Loaches Online Forum

Hi I hope someone can help. My beloved clown loach, Fred has suddenly blown up to an extremely round appearance and his eyes are bulging severly. I think this might be dropsy but have seen some forums say loaches dot get it as they have no scales. Am very confused and just want to know how to help my poor fish. Have done a water test with a master kit and all seems fine. It is a 125l tank and he has been in there for over a year now. He is hiding away which is unlike him. He was a little lethargic yesterday but otherwise has been active and eating well. Any ideas?

Dropsy is usually a catch-all term to describe generic poor water quality and a certain set of symptoms. Until someone who has more loach-specific knowledge comes along, it's probably a good idea to do some water changes with temperature matched and dechlorinated water, say 30-50%.

Can you post your exact water parameters and temperature? Which kit do you use?

Dropsy can be identified by swollen or hollow abdomen.

I use an API master test kit and the tests are neg for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and the ph is 7.8 which i know is high but this is local water ph and although it is high it is stable as it has a high kh. I do a 25% water cahnge weekly and thetemp is 26. I am now not sure it is dropsy as the swelling has gone down and he is much brighter but his eyes are still protruding slightly. One of my emperor tetras has passed away though with no visible signs of illness at all. I''m wondering now if it is bloat due to a bacterial problem. Any ideas?

The symptoms you describe are often caused by bacterial infections… it may be a good idea to do a short course with a generic anti-microbial. For example, I would consider a half-dose course of eSHa 2000 as it covers a wide range of gram positive and gram negative bacteria, and fungus, but does not damage the filter.

Do you know why your nitrates are 0 ppm? Has there been any variation in pH in the last few months?

thanks kittykat, The ph is always stable due to the high KH and the nitrates are at 0 as we have quite a few live plants that feed on nitrates so this keeps it all low. Will have a look at the treatment you have suggested