Dojo Loach died

[Linda McDonald]

Hi, I'm new here. Woke up this morning and did my head count and found my Dojo Loach dead under a rock. I have a 55g tank with African mbunas. I found a touch of ick on one of them. So I started the heat-salt treatment. Gradually turned temp up to 85 and added aquarium salt gradually. 30tsp finally. He seemed to be fine the first two days of treatment. What would be your guess: heat, salt or mbuna? They have been getting along fine. I really don't think he was 'killed' He was such a fun addition to the tank! I will miss him. Thanks in advance. PS have two clown loaches also that seem to be fine...so far.

[aquarioten.nl]

hmm african cichlids with loaches? ph is way to high for the dojo's...

i wouldn't threat the aquarium with salt since getting it out again is very difficult.

[Emma Turner]

Hi Linda,

Sorry to hear about your Dojo loach.

Unfortunately, heat, salt, and tankmates probably all contributed to it's demise.

Dojos, or Weather loaches, are temperate fish, and as such, should be kept at cooler than average tropical temperatures. They will not tolerate 'normal' tropical temperatures, let alone elevated tropical temperatures.

Some people will swear by salt as a treatment for whitespot (which probably came about as a result of stress - high temps and unsuitable aggressive tankmates). But personally I would not use salt with any kind of loach due to the fact that they are sensitive freshwater fish and do not encounter salt in their natural habitat.

Loaches are not suitable tankmates for Malawi cichlids - please see this thread: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=1627

Emma