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Sick loach?

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 10:31 pm
by Babakapusta
Hi, I have a striped botia. He is about 4" long and 10 to 12 years old. He is in a 125 gallon tank with 2 12" Tin Foil Barbs about 13 years old, a upside down catfish and an ornate bircher about 12 years old. I had 3 barbs but about 2 weeks ago one of them died. There was no sign of an illness. When my tank was new I lost some fish to ich but none of my fishes have been ill in years.

I did a large water change after he died. Last week I took the water in to the fish store and had it tested. It was good. I bought an adult bristlenose pleco. I do have some algae in my tank. I know the fish store well and they have had him for several months. I put him directly into the tank. He seems fine, I see no signs of disease on him.

This morning when I fed my fish I was watching them. the tail of the botia seems to be turning orangy red. I see no external blood or injury. He is eating well and swimming around the tank but I'm concerned about the change in appearance. Does anyone know what may be causing this?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Re: Sick loach?

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 4:01 pm
by gulogulo
Do you know what species of botia? There are several striped ones, some do get orange or red in the fins (usually males) when they mature. Loaches often take a longer time to mature than other fish so just being older doesn't necessarily mean it has reached adulthood yet.
As for the possibility of it being damage there are a couple of possibilities, 1. the tinfoil barbs could be nipping at the loach especially considering there were three until recently, its possible the reduction in numbers is leading to a new aggression between the remaining ones. 2. is the bristlenose a male or female? (males have lots of bristles females have less) if its a male its possible he decided that the loaches favorite hiding place is now his and a scuffle ensued. In either case adding a few more caves for the loach would help.

Re: Sick loach?

Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 4:10 pm
by Babakapusta
I have enough hiding places for an elephant loach if there is such a species but that is a good point. I thought it might have gotten into a fight with the pleco. I was concerned about buying it. I've had problems with them before. I had a common pleco that got to be over a foot long and all of a sudden my fish began getting big holes in their sides. I was really upset because try as I could they would end up dying. Then one morning I woke up and saw the pleco latched onto one of the fishes sides. He got put into solitary after that.

The striped botia, I know it isn't a yoyo has lived with the barbs for a long time. They never bothered it, but I have noticed that they are fighting quite a lot. I didn't know that having the fish die would cause them to get nasty, they are such peaceful fish.

I think the loach died. I'm not sure he can just be hiding. I haven't seen him in a day and usually he is very active. If he is being picked on I can see him hiding to be safe. I'm cleaning the tank tomorrow and will evacuate the hiding places. I know where most of the fish hide now.

I'm pretty sure the pleco is a male he does have a lot of bristles. He was in a tank with fish that looked something like mini angel fish at the fish store. Now I'm worried about my bircher. He doesn't look ill or anything but if the pleco went after him with its fins he would be mince meat.

Thanks for your help. I hope I didn't make a big mistake getting the pleco. He is doing a great job attacking the algae.

Re: Sick loach?

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 4:32 pm
by redshark1
Its always a risk getting new fish, but sometimes you have to try things. I would always be prepared to reverse things if necessary.