Please Help - Clown Loaches with Ich

[Anastasia]

I have a 35 gallon tank with 4 clown loaches (small), two large flying foxes, 2 placos & one reticulated Hillstrom loach. I recently purchased two glass cats and did not quarantine them. The next day i realized that they had ich spots on them. One of them glass cats already died, and I've noticed ich spots on the clown loaches. I added 3 tablespoons of salt per day for three days, and raised the water temperature to 87 degrees. Today my Hillstron loache and one clown loach died. Why did my reticulated loach die? He had no ich spots. What should I do for the remaining loaches? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[starsplitter7]

Salt is really had for loaches and catfish. Did you read the stickie about treating loaches for ick? (We have all been where you are at, and not quarantining is a huge lesson we all learn from. I lost 20 favorite fish last year from one unquarantined fish. Stickie for Ick: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16721

How long has your tank been set up? Start doing lots of small water changes 10% 3 times a day to reduce the salt in the tank and the ick. Vacuum the substrate. Do not do larger changes until you get rid of the salt slowly, because a sudden drop in salt will seriously stress your fish. Check your water and make sure the salt is gone (you can take a sample to a salt water store, and have them check the salt content if you do not have theequipment at home.) Once your salt is gone, I would do 30-50% changes 2 a day until the ick is gone. If you use an ick treatment, do it at half strength and watch the fish for signs of stress.

If you have a hang on the back filter, reduce the water in the tank by 1-2 inches, so the water splashes into the tank. The ick compromises the gills and makes it very hard for the fish to breathe. The splashing puts in exta oxygen. Also add a bubbler or two to increase the oxygen.

Reduce feedings to reduce ammonia and further stress on the fish. When the ick goes away, and the fish act like they are feeling better, then go back to feeding normally. Hillstreams also require very high oxygen levels and high flow. When the temp is increased, the oxygen drops. He may have had ick in the gills that you couldn't see, which would further cause him problems. Hillstreams are often the first fish I lose.
Good luck!

[Diana]

The sudden change from mo salt to high salt is a problem.
Some fish can tolerate low levels of salt, if the salt is added slowly, but when Ich is in the tank you may not have the chance to raise the salt level slowly enough to keep the fish safe, yet fast enough to get a high enough dose to kill Ich.

Much better to go with a medication that is safer for these fish.

I would separate the fish according to their temperature requirements. The high temp fish can be treated in a much warmer tank (80*+F).
The cold water fish should not be in such a warm tank.

Species: If you really have Flying Foxes (Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus) they can get aggressive toward each other, and the usual stocking level is one per tank, unless the tank is so large they can divide the territory (4-6' long). If these are Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus) they are usually OK together. (Common names are often mixed up among these and some closely related fish)
Plecos: There are many species of Pleco. Proper ID is important so you can properly care for them.