Loaches Online Forum

Yes, you are losing the fish and it sounds like a bacterial infection secondary to poor water quality. I would suggest a more effective antibiotic than Melafix which is the equivalent of Neosporin. You wouldn't use a mild antibiotic for a real infection. Typically, I would isolate a fish in this sit...

With few exceptions, nitrate is the end of the nitrogen cycle in freshwater aquaria. It can only be removed with water changes. As already mentioned, nitrate levels are a proxy for other pollutants and high levels are an indicator of poor water quality. Except in extremely rare and unusual circumsta...