Clown loaches **slight problem 12/4/08**

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Ashleigh
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Clown loaches **slight problem 12/4/08**

Post by Ashleigh » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:59 am

Well Im finally back, my internet has been dead for a few weeks-don't know how I survived without it :lol:

Anyway got quite a bit done over the Easter hols; my Rainbow and Clown/Emperor tank is finished (a part from the internals being swapped for powerheads at some stage down the line) :D

I only have a few pics taken from this morning, but going to have to wait until tonight for a full length-window causes major reflection when pic's are taken :roll:

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The stock

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Not the best pic, Emperor having a bit of 'him' time

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Only one pic of these-hard little devils to photograph :evil: , wild caught Melanotaenia boesemani (big tanks to Neil, yet again, very very nice fish :D )
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Ashleigh
Last edited by Ashleigh on Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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janma
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Re: Clown loaches

Post by janma » Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:27 am

Ashleigh wrote: Image
That must be one of the most beautiful coloration on a Clownloach I've seen, so much of the black :shock:
-Janne

mickthefish
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Post by mickthefish » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:11 am

i totally agree with you Janne, i'm not a lover of clowns but that baby i'd give tank space. what about it Ashleigh :wink: :D .

mick

Blue
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Post by Blue » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:20 am

Do you think Ash would give me that clown?:mrgreen: She's so pretty to look at that I would stare at her for hours if she were in my tank.

Lovely emperors!
Passion for loaches + Passion for snails = Irony

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Ashleigh
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Post by Ashleigh » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:01 am

Thanks guys :D Ive never seen one like her before either (I used to keep an eye out for oddballs to add to the group a few years back), and it was just by chance I got her along with three others when a guy I heard about was closing down his tank for cichlids-Nice surprise :D :D

lol I think I may keep her for a bit longer yet :wink: :lol:

Ashleigh

Diana
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Post by Diana » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:37 am

Great close-ups! The details on those barbels!
I noticed several Clowns with different sorts of markings. Nice to be able to tell them apart.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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Tinman
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Post by Tinman » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:52 am

Great pics,wonderful loach tank. The substrate is perfect for loaches,so clean and smooth. Splendid fish indeed. :D

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chefkeith
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Post by chefkeith » Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:44 pm

Very nice tank of loaches and boes.

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Emma Turner
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Post by Emma Turner » Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:48 pm

Looking good! :D And I agree - that clown in particular is a stunner! 8) 8) 8) Emma sneaks over to Wales with a BIG net.....

Emma
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East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
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Ashleigh
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Post by Ashleigh » Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:33 am

Thank you everyone for your kind comments :)

Had a bit of a setback this morning. Under what reasons would ones tank turn milky white????

Tank was looking a little hazy last night, and slime coat was looking thickened on the clown loach-grains of sand were sticking to it. Everyone looked relaxed and not stressed in any way. Decided to do a water change the following morning as it was getting late.

I got down stairs this morning and this was waiting....

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Two days ago...

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:shock: I mean what the heck??
Breathing very very laboured, rainbows were being blown about unable to keep their balance. Straight away I took a glass of water for testing and set to work on a 50% water change whcih has now just been completed. During the water change, rainbows were as stated above, clown loach gulping like crazy at the water surface, to the stage I could move them about.... not normal.

Now (approx 15mins after change was completed), fish are a lot more active, rainbows have retained their balance and loaches foraging along bottom. The alpha is looking a very small bit faded, but not so much that its very noticable. Water has not cleared up in the slightest. Left the water level slightly lower than normal to allow max airation, the internals usually slim the top enough but just to be on the safe side.

Readings as follows

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
pH 6.4-6.6 A little lower than usual, usually up round 6.8-7.2
Tank has been setup for quite a while now, and was moved to the new house approx a month ago-no problems after it was set back up again.

I know bacterial blooms can cause this, but... I didn't realise it would affect the fish, especially is theres no ammonia/nitrite spike? Thought algal had a greenish look to it, and again harmless.... and this isn't green.

About 4days ago after 'hmming' for a few days, interpet was added to treat a 'tiny' bit of fungus that appeared on one of the loaches, It hadn't cleared up and for the sake of all fish in the tank, decided to treat everyone. No one was fed during this time. The tank is heavily stocked, but 30% water changes 5times a week keeps everything ticking over, the treatment stated a 7day duration, and a water change at the end so I have carried out no water changes a part from the 40% before the treatment.

Fish appeared fine, but did not do the usual begging that they do whilst you walk past, they did not seem stressed hence continuing on with the treatment. Fungus has not yet cleared up, but not spread..... Interpet states that it is harmless to filters, and this is clear in the test readings, no??

Will be doing another water change this evening, again of 50% unless water is cleared up a good bit and fish are relaxed and not stressed.

What else can I do a part from the water changes, that I hope remove most of the treatment. I can't actually see any reason that is causing this :?

Pic just taken now;

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:?

Ashleigh

mickthefish
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Post by mickthefish » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:22 am

the only thing i can think of Ashleigh is a bacterial bloom, how you got it ?.

mick

piggy4
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Post by piggy4 » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:26 am

Hi Ashleigh , i think you are doing all that you can , just keep up the water changes until you are happy , at least your fish seem OK, i guess it must have had somthing to do with the treatment ?
Looking from the outside it doesnt appear too serious BUT when it happens it does kinda make you panic !
GOOD LOOK !

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Ashleigh
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Post by Ashleigh » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:27 am

Thats what it looks like, but I thought it would have shown up something in the water tests :? , a spike or something. Or will it spike eventually??
I thought it may have been the treatment I used-the fish have been acting strange but this morning, I mean some of the loaches were on that piece of log at the front to have their snouts out of the water when I was doing the change. Surely thats not normal??

If there was a flux in the pH would that have caused such problems????


Ashleigh

piggy4
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Post by piggy4 » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:06 am

Hi Ashleigh, when you used the Interpet treatment did you read the instructions , i say this because with some of their products you have to add other products as counter measures , i've not used the treatment you have used so i dont know ? just go back to the instructions and double check !
Please dont take it the wrong way , lets face it the fishkeeper who has never made a mistake has never learned either !
If you have done everything by the book , then the extra water changes you are doing will pay off .
I seem to vaguely remember having this murky water in the past , and with a few water changes , normallity was restored !
I suppose this is where the old quarentine tank becomes invaluable ! for treating the Clownloach away from the main tank.
and guess what, neither me or Mick[thefish] have one :lol: though we do talk about them :lol:

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Doc
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Post by Doc » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:01 am

It could well be an algal bloom , a while back I had a similar problem with one of my tanks. The tests always checked out that it wasn't a bacterial bloom and it happened more or less after a large water change. When I checked all the events in the week preceeding it had occurred straight after a large amount of rainfall and the water company treating their water to counteract any problems they didn't want affecting the human population and then coupled with me thinning out the plants in the tank the algae took control.
I did a 50% water change followed by a 3 day black out and it hasn't happened since. I think it was partially my fault as I hadn't tested the tapwater prior to the waterchange like I normally would and then thinned out too many plants and disturbing the algal spores in and on the gravel bed.
Try heavy aeration just to counteract any effects if it is a bacterial bloom.
So many species of fish yet so little time, space and money to keep them all...

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