Loaches Online Forum

Keep researching that red area, I am not sure what it is.

Higher level of epsom salt? and over a longer time, not just a temporary bath. Try this: Start with tank water, check the GH. Fill a container the fish will be OK in for several days. (5 gallon for young Dojo, 10 gallon or larger for larger Dojo) Add enough epsom salt to raise the GH by 2 German deg...

Pangios are a fun group, especially in a tank large enough to keep quite a few.
Special trick: Some like hiding in a group under a rock or branch. Put a rock or branch against the front glass of the tank so you can see the fish when they hide in their cave.

Loaches of many species seem to enjoy making us worry. Glad the missing Horse Head Loach showed up

Can you tell them apart? Could you be seeing 2 at a time, but a different 2 each time? Are there spots in the tank where you cannot see the substrate? Perhaps an odd angle through the glass, and maybe behind a rock or plant? I have 'not seen them' for several weeks, then seen them acting just fine. ...

Ich can stay hidden on the fish for a while, hiding in the gills. I would add a UV sterilizer to the system for a week or so, this will kill Ich organisms that try to breed. I would add a deworming treatment (medicated food) for internal parasites. Most bottom feeding fish seem quite vulnerable to t...

The smaller Rasboras ought to work well, as long as their optimum temperature is simiilar enough to the Loaches' requirements. Dithers ought to swim calmly around mid to upper tank, and not look for food in the area the Loaches would lay eggs. I have used other Rasboras as dithers for a breeding pai...

You got some nice pictures of your fish! https://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15686 I know this is a very long thread, but the photography is fantastic, and it has a LOT of great info about Gobies. I agree with Nancy: females of most species look similar enough that they are usually hard t...

Thanks for the update, glad they are doing so well.

Glad to hear the problem seems to be resolving

It might be abrasions as you suggest.
It does not matter if they don't seem to line up with the fish: Loaches may take any orientation they want, so might be lying sideways or upside down as they go through a tight spot in the rocks.

I agree that rocks grow only very slowly. Fish grow a lot faster.

The pictures sure help. This does not look like Flavobacteria. That heavier patch does indeed look like an excess & shedding of slime coat. My guess is that there is some sort of irritant. Examples: Are they lying against the heater? Could this be burns? If you have a heater near the bottom of the t...

Have a look at a disease with many names, but caused by one organism. The organism is Flavobacterium columnare Alternate names include Flex, Flexibacter (old name), Saddle Disease, Columnaris. On fish medication packaging it might be called some kind of fungus. It is not. In a large tank the best wa...

If they are not eating it then they probably prefer the other foods. I agree with Bas Pels, most Hillstream Loaches seem to prefer the flat, stuck on sorts of algae, not the stringy, hair-like algae. The only algae I have ever heard of being toxic is not even an algae, it is certain species of blue ...

The tubing system is not mine. I use rock piles and leaf litter to make hiding places.