sick clwon loach (probably wasting away)

[nupsan]

Hi,

I have 3 clown loaches in my 30 gallon tank, which is about 2 months old now. Other mates are 3 angelfish and 2 platies. One week back my oldest clown loach (about 4.5") came down with what seemed like ick. I isolated him in a 10 gallon quarantine tank and treated with Rid-all, meanwhile while reading on the net I came across the symptoms of "wasting away" and noted that my clwon was also getting thinner day by day. So, I also treated the tank with 300 mg of levamisole hydrochloride. Since the treatment he has totally stopped eating and is acting very very sluggish. He was acting and eating fine before the levamisole treatment . What else can I do to help him out. Shoule I go for the second dose of levamisole treatment or not? Please advise. I am not sure if he will be able to make it for a couple of days more if I dont do something.

Thanks much,
Sandeep

[mikev]

Post-treatment appetite loss may be caused by a destructed worm(s) still inside the loach. The fish may recover; you can try to stimulate the appetite with bloodworms.

I was in a similar situation and the loach rejected everything but bloodworms for two weeks.

HOWEVER: if your ich was the result of the immune weakness caused by parasites (probably was), the disease progressed pretty far already...
good luck

[NancyD]

Hi nupsan, sorry your clown is ill. Did you do a water change after the levamisole treatment? Are you still treating for ich (at half dose for loaches?)? 2 weeks is good otherwise it can come back. My clowns & barbs ate less after a second dose of levamisole, I did 3 treatments @ 40mg/gal, 48 hours apart. I also did water change before each new dose & 48hours after last dose. It took a day or 2 after end of treatment for appetites to return to normal. ( I had used a course of praziquantil a week before so may have added to the effect) The thin loach is now very hungry all the time, not losing more weight but not sure he's gaining either. Some people have had success using Maracin, Maracin2 & levamisole all at once & I may try that if mine doesn't improve. I'm not sure where you live & if you can get antibiotics easily. Some people have used kanacin instead of maracins. Good luck.
Nancy

[nupsan]

Thanks, Mike and Nancy.Yes, it does seem like ich was the result of a week immune systems as he was the first one to get infected. Problem is he is not eating even blood worms (freeze dried), just keeps hiding...

Nancy, yes I did do a approx. 60% water change 24 hrs after the levamisole treatment. I am planning to do a second dose of levamisole but am really afraid if he might get worse I am in Delhi, India and I can get antibiotics easily enough....

Anyways, thanks a lot for your inputs and advice. Will surely let you guys know if he shows any improvement.

Thanks much,
Sandeep

[mikev]

Nupsan,

On water change: you may not really need it at all, it depends on the worm.

If the worm is a non-direct tapeworm (which is far the most likely case), water change does not do anything useful. Water change (and gravel suc) are only needed if you are dealing with direct worms (for example, nematodes) and need to avoid reinfections.

In my case, freeze dried bloodworms did not work either, but frozen bloodworms did. Try to get them. Hiding is a natural reaction in a new tank (and you moved the loach to the Q-tank recently), does not mean anything by itself. Provide a hiding place you can observe, and dim the light, this may help.

As for the antibiotics, I personally would avoid Maracyn (erithromycin). It is dangerous for the biofilter, and failed to deliver anything for me. Maracyn2 is otoh fine, and you may want to supplement it with a safer gram-pos antibiotic for a wider range....but try to feed the fish first.