Loaches Online Forum

I got six sids a year and a half or so ago, then another six about a year ago. The second batch went through quarantine and looked good, then skinnified and died off one by one.

So I was down to six for the last several months, then one got skinny. I had already put all of these fish (and the whole tank) through three full treatments with levamisole. I took out the skinny one and put him in a tank with no other fish, to see if I could fatten him up; he died within a week.

So I'm down to five, and one of these is thin. The other four are gorgeous and plump. All eat well. The thin one gets a big belly after a feed, and is thin again by the next feeding.

I'm wondering if I should try some Kanamycin with this skinny guy, or with all of the remaining sids. They are in a 75 gallon and the remainder of the fish in that tank are doing well.

I'd like to get more of these guys, but need to get this issue sorted first! I appreciate any input/suggestions.

Really sorry to hear about your sid's, I had some skinny ones among mine but after 3 rounds of levimasole they all picked up nicely. There are a couple of other products that I have used and found to work fine and they are Flubenol and Kusuri wormer plus, either would be worth a try if you can get hold of them over there.

I had some Clowns like that. A couple of times I treated with Levamisole while they were in quarantine, and they have been fine since. The last few I got were helped by the Levamisole, but needed 'something else'.
Have a look here at Loaches and do a search with the words skinny disease, wasting disease and similar terms.
The treatment that turned mine around was alternating Levamisole with Prazi-Pro, 3 treatments with Levamisole, alternated with 2 treatments of Prazi-Pro (with plenty of water changes).

has anyone narrowed down what this skinney ailment is?.
i've had a few wild almorhae that i thought might have this but with frequent feedings they are fine, i'm like most on here don't dose until you know exactly what s up with the fish.
initially as soon as i get any fish i dose with flubenol mainly for internal bac and worms, i also use oak leaves as there's some kind of agent that stops eggs fungusing so i reckon it's got to have some antiseptic property and it's the same with almond leaves only better..
so my advice would be to feed small but often bits of food to them and see what happens.

mick

Is it safe to use Jungle Parasite Clear with loaches? Praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole and acriflavin.

Tanja the only one we can use is acriflavin, the others we have to see the vet.
and thats only used for fish that have just been bought.
personally if it's not a wild caught fish i think it's better to just observe the fish for any signs of disease rather than put chemicals in the water.
if it's a wild fish then i either dose with flubenol or levamisole.

mick
ps, if the Duff reads this could you get me a bottle of levamisole as the vets round here are prats. ( to everyone prat is the word for well idiots where i live. it's not swearing.)

mick

I'm thinking skinny disease is like dropsy in terms that there's no one cause.
If you've exhausted the parasite route, try the bacterial route.

try pimafix & melafix

mickthefish wrote: ps, if the Duff reads this could you get me a bottle of levamisole as the vets round here are prats. ( to everyone prat is the word for well idiots where i live. it's not swearing.)

mick

I will give my vet a ring next week Mick and see if I can get a bottle for you

CHEERS Mark, your a goodun, a few years ago i just went in the vets and got it over the counter now though i got told they have to work out the dosage.
i told them to have a look at LOL as in the US they use it like us, as a wormer and an anti bac treatment.

mick

I have a kabillion snails in this tank, so I have to be careful what I dose the whole tank with. I think I'll take the skinny guy out and try treating him separately. The other four look great-do you think I should treat them as well?

I have some Prazi-Pro; what are your opinions on whether to try that or antibiotic treatment next? I think while I treat the sid(s) in quarantine I'll treat the 75 with mela- and pimafix...

I did put some almond leaves in the tank a week ago-the fish are constantly over, around and on those things.

I've had the same positive results as Diania when alternating Levamisole and Prazipro treatments.

Levamisole (and flubenol) treats round worms. Prazi treats flat worms.

mickthefish wrote:CHEERS Mark, your a goodun, a few years ago i just went in the vets and got it over the counter now though i got told they have to work out the dosage.
i told them to have a look at LOL as in the US they use it like us, as a wormer and an anti bac treatment.

mick

In wales as long as you are a regular at the vet clinic they are more than happy to order some in if you explain what you are using it for. Im N Ireland I just had to ring and ask a clinic I don't use and they happily gave it out once I explained what I was going to be using it for, they actually seemed fairly interested

Its funny how some clinics are so fussy and others are more willing to help



Ashleigh