Sick Clown Loach?

[jonesdeini]

Hello everyone,

I moved my 75 gallon tank in December with 6 clown loaches, 3-4 inches.
I've had the fish for around 2-3 years.
ph: 8.2-8.4
water changes: 5 gal every 5-7 days
temp: 78-82 F

I noticed one loach acting very odd today, swimming with a clamped fin.
I also noticed white spots, but I have not added new fish to this tank for years so I don't believe it to be ick.

I recently had a temp spike and the tank was up to around 92 degrees F.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI41YbQthnw

[jonesdeini]

The little guy passed this morning.

I am very concerned for the health of the remaining 5 loaches

[Diana]

I would attempt to get the pH lower. Test the GH and KH, and probably make a blend of Reverse Osmosis or Distilled water with your tap water. When the GH and KH are lower (under 5 German degrees of hardness) the pH will come down, some, and you can encourage this by running some peat moss in the filter. Many species of fish can handle a wide range of pH, but yours is a bit extreme for soft water fish, leading me to think there may be too high a level of minerals in the water. When something (perhaps the heat spike) bothered the fish, the weakest died. One contributing factor could have been the extreme pH.

Clamped fins are a sign that the fish is unhappy for some reason, but not specific as to the reason.
White spots might be Ich, look at a lot of pictures to see the possible variations in how it can look. But if none of the other fish are showing any sign of Ich, or anything else, I am not sure that it would be wise to treat for anything.

[jonesdeini]

Thank you for your reply.
Another loach in the tank has seemed to fallen ill also.
Yesterday it was siting on bottom on the tank moving it's gills very fast.
This morning it has buried itself in some anubias roots and its gills are still moving very fast.

I've been doing 5-10 gallon water changes everyday since my first post. Not sure what else to do...

I am thinking I should move the remaining loaches which gills are moving normally in to a QT tank?

[jonesdeini]

I still have 4 loaches remaining with the biggest one being active at night.

At least 2 loaches are still actively taking food.

I've done research and I am going to treat the tank with Levamisole HCl. I was deciding between this and Flubendazole.
Anyone have any preference to one or the other?

[jonesdeini]

I have not yet treated the tank and I was hoping for more concrete proof of what to treat for first.

Another loach was swimming at near the top of tank this evening.
Same symptoms as in the video I posted. Fast moving gills, looked rather skinny also.
I cut back to 5 gal water changes every 5 days since they seemed to be recovering.

If the loach does pass I plan to take it to the vet for a necropsy. Does anyone know of a better course of action I should be taking?

[Diana]

I think it will be difficult to treat while conditions (pH) is so extreme.
However, using a parasite medicine (Flubendazole or Levamisole) might help, if it is a gill parasite.

Irritated gills can also happen when there is something in the water that is an irritant.

Small water changes over a long time can lead to a build up of many things, not just nitrates, so it is good that you are doing daily water changes, even if they are still small.
Can you add some reverse osmosis or distilled water to the replacement water? This may help lower the mineral level which in turn will help the pH come down.

Vacuum the floor of the tank really well with every water change. There can be a very large reservoir of bacteria and other microorganisms in the substrate that you do not want in the tank. This is especially important if you use a parasite medicine. Some medicines do not kill, but simply paralyze the parasite, so you must vacuum really well to remove them.
Many medicines work by attaching to ANY organic matter in the tank, including the mulm at the bottom of the tank. Vacuum the gravel REALLY WELL before using any medicine, and then the medicine will not have all the 'wrong' stuff to attach to, and will end up on the parasites in a higher dose, so will do a better job.

[jonesdeini]

I called the vet and she was not available today(Friday) so the necropsy isn't happening. (Also it was $150!!)
I have an appointment on Monday to bring in a live fish for an exam.
For now, I'm setting up a new 55 gallon tank to move the survivors into.

[Loachloach]

Did you find out what it was?

[cakepacker]

The little guy passed this morning.

I am very concerned for the health of the remaining 5 loaches

So I am more sorry for hearing than. When I was I can remember we had a clown Loach.