you.

Good luck and welcome. Tanja.

Yes I did lower the water level, which I failed to mention. I will increase the temp some when I get home for lunch in approximately 1 hour. The guy at Petco said that 74-75f was ideal for my community tank, so I didn't give it much thought really. Now that I upped the temp my other loach seems much more happy and active.

On another note; I was considerint selling my chinese algae eater based solely on the fact that it just eats and poops constantly. It devours as much as it possibly can all day long, which only just ramped up since I added the mopani wood. It doesn't even go after the algae wafers anymore. Odd. . .

[starsplitter7]

Yes I did lower the water level, which I failed to mention. I will increase the temp some when I get home for lunch in approximately 1 hour. The guy at Petco said that 74-75f was ideal for my community tank, so I didn't give it much thought really. Now that I upped the temp my other loach seems much more happy and active.

On another note; I was considerint selling my chinese algae eater based solely on the fact that it just eats and poops constantly. It devours as much as it possibly can all day long, which only just ramped up since I added the mopani wood. It doesn't even go after the algae wafers anymore. Odd. . .

As a beginner, one of the first things I learned is that most of the people working in chain petstores, know very little about fish. With that said, I have found some who know a great deal, because they have kept fish for a long time. I learn their schedules, and go to the stores when they are working. What I do to gage their knowledge is ask three simple questions, I know the answer to. For example: "Do Clown Loaches get big?" Do they need companions? What temp do clowns prefer?

The correct answers are: They get very big -- 8" is not uncommon, 12 " are owned by members on this site, and there are rumors they can be 16". Clowns need to be in a group of 5 or more. 80+ for temp. These are simple questions. If they know anything about these fish, they should know this.

If you ask the guy what you 6" bichir should eat, and he says flake, you know you have someone who knows nothing about fish. Bichirs are piscivores. This is a real conversation I had.

That's why I spend so much time on this site. I have sorted out most of my beginner problems by reading advice on this site.

If you don't want a pooping fish make sure you avoid the common pleco.

I clean my tanks a lot, so I don't worry about it.

Good luck with your fish. Tanja.

[NDininno]

Ok, I did another water change yesterday and dosed again with malachite green at a half dose, then about 5 hours later added the carbon back into the filter after changing the physical media. I got a powerhead to increase water flow and aeration and the temp is at 82f. I added cycle to increase the beneficial bacteria count. The little guy is still breathing fast, but not as fast as he was, and has been spot free for about 3 full days. His fins look like they may be regenerating but I can't really tell since I'm still kind of new at this whole thing.

I've set up a digital webcam and a VPN tunnel so I can connect to my home computer and monitor things from work. I thought he could do with more hiding places too, since there are only about 3 places he can go to be totally hidden, so I bought a coconut from shoprite and cracked it open. I have not put it into the tank yet. I don't plan on it until I'm sure it's safe. Do I have to remove the actual edible part before putting it in the tank? I tried getting some off but its freaking difficult as anything. And also, as a bonus I've learned that coconut milk is a natural laxative. Yay. . . .

Update: I was able to remove the 'meat' from the coconut, boiled it, smoothed down all edges, and added it to the tank.

[shari2]

Healing fins will have white/translucent rounded outer edges. Not bright white, but new fin growth white-ish.

Glad to hear he seems to be improving.

[NDininno]

See below. . .

[NDininno]

New developement!!! Is this ICK???