Dwarf chain loach catastrophe, and a valuable lesson about quarantine tanks learned

The forum for the very best information on loaches of all types. Come learn from our membership's vast experience!

Moderator: LoachForumModerators

Post Reply
MultipleTankSyndrome
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:07 am
Location: Loachaholica

Dwarf chain loach catastrophe, and a valuable lesson about quarantine tanks learned

Post by MultipleTankSyndrome » Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:56 am

A bit of a backstory: my cousin who I live with is not an aquarist and is not especially overjoyed about me being on the level of fishkeeping I am (slightly more in depth explanation can be found at, https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-8377219).
So when I told them the importance of quarantine tanks, they firmly put their foot down because they were very opposed to 4 tanks, even going so far as to refuse allowing the purchase of a $13 180 liter for quarantine. They were, however, OK with me using a Rubbermaid cattle trough as a makeshift quarantine tank, even though they constantly stressed that it had to be put out of sight when not in use.
So we just had to find one for a reasonable price.

Fast forward to now, and those new dwarf chain loaches I bought were in very poor shape. One was very emaciated in a Spironucleus-like fashion, and it was planned to to return this and get a healthier specimen. Those plans quickly escalated to returning all of them when I went to catch the emaciated loach and found at least 1 more had the first signs of the infamous white spotted disease, complete with lying in one spot, clamping their fins, and flashing.
I immediately showed my cousin this, and they were absolutely horrified - albeit not very surprised, as they were the one to originally (and rightly) suggest I return the emaciated one in the first place. They did, however, have to look rather closely to see the actual white spots.

And that's where I made my move. I pointed out to them that looking this closely at fish to make sure they were okay simply wouldn't be possible in an opaque cattle trough like it would be in a clear, glass tank, and it finally must have taught them the importance of quarantine tanks.
The dwarf chain loaches were promptly returned, and if I can find a good-priced quarantine tank available before Boxing Day, I'll actually be able to quarantine any healthy-looking dwarf chain loaches that are available then!
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)

NancyD
Posts: 1608
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:17 pm
Location: SF bay area,US

Re: Dwarf chain loach catastrophe, and a valuable lesson about quarantine tanks learned

Post by NancyD » Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:16 pm

I'm sorry you learned the hard way of the value of QT. It sounds like you had 2 issues: ich (white spot, fairly treatable for the most part) & "skinny" disease (that can be many things) or internal parasites (I'd treat with flubendazole or Levamisole). All are more easily treated in a smaller quarantine tank.

You should always be studying the health of fish before buying them, a very hard look even if it takes a while, say 30 minutes or more. Learning this is key to getting healthier fish. Look at behavior (no flashing, shimmying etc.) & signs of disease (spots, skinniness or redness anywhere, gills, body fins, gills, vent).

You can save a lot on anxiety & expense if you educate yourself, but nothing beats quarantine. Every time you buy new fish you risk introducing diseases.
Image

MultipleTankSyndrome
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:07 am
Location: Loachaholica

Re: Dwarf chain loach catastrophe, and a valuable lesson about quarantine tanks learned

Post by MultipleTankSyndrome » Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:39 pm

NancyD wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:16 pm
I'm sorry you learned the hard way of the value of QT. It sounds like you had 2 issues: ich (white spot, fairly treatable for the most part) & "skinny" disease (that can be many things) or internal parasites (I'd treat with flubendazole or Levamisole). All are more easily treated in a smaller quarantine tank.

You should always be studying the health of fish before buying them, a very hard look even if it takes a while, say 30 minutes or more. Learning this is key to getting healthier fish. Look at behavior (no flashing, shimmying etc.) & signs of disease (spots, skinniness or redness anywhere, gills, body fins, gills, vent).

You can save a lot on anxiety & expense if you educate yourself, but nothing beats quarantine. Every time you buy new fish you risk introducing diseases.
Thanks for the sympathy! What makes this even worse is that as I said, I had already known about the value of quarantine tanks for a while beforehand, yet my cousin did not and it took something as extreme as this in order to convince them.
At least they're convinced now, for which I couldn't be more grateful.

Good heads up on the white spotted disease and internal parasite treatment. I'm already treating for white spotted using the classic and easy salt and heat method (https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-8392512), which shouldn't be much harder to dose than Levamisole (as you say).

Been there, done that, and you're totally right. I asked for the fattest and healthiest dwarf loaches they could catch, but a sickly one slipped through anyway.
Nonetheless I appreciate that advice.

Cannot tell you how much I agree on that last part. Suppose this is what having a housemate needing a tragic disease incident to convince them a 4th tank is in order gets me :(
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 72 guests