Skinny or petite clown loach?

[Olesja]

Hello everybody,
'Spot' the clown loach has been with me since 2005. He goes from periods of gaining a little weight and losing it back.
I have been puzzled to figure out why he has troubles retaining weight. He is in the group with other 6 loaches that have outgrown him over the years. He is active, not too shy, eats bloodworms off my hand and never misses cucumber snack. Looks like Spot is back on losing streak again, and I am hoping to finally find the answer. I am not best with taking pictures, please let me know if you have any comments or advice. Thanks in advance!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98471942@N ... 493553041/

[DainBramage1991]

Have you ever treated Spot for internal parasites (aka skinny disease)?

[Olesja]

No, I never treated him for anything other then ich. At that time he looked just like any other small clown. And for a while he did manage to keep some weight and he did grow over years, but he started losing weight again and making me worried. Would it be worth it to treat him now? Could parasites survive for such a long time without killing the host? Spot has been in my tank for 8 years.

[Olesja]

Another thought I had - is it possible that Spot is being "dominated" by bigger clowns? I am planning an upgrade in very near future, and will have a chance to keep him in the current set-up with possibly smaller loaches.

[DainBramage1991]

I suppose it's possible he's being bullied out of his meals, though I still think it would be a good idea to treat for parasites. They can become infected at any time, particularly if you get new fish, share equipment between tanks, or add tank decorations from other tanks.

Can parasites live for 8 years without killing the host? I have no idea. But if this is the case, you will only help your loaches by treating them.

If you can determine with certainty that it is a bullying issue, there are a number of things you can do including adding food in different parts of the tank and separating the fish in question.

[Olesja]

Thank you for comments, much appreciated! I will set up a small quarantine tank to get him treated first and will worry about bullying later.
I will let you know how it goes. I currently have just one tank, so no equipment being shared. Also, only "new" addition was school of torpedo barbs from about a year ago.

[DainBramage1991]

A year seems like a more likely time-frame, particularly if your loaches were healthy to begin with. I've read that healthy fish can support a small load of parasites for extended periods of time without any apparent ill effects.

[Olesja]

Quick update... Spot appears to be doing okay after 5 days on PraziPro. I think I see slight difference in the way he looks and the way he swims. First two days, he had some poop with what looked like a thread, I am not an expert in worms, but it looked like one. I do have a video that I can post if anybody interested. Now the plan is to have a round of antibiotic flakes once PraziPro cleared out.
Should I try any additional work medication? I have various Angels Plus Deworming and Antibiotic flakes. Thanks!
Spot today:

[EmilyMarie85]

There was a post I read awhile back from a user on the forum Diana. Having a hard time finding it at the moment, but when I treated my shoal for skinny I went with her recommendation and it worked like a charm. It consisted of rotating parasite meds and antibiotics.

Edit: Oh here I just found it: http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... se#p178155

I did that and the few loaches that were showing signs of skinny recovered and the others never came down with any signs of it.

Something else, I started feeding my clowns Hikari sinking carnivore pellets more often after the treatment and they all packed on a bunch of weight. I keep that as a staple in their diet now. They love them.

Good luck - nice looking loach you have there! I love the oddballs.

[Olesja]

Thanks for the link, I am going to continue with this suggestion and see if it works for spot.