sick loach

[baldgimp]

Hi, I've had this loach for about a month and it seems to be getting skinnier. It swims around and eats, but it's dorsal fin never sticks up, and it just seems to look sick somehow. Should i just kill it, and if so, should i do something to my tank so other fish don't get sick? (no other fish seem to show any symptoms).
I have 3 kuhli loaches, 1 more clown loach and a bunch of assorted tetras and guppies. I live in australia if that effects the medication i can get.
I'm new at this stuff so I'm really not sure if it's meant to be like this when it's young or anything
thanks, baldgimp.

[fish_frenzy]

Can you tell us more about the tank?
How long has it been set up?
Ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings?
Tank temperature?
Water change schedule?
Do you give them bottom feeder food... such as algae wafers, shrimp pellets, bloodworms?

I would start with a big water change and if the temp is below 80F-82F slowly turn it up 1 or 2 degrees an hour.

If you have a quarrantine tank set up, it would be easiest to move him to the Q tank.

Does he have a red worm hanging from his anus?

One of the Loach experts should be along shortly

[baldgimp]

Can you tell us more about the tank?
It's a 57 litre (2 foot long) tank

Ammonia is 0, Unfortunately I don't have a nitrate tester. I took some water to an aquarium shop and they said it was fine. The tank's been set up for about 2 months, and I used the substrate and some water from a 6 month old tank as recommended by the aquarium shop.

Temperature is 27.5c, I raised it from 26c yesterday.

I change 10L of water around once a week.

I've tried feeding it frozen blood worms and http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/cata ... 3&catID=68 , but the only thing it seems to eat is goldfish flakes (it doesn't seem to feed from the bottom of the tank like the other loaches).

The other clown loach is new (1 week), as I thought this one might have been suffering from depression or something (hunger strike).

No red worm, and unfortunately I don't have a quarantine tank.

[mickthefish]

hi Baldgimp and welcome to the site.
i think the first thing is to step up your amount when you do a water change to at least half the volume of the tank.
you sound as if you know what your doing so carry on with everything else.
as to your CL it could be internal bacteria or what is commonly called on this site skinny desease/ ailment, some botias have this or it can just happen with a healthy looking fish.
i would try a anti-internal bacteria treatment to start with.
i'm no expert on deseases like a few of the gurus on here, but i'm a good jobbing fishkeeper.

mick
btw i can guarantee that you will be told your tank is to small for CL

[baldgimp]

Thanks, I changed about 20L of water and added some 'multicure' (active ingredients are malachite green, methylene blue and acriflavine). It's the only medication I could get locally, so I hope this counts as anti bacterial.

I'll perform bigger water changes from now on, i just did 30%ish this time because that's what the directions on the medication said to do. This is the stuff http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=248 .

Regarding the tank size, I'm not really sure what I can do about that The pet store assured me they'd be fine with this size. How long will it be before they don't have enough room? The skinny one is currently about 4cm long and the 'normal' one about 8cm.

[mickthefish]

well straight away i can tell your tank is over-stocked and i'll bet your not to blame, most of the shops will tell us course you can have some more fish in your tank.
going on to the clowns, really your talking about a 4ft tank as a bare minimum for them if you wish to get the potential out of your fish, as these clown can get to 13 inch and over with time.
if thats the only medication you can get it will have to do, it certainly won't do any harm.

i hope you can save the little bugger.
mick

[baldgimp]

Today there are tiny white spots on a lot of my fish (not including this sick loach) which i assume is ich from the new clown loach .

I'm following the instructions in the sticky but not sure if i should raise the temperature that high. I have black widow tetras, silver tipped tetras, neon tetras, guppies, sword tails, kuhli loaches, dwarf guaramis and rummynose tetras. Should i turn it up to 30c or is this too hot for some of these fish?

Also, should i trust the medication I have (linked above)? It says it cures ich. I'm prepared to order something online if it's not suitable, but it may take a few days delivery.

[Diana]

30* is a little high for Neons, but the other fish should handle it OK.

Warmer water carries less oxygen. Increase the aeration in the tank by adding a bubbler, a powerhead, or lowering the water level so the water returning from the filter splashes a bit.
If the fish start hanging out at the top of the tank lower the temperature by a degree or so and see if that helps.

Ich can get inside the gills and make it even harder for them to breathe.

Do lots of water changes, specifically directed at removing the Ich that falls to the floor of the tank to reproduce. A daily vacuum of the bottom will remove a lot of Ich organisms before they re-infest the fish.

[baldgimp]

Thanks. I assume I should put the medication in the new water too? The instructions on the medication are a little confusing. It says to 'repeat treatment after 3 days', does that mean I should add more after 3 days? Won't it still be in the water?

Also, I got some tahitian moon sand today, would it be advisable to swap the substrate over altogether? or should I wait until the ich is cured?

I don't think aeration is a problem, I have a dual head air pump, 1 head going to a airstone (that's usually on a corner filter that i've taken out for the medication), the head end on a tube thing that spans the tank and releases a fizz of air.

[baldgimp]

I found the sick clown loach pictured above dead this morning.. I guess this was pretty much inevitable. The only other casualty since the white spot appeared has been a sword tail, but it was acting strange since i got it along with the new clown loach last week. It didn't have any white spots either, so could have been completely unrelated.
The white spots seem to have disappeared with the exception of a bigger dot on the nose of the new clown loach. I'll continue medicating and doing frequent water changes for a week or so.