Urgent Loach Health Issue - Please Help!!

[ilovemymutts]

Hi,

I recently started taking care of an established 55 gallon freshwater aquarium for the first time, and I'm in the process of learning all about it. The aquarium contains 3 loaches (2 salmon colored and one brown), 4 goldfish, and 2 plecostomuses.

One of my loaches (about 3" long and salmon colored) is very sick. He started by hanging out at the surface all the time. I noticed that there was a small spot (like an abrasion of some sort) on the side of his face. I immediately went to a fish store and asked the guy about it. He tested my water, which came back perfect, and he suggested that I use Melafix (melaleuca) to treat for a possible bacterial infection.

I have been using Melafix for the past 2 days, but he only seems to be getting worse. He is now frequently floating upside down, and I have noticed what seems to be some hemorrhaging on his body (small cluster of reddish spots). He is still alive, but looking extremely ill. I am really afraid that I am going to lose him, and I don't know what to do.

I would GREATLY appreciate ANY advice. Please, please help! I am so worried.

Thank you,

Katie

[chefkeith]

One of toughest parts of fish keeping is learning when to treat dying fish. That's what it sounds like here. IMO, you should isolate the fish in a small container and euthenize it. If you don't want to to euthenize, then you need to atleast quarantine it. You should never leave or treat sick fish in your main tank in the presence of healthy fish. One bad apple can spoil the bunch.

[chefkeith]

Another note, you shouldn't be keeping carp, which is a cold water fish, in the same tank with tropical fish.

[shari2]

Hi Katie,

Welcome to LOL.

What type of loach are you talking about? Khuli loaches?

If so, chefkeith is right, they are tropical fish and need warm temps. What temp is your tank? More info on the tank and it's set up would be helpful.

What kind of filter? How often do you do water changes? What size are the other fish? What kind of goldfish - fancy or comets?

[ilovemymutts]

Wow, you are all so wonderful! Thank you for the fast replies.

The loaches are dojo loaches (weather loaches?). The sick one looked just like this:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/gallery/ ... c/dojo.jpg

Here's the story: Sadly, my fiance died in a motor vehicle accident on January 5th 2008. We (now I) have several animals (all rescued, including the fish, from bad situations). There are 4 dogs, 6 rats, and this tank of fish. The fish were previously in a very tiny and filthy tank, but after we acquired them, my fiance purchased a larger tank and worked really hard to perfect the temperature, filtration, etc. He always took such excellent care of the fish that I never even bothered to learn how to care for them. I focused my attention on our dogs and rats (all with issues; all rescued).

As you can probably imagine, the last couple of months have been absolute hell for me. In the midst of it all, however, it is extremely important that I give our animals the best care possible. In light of this, I have been doing a 25% water change once a month. I have a dual-filter unit that uses large biobag filters. I was overfeeding, but I have now cut back. I try to keep the tank between 75-80 degrees.

The goldfish look like feeder goldfish, but they are huge now. When we acquired them, the were very small. They have grown to be about 6" long, and very robust.

Very sadly, my sick loach passed away. I am so sad.

Thank you for all of the information. Thank you for asking so many wonderful questions. Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Katie

[chefkeith]

So sorry to hear about your fiance.

When fish start floating upside down, it's a sure sign that the end is near, that's why I suggested that you move it out of the tank. Probably it's internal organs shut down due to an infection.

When you had the water tested, did they do a Nitrate test? If so, what was the reading? Nitrates is a very important test when it comes to determining water quality.

[chefkeith]

I'm sorry to tell you this, but none of the fish you have should be housed together in a 55g tank. You can properly keep the dojo's, but you should think about rehoming the goldfish and the plecos.

For fish compatibility, the dojo loaches are cold water fish, but they need excellent water quality to thrive.

Goldfish are very messy fish and usually require huge tanks or a pond to properly care for.
Cold water fish do best when the water temps are under 75F.

If what you have are common pleco's, then they should be in a warm water. These pleco's grow very large and require a huge tank also.

[ilovemymutts]

Hi ChefKeith,

Thank you for your message and condolences.

I am positive that they did do a nitrate test, but I am not sure what the reading was. The first time I took the water in to have it tested, the results weren't good. I figured out that one of the fake plants in the tank had started to come apart, and threads from the plant were jamming up the magnetic part that spins in the filter unit. I cleaned out the entire unit, cut the string loose, and replaced the filters. I took the water for a test the following day, and he said that the water couldn't possibly get any better (i.e. all of the levels were exactly where they needed to be).

I can't help but think that I killed this loach by being irresponsible and not attending to the tank sooner. I can't even begin to describe the whirlwind of insanity and sadness that the last 2 months have been for me, but that isn't an excuse. I should have identified the problem and solved it sooner.

Oh, wait, I just noticed a water testing kit in the cupboard under the tank. It looks like the Nitrates are at 0 ppm (the water turned light yellow when I added 10 drops of the appropriate chemical).

Moving forward, I know that I never want to let this happen again. I have to educate myself as much as possible, and work hard at keeping the tank in optimal conditions.

Again, I can't thank you enough for your guidance. This is all very new to me.

Katie

[chefkeith]

It would be impossible for the Nitrates to be 0 unless you had a planted tank. Perhaps it was a Nitrite test kit or the Nitrate Kit is faulty.

You might want to learn a little bit about the nitrogen cycle in a fish tank if you don't already know about it. Nitrates are bacterial product from the filter.
Here's the cycle-
If fish are eating food, then they produce ammonia. The bacteria in the filter, consume the ammonia, and produce nitrite. Then another bacteria in the filter consumes the nitrite and produces nitrate.

[Ashleigh]

Hi Katie,

I am very sorry to hear about your fiance.
Regarding the nitrate test kit-is it a liquid based one? If so they can be tempermental and prone to giving an incorrect reading. Make sure you shake both bottles for 30secs and for the noted time on the instructions also, this should guarntee you a more accurate result-mine is a pain at the best of times.

What you are looking for in the test results would be ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate below 20 (as close to 10 is best).

The mixture of fish in the tank is not ideal unfortunately, the goldfish themselves get to a pretty big size-you have done very well to get them to 6inches, but a bigger tank/pond may be called for in the future at some stage as the small volume of water in the tank will not be enough to dilute to waste products from the fish.

Unfortunately, it is the same for the plecs-depending on the species they can get pretty big and poo a lot, the water temps for goldfish and plec's also differ.

Hope this of some help and welcome to the forum!


Ashleigh

[chefkeith]

Actually, there is another way to get Nitrates of 0. That's only if the aquarium water and filter were completely changed. The good bacteria would then be lost and the filter would need to cycle again. All the fish would eventually be gasping for air at the surface if this was the case.

[ilovemymutts]

Ashleigh,

Thank you so much for the informative response.

I was using a liquid nitrate test kit, and I didn't shake the bottle or the vial. The instruction manual had gotten wet at some point, so all of the pages were stuck together and ruined. I was going by the limited information on the bottle, and it clearly said "read instruction book before using," so I didn't even think about the idea of shaking both the chemical and the sample. I will try it again in a few minutes.

I will definitely look into immediately moving the fish to different tanks. I want them all to thrive, so I appreciate the wonderful information so much.

Thanks again, Ashleigh.

Katie

[starsplitter7]

Dear Katie,

I am also so sorry to hear about your fiance'.

The Dojo isn't your fault. You have had a very difficult 2 months. Stick with us, and we can help you sort out your difficulties with your fishies.

My first question is do you live in a house with a back yard? I was thinking that maybe you could make a small pond for you goldfish and Plecos -- Depending on where you live in California the temps may be pretty nice for the fish. If that isn't a possibility, you may want to see if you could find local fish club that could help you with the goldfish and Plecos. Could you post pictures of your fish, and we can get a better idea of exactly what fish you have. If you are lucky, you may have smaller Plecos than the common. In Florida many people have Koi ponds and Plecos in their ponds.

The fish become easier as you learn.

I change the water on my tanks every week, and make sure that I change the filter cartridges at least once a month. I usually change one one week, and the other 1 or two weeks later. That way I always have one with a good supply of bacteria.

When you go to the fish store and ask for water tests, make sure they write down the test they give you, and the number of the answer. See how many tests they can do for you.

Please note if you hang out in the Offtopic forum, you'll notice a bunch of us have multiple pets and many rescue animals like you do, and we can relate. I rescued two rats, a slew of ferrets, two cats, . . . and a few fish too.

Take care, Tanja.