Horse Faced Loach Problem

[starsplitter7]

I set up a new tank for my horse faced loaches, Kuhlies, dwarf froggies and male guppies a couple months ago. Bigger tank, sand bottom, hiding places, lots of plants, . . . Even though it is the same set up with the same fish, plants and decor, I have had lots of problems. Lost my dwarf Cories immediatly, I have been losing a guppy or two a week and last week I lost a Kuhlie.

The Frogs and small green Cories seem fine.

I have been doing weekly water changes to try to sort things out. I use Prime.

My big concern is my biggest Horsefaced loach. After a week or two in the new tank, he no longer could swim properly. His neck is bent forward and he swims at top spend with his bent neck on his left side. I thought he had been poisoned, and I assumed he would die. Now it has been a couple months and he's still with me, and hasn't gotten better or worse. His skin is beautiful, no abrasions, . . . no signs of trauma except for the neck and swimming on his side (Causes him to swim in circles.) Could he have swam into the tank side and broken his neck?

Any idea what is wrong and what I could do to help him? Thanks.

[Johanski]

Sounds like poisoning to me. What's your nitrites / ammoniaks? Other water stats? If everything seems okay, and you don't think it's a disease, then try removing, if you have, any roots in the aquarium. If you're really unlucky you might have gotten a bad root, which can cause all sorts of weird stuff on your fish.

Some more info would be useful

Sad to hear about your fish though

[starsplitter7]

I was just doing to water tests.

My temp is a little high.

82 degrees. Not much I can do about it living in Florida. I keep the lights off and the heaters aren't even in the tanks. And the fish are used to it.

Ammonia 0

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 5

I lost another Kuhlie, 2 guppies and a ghost shrimp today. Augh! Something is wrong.

This tank also has the very small Baby Whale? Could he be zapping my other inhabitants? He seems like a pretty easy going fish. I want to move him in with my bichir, but I am afraid she will eat him. No one seems afraid of the whale. They sit in his tube with him.

And none of this explains the Horsehead. Sigh!

I just did another partial water change.

[Yo_Yo_Luver_69]

what is your ph?

[Tinman]

What sand did you use. Was it in any tank before or collected naturally?. Cories hate salt and are like canarys in a coal mine so if they kicked asap it is a sign ....What else is in there??? Change out the substrate or decor or both. Your water is fine if your other tanks are not suffering like this one. Don't use to much prime either...........How many water changes are you doing? Too many again?? Add some decor that has the slime coat on it to get this film all over your newer tank. Does your newer tank have that thin algae coating like your older tanks get with age,if it does has it transitioned through brown yet to green ?Throw some algea from under your top glass on another tank in this one, might be too dark trying to keep it cool also hhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Munkee]

I am starting to wonder what is going on with the horsefaced loaches recently. I purchased one a few months back as some of you may recall. He developed a strange marking just behind his eyes, this later turned into a nasty ulcer. I treated the ulcer with Melafix/Primafix, and it got better. Then he started looking bent just as you are stating starsplitter! He lasted another month then one morning I found him dead. Such as a shame he came so far from the condition I got him in (skinny as a whip). He really started to fill out then it all went downhill.

I am wondering if they are carrying some sort of illness that causes them to bend like this? I also know of another person who had a horsehead bend then perish.

[JWhipple]

I too have had really bad luck with horsefaced loaches. I actually setup a tank (based on suggestions here in the forum) with sand as substrate and cycled the tank using some danios. I added the horsefaced loaches and they lasted no more than a week one at a time. They would lose their color, turning almost transparent, then die.

Seems almost like they need something special that I simply am not giving them. It's a shame too - I had some really nice sized ones!

[starsplitter7]

Munkee, I am so sorry to hear that your HFL didn't make it. I really thought he would. He was looking so good.

Forgot to list my pH. It is 6.8, which is normal for my water. All my tanks are 6.8 - 7.0.

I used pool filter sand and have it in two other tanks (same 50 pound bag) with no problems. I also rinsed it well. The fish love it.

No salt in this tank. I only use salt for healing purposes, and usually not with Loaches or Cories.

I have had these Kuhlies and Horseheads together more than 6 months, probably closer to a year. I have 8 horseheads -- four big (3-4") and 4 small (2" -- I think another species -- pinky orange). None of the others are bent or are having problems.

I listed all the fish in the first post adding the baby whale in the second. I am surprised the frogs are surviving. I generally have really good luck with Cories. But the three dwarfs I don't think were as hardy. One died the week it went into the old tank. The other two were fine. One died a week after being placed in the new tank, and the second died two weeks later. My three small bronze Cories are doing fine.

I use Prime and use 1 mL per 10 gallons. It comes with Slime Coat.

I generally clean the tank once every week or 2, no scrubbing the glass, siphon the surface of the sand (Kuhlies, Horseheads and MTS stirring up the sand). I rinse the filter in the water taken from the tank, and replace it every 6 weeks to 2 months.

I have live plants, 1 fake plant, 1 PVC pipe, 1 coconut hut (boiled before used -- caused no problems in previous tanks), prefab decoration with no flaws (was in their old tank).

The filter was cycled before I set up this new tank. There's no major algae on this tank, and it has been set up about 3 months.

Sigh!

[helen nightingale]

Tanja, sorry for your bad news.

good luck to you, Munkee and JWhipple