Loaches Online Forum

i bought a weather loach a few weeks ago now. since i have had him he has only eaten very little. i tried sinking catfish pellets flackes, floating pellets live and frozen bloodworm and still nothing!
he just lazyly floats around by the filter or lays on the top branches of my live plant. i will put some pics too. please help i dont know what to do about it! he is kept with a shubunkin, 2 fancy goldfish, and 5 danios. big tank!!!





i have noticed this unusual red colouring on him.
he will swim about if provoked but will soon be found again at the top of the tank.

please help

( vickie_star@hotmail.co.uk )

Can you post a little more info - tank size, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

How long has the tank been set up? What is your temp? How much and how often do you change your water? What kind of water conditioner do you use?

When you get things sorted out and if your tank is large enough, you need more Dojos. They are communal. Mine all lay together in a dog pile. Mine sleep in plants so that is normal.

I wonder since goldfish are not a great companion for Dojos, if you have too much ammonia in the water. Dojos are very sensitive.

Test your water and post the results.
It looks like a bacterial infection. Have you ever noticed thin red threads protruding from the anus? It looks badly ulcerated.

do you have a quarantine tank?
separate him from your other fish. Treat him with a broad spectrum antibiotic that hits both gram negative and gram positive bacteria.

Look closely at his entire body. If he develops other red patches with a bright red line around it, he may have bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia. A very nasty, fast moving disease often brought on by deteriorating water quality. It doesn't look like it to me from your pic, but better safe than sorry. Best treatment for that is oxytetracycline.

First thing I'd do is a decent sized water change in your tank.
Then move him to his own tank and treat him.

Hope hes' still with you, but he looks very thin...

unfortunatly poor wiggle left me last night
i had put him into his own tank as you say with 2/3 water from his present tank and 2/3 new water treated with safe water stuff.
he was perking up rather alot. i fed him a couple of bloodworms when i fed the others and he ate.
i think it must have been too little too late
he buried himself in the sand and in a few hours was upside down on the bottom. no movement in his gills and when i went to catch him with the net he didnt move. gone

well i think i will not get any more until i can get my big tank after christmas. thankyou all so much for all of your help!

im sure i will be chatting with you again!

vickie xxxxxxx