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[Colin clown loach]

OK Here is the deal

Tank set up December 2008
60"x24"x30" tank
Never a problem, pond filter for 1000l pond+ 2 no powerheads with foam inlets + tetratec1200ex with uv steralizer.

Recently I introduced some vine root (I think thats what it is) from the LFS. Didnt soak it too well prior to introduction, water went tea coloured.

water changes helped

Went away on hols for a few days and had a friend feed the fish once, standard feed, I told him what to put in, although I think he got carried away with the peas.

When I got back I noticed that the big 6" clown was very fat, thought nothing of it.

Recently the larger clowns are looking bad. It looks like acid burns to the head. Also, acis burns to the dorsal fin. One is getting very skinny but all seem active except big clown, he (or she, who knows) seems to sulk in a cave.

I have lost my hopo catfish and one zebra loach but the clowns are holding on.

Now I have maybe 8 clowns looking very bad and maybe another 10 showing some signs.
I treated them with Octozin.
Treatment in an 800l tank was proving difficult.

I removed all the clowns to a 120l tank 4' and gave the big tank a serious clean up.
I have noticed my gold nugget plec had gone, probably fish food causing serious water chemestry problems.

Any opinions on what has happened?

what are they suffering?

is it contagious?

how do I treat?

I have maybe £500 of stock and some of these clowns I have had for 2 years. Am I gonna loose the lot?

[Diana]

Before suggesting any sort of medication, I would start with water parameters.
Ammonia and Nitrite can spike from overfeeding and dead fish.
Nitrates often follow, if a water change is not done promptly. Sometimes it takes a couple of water changes and some deep, thorough gravel vacuuming to clean up a tank.

GH, KH, pH. Have any of these or TDS changed?

Once the tank is cleaned up and stable the fish will start to feel better and be less stressed and better able to deal with whatever is infecting them.

Here is what I think has happened:
Many diseases and parasites are present in our tanks all the time, but healthy fish with very low stress levels are able to keep these problems under control. Their immune system fights off these things.
Then something stresses the fish. In this case, overfeeding itself, and spikes in the various nitrogens can be stressful enough that the fish lose the ability to fight off whatever is in the tank.

Loaches and wild caught bottom feeders tend to carry a low level of intestinal parasites of several species with them from the wild.
They may also be carrying bacteria or viral infections.

'Skinny' generally points toward certain internal parasites. This problem develops over time.
'acid burn' might be ammonia burns. Ammonia burns the tender tissues of the fins and gills, and can burn all over. The possibly compromised gills add another form of stress. A fish can also get burned by contact with the tank heater. This is common among fish that like to hide in caves and fish that perch on things. Sometimes they hide behind the heater or rest on it, resulting in burns where they were touching it.
'Too fat' sounds like your friend did overfeed. The alpha Loach probably hogged too much of the food. This is usually self-correcting, simply reduce the feeding for a few weeks, perhaps offer 75% of normal, and try to place it where the other fish can get a good share of it, and the alpha Loach cannot hoard it all.

Treatment for intestinal parasites generally follows a pattern that varies with the parasite, but includes multiple treatments at 1-2 week timing, so that you catch several generations of the pests. Many parasites have different phases to their life cycle and not all these phases are susceptible to medication.

What is (are) the active ingredients in the product you have used?

[Colin clown loach]

Thank you for your prompt reply, it confirmed my worst fears.

I looked in my hospital tank and have about 50% death, I am devistated. The stress of the movement or something has taken its toll.

I can boast only loosing 1 clown to this day and that was in the early days.
I have nursed ick sucessfully.
Delt with HITH with an Oscar which is now 10"
I regarded myself as a competant and caring fish keeper.
But this has knocked me out.

looking in the tank its all the larger fish which have died, one night!!!!! thats all it took.

my main tank is totally sorted. I am going to collect the remaining healthy clowns and transfer them to that tank.

Sad day for me, I never thought I would feel this way about fish.

Bugger!!!

[Colin clown loach]

Its bad but not as bad as I thought, 7 down, all large including my Alpha. Strange how its only large fish bothered, all the smaller ones are unmarked.

I conclude its Ammonia which has caused the problem, overfeeding from the gold nugget plec, it was about 5".

I have still got maybe 8 fish with marks, if it is Ammonia how should I treat. Yes they are breathing franticly.

[Diana]

Get the ammonia level down if you have not already done that. Remove dead fish and fallen food and fish waste that all decompose to form ammonia.

Keep a close eye on the test results. Make sure the nitrifying bacteria are keeping the ammonia and nitrites at 0 ppm.
Keep the nitrates as low as possible. Under 20 pm for sure, and under 10 ppm would be much better.

Fish breathing fast can be stress and injured gills from ammonia, and it could be from nitrite. When nitrite is high enough to show on a test the nitrite can enter the fishes' blood and cause a problem called Brown Blood Disease. This affects the blood so that it cannot carry oxygen very well. The medication for this is salt. 1 teaspoon of sodium chloride per 20 gallons (80 liters) of tank water is enough to reduce the amount of nitrite crossing the gills. When the nitrite test returns to 0 ppm you do not need to worry about removing the salt, regular water changes will do this. This level of salt is low enough for plants and salt-sensitive fish.

Not much you can do to cure the fish if the ammonia has burned their gills. They may recover, and heal, or they may be left with some permanent damage to the gills. Just keep the water as clean as possible so there is less chance of diseases trying to move in while the fish are weakened.
Make sure there is plenty of water movement so the oxygen level is as high as possible.

[Colin clown loach]

Update

No losses last night.

main tank and hospital tank all reading at 0.

gill movement in main tank with healthy fish is almost not noticable if they would just slow down so I can take a better look. Behavior normal, Phew.

Hospital tank, gill movement has slowed but they still seem very jittery. Flesh burns see the same.
Already upped the air, I think thats what got them all last night, lack of oxygen in the water with damaged gills = dead fishies
Salt you say, will do, will get some tonight on the way home from work.

Thank you for your advice