Problem with my clown loaches

[Barracuda518]

My clown loaches have gotten sick. I have been treating with Mardel Maroxy for 2 days. Im thinking it might be a parasite which is causing them to flash and cause the spots on their skin. I dont know if its helping or not. Anyone have any advice and what medicine I could use to help them? See attached pictures:

[mikev]

Hi,

A non-specific answer since it is not obvious what this is.

Red spots/dots/lines can be caused by a variety of reasons including
1 Water problems
2 External parasites
3 Bacteria (septic infections)
4 Internal parasites breaking through

The very first thing to do is to check the tank parameters. Ammonia/Nitrites may cause this, this is what happened very recently to another person here.
If you have a problem with Ammonia/Nitrites, fix that problem first, without adding any more drugs.

If your parameters are good, read on.

It appears from the pictures that you have areas irritated to different degree; this+skipping is an indication toward 2. Your 2nd and 3rd photos seem to show a cut on a loach'es chin. If this cut goes deep in, it may be a sign of 4. If the cut is simply a scratch, it could be self-inflicted because of flashing. Take a careful look. And 3. cannot be totally dismissed either.

Now, 3. or 4. will probably kill pretty quickly, 2. would not.

The solutions:
2. UV + some meds that kill parasites in water/on fish: prazil pro, general care, meth blue (and generally anti-ich meds), acriflavine. UV was very effective for another poster here recently and for me in the past.
3. Minocycline or Tetracycline.
4. Levamisole.

If the situation getting worse and you don't know what is causing the problem, you can try all of it. Minocycline seems to be less dangerous to the biofilter than tetracycline, Levamisole is totally safe, check the parasite drugs carefully for the biofilter impact; it is quite possible to destroy the biofilter by a combination of drugs that don't hurt it much individually.

hth

[Barracuda518]

Thanks for the reply. They have not gotten worse. I will double check the water parameters tonight. This morning the skin on the affected loaches looked better, but they were still clamping their fins. They are still eating and I didnt feed them today. Seems like one minute they are better and the next they seem like they arent. I saw a loach I havent seen in 2 days this morning and it was schooling with the other clowns and looked the best Ive seen it in a week. That cut under the chin is from flashing I think because that loach was flashing pretty bad the other day before I started the meds. Also, it seems they are not flashing as much either. I watched them for about 15 minutes last night and they didnt flash any. Im confused. They were very healthy and growing at a rapid pace and then all of a sudden....

All other loaches in tank seem unaffected. I have some Mardel Coppersafe thats supposed to treat ich and other parasites. Should I try that after I check the water parameters?

[Emma Turner]

How are your clowns doing, Jason? I hope there is an improvement.

Emma

[crazie.eddie]

First of all, let's try to determine the source of the problem...
Have you tested your water?
What is your ammonnia, nitrITE, & nitrATE levels?
What type of filtration do you have?
How big is the tank?
What are the tank mates?
How often do you do gravel cleaning/water changes?
What percent of the water is removed during a water change?
Other than the meds, do you add anything else like dechlorinator, salt, etc.?
What temp is your water?

[Barracuda518]

How are your clowns doing, Jason? I hope there is an improvement.

Emma

They are doing better. I did lose one of the smaller ones yesterday. The ones that looked the worse look better. I have been doing daily water changes and they seem to like that. The NitrAtes are down some too. Im taking it day by day, so far so good.