need to know

[alfagator]

Hello, am new to this group. The clown loach as long been my favorite fish. But have always been leary about treating for disease. One of my tanks housing 3 clown loaches is having a problem with fin/tail rot. It seems as soon as I succesfully treat one fish, another gets it, I quarantine to medicate, it now seems to me this problem is in the tank itself, and is starting to spread to other fish. All water parameters are good, as well I run a U.V. sterilizer. I really dont want to strip down the tank as I feel this could cause more problems than it solves. Other inhabitants in the tank are a 9 inch black ghost knife, a 8 inch birchir, 3 med sized clown loaches, a weather loach, plecostamus, 3 bush fish, and 2 corys. The fellow at the LFS suggested "Fungus Cure " by API. It contains 3mg. Victoria Green, 30mg Acriflavine.
Any one have any thoughts on this ? Or other meds that would be effective and safe for the clowns and Knife ?
Thank you in advance

[starsplitter7]

Hi there,

I just treated a super bad case of fin/tail rot in my 8" dragon goby with Maracyn I and II. It was severe, because he's always hidden so I caught it late (I had checked him three days earlier and he was fine). He was down to bloody nubs (damage from another fish and then fin rot). He is back to his handsome self, everything grew back in about a month. I had him in a hospital tank. He's in a new tank and very happy.

I know loaches and Knives are more sensitive, so wait for the experts to chime in.

How big is your tank and what temp do you keep it at?

The weather loaches (they like to be in a group too) like lower temps and the clowns like higher temps.

If your tank is big enough, you may want to add 3 or more Cories of the same species, since they like to be in a group. The bigger the better. Also watch out for your bichir. (I adore my bichir -- but she is a fish eater.) If she gets bigger she may be able to at the Cories. An 8" bichir at my LFS cleared out 4 3" Cories.

How big are your clowns? They grow to 16", so medium would be 8"?

Good luck. Tanja.

[alfagator]

Thanks Tanja.......I used Maricyn 2 in the hosp. tank to treat the corys and weather loach, and it worked fine, left them in for the 5 day treatment, followed by a water change, then another 5 days treatment. Their fins had srarted to regrow . Returned them to there home tank and the fins just started to dissapear again with exception to the weather loach, he's still doing great. But the corys are getting much worse and now it seems to be spreading to the birchir and one of the clown loaches.
The clowns are about 5" so i guess theyre on the small side of medium. As for now they're all in about a 40+ gallon tank. The plan was to move them into a 75 but my clown knife wont let anything else in there with him other than a catfish about the same size, and he's armoured so no worries there, theyre both about 12 " and growing faster than i ever thought they could. As for the Birchir hes growing very slow and seems content to eat cocktail shrimp soaked in garlic, actually they all go nuts over it, lol.
I may yet treat the whole tank with maricyn 2 but the cost would be high, or treat with the "fungus cure" and be ready to do a fast water change if necessary. Anyway, thanks for the reply and will see if there are any other replies

[namal kamalgoda]

Can some one help with the recommended doasge of Maricyn 2, and if anyone knows the generic name for it.

thanks in advance

[Diana]

Minocycline is the active ingredient.
Often it is suggested to combine Maracyn (Erythromycin) and Maracyn Two in a combined treatment. One treats gram negative bacteria (many fish diseases are gram negative) and the other treats gram positive bacteria. THis way you are treating the main disease, and protecting against secondary infections.
Dosage of the Mardel lab's formulation 'Maracyn Two' is based on a 10 gallon tank: First day a double dose, followed by a regular dose daily for a total of 5 days. Do 2 water changes of 50%, 12 hours apart and you can re-treat for another 5 days. I do not know how much active ingredient that puts in the water, nor how much it degrades over a 24 hour period. There may be a cumulative effect over the 5 days.
Keep the lights off, and increase the aeration in the tank.
Here is a link to some basic info about a lot of medicines often used in aquariums.

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aq ... ase_7.html

[starsplitter7]

Thanks Tanja.......I used Maricyn 2 in the hosp. tank to treat the corys and weather loach, and it worked fine, left them in for the 5 day treatment, followed by a water change, then another 5 days treatment. Their fins had srarted to regrow . Returned them to there home tank and the fins just started to dissapear again with exception to the weather loach, he's still doing great. But the corys are getting much worse and now it seems to be spreading to the birchir and one of the clown loaches.
The clowns are about 5" so i guess theyre on the small side of medium. As for now they're all in about a 40+ gallon tank. The plan was to move them into a 75 but my clown knife wont let anything else in there with him other than a catfish about the same size, and he's armoured so no worries there, theyre both about 12 " and growing faster than i ever thought they could. As for the Birchir hes growing very slow and seems content to eat cocktail shrimp soaked in garlic, actually they all go nuts over it, lol.
I may yet treat the whole tank with maricyn 2 but the cost would be high, or treat with the "fungus cure" and be ready to do a fast water change if necessary. Anyway, thanks for the reply and will see if there are any other replies

Could one of the fish be injuring the others leading to the disappearance of the fins? I know my Dragon Goby had a fight that injured his fins, and then fin rot set in. Unfortunately bad behavior tends to occur at night in my tanks.

When my bichir was young, I gave her shrimp pellets. Now she gets shrimp and silver sides. She was growing really fast, but now she's about 8" and has slowed her growth. I adore this fish.

You are so correct. Maracyn is so expensive. Thank goodness it works.

I wish you the best of luck. And I am sure there will be more responses soon.

[loachdad]

hi I use "jungle" brand fungus clear. I find it getler on the fish. BUT for ALL loaches I sugest half dosage other than that folow instructions. It is also very inexpesive . Good luck!

[namal kamalgoda]

Thanks Diana

That was very usefull, so was the link. Sorry for butting into someone elses post

[alfagator]

Thanks Loachdad, I will see if any stores carry that here. Hopefully soon I can get all my loaches into my 90 gal. but need to finish off basement as my poor floor cant take much more weight I,m afraid Its great to find a community dedicated to loaches.