Page 1 of 1

SHEDDING

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 3:55 am
by terry111
Hi all. Ive got 4 clown loach and i must say every aquaruim should have some. My problem is [ if it is a problem ] they seem to be shedding there skin, ive never seen or heard of this before.
Any idea's anybody.

Terry

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 4:32 pm
by chefkeith
I've never heard of such a thing either. It's not normal. Did something get in the tank somehow? Did you stick dirty hands or nets in the tank? or use any household cleaners near the tank?

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:26 am
by EmilyMarie85
Hrm. This thread has really been bothering me -- I have never seen, or even heard of a healthy clown loach "shedding" (although I have only been keeping clowns for 6ish years, so still relatively new). But, this thread did make me immediately think of this image: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/clnlchdis.htm -- is that what it looks like?
This: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=9289 is the only other picture I have seen that would possibly resemble "shedding" (?)

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:14 pm
by djoneser
I have seen my largest clown get stuck in an ornament once. Once she freed herself, she "shed" a lot of "skin" (more like mucous). Specifically the "skin" was stuck on the ornament where she had been struggling to free herself. I would call this a "sloughing" of skin, rather than "shedding". Is this what you are talking about?

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:27 pm
by terry111
djoneser wrote:I have seen my largest clown get stuck in an ornament once. Once she freed herself, she "shed" a lot of "skin" (more like mucous). Specifically the "skin" was stuck on the ornament where she had been struggling to free herself. I would call this a "sloughing" of skin, rather than "shedding". Is this what you are talking about?
Thanks for the response, whats happened to yours is exactly whats happening to mine, they do get in some old galleons i've got in the tank and around the edges were thick strands of mucous. May need some bigger boats but its taken a massive weight of my mind.
What a great site this is and would like to thank everybody for responding.

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:22 am
by Diana
Loaches seem able to generate more slime coat than some other fish, and it is a protective process. When something bothers them they shed the excess. Things that irritate the skin can make them produce excess. Salt, ammonia, wrong pH...
Getting stuck in a tight spot sounds like one way to make use of that slime coat, then any injuries would make the fish produce even more to cover the wounds.

They can also produce more when they are stressed. I have seen posts from people changing their tank or moving the Loaches to a new tank and seeing 'stuff' in the holding bucket. The Loaches have produced and shed some slime coat. A side note: This material or the stress seems to make the water in the bucket toxic to other species. If you are moving fish (any species) do not add the transport water to the tank. Many species produce excess ammonia when they are stressed, some produce stress hormones, and some Loaches seem to produce toxins, perhaps relating to the slime coat.

Re: SHEDDING

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:57 pm
by EmilyMarie85
When a clown loach does slough off some slime coat, is there anything you should do/add to its tank to help it recover/prevent sickness?