Loaches Online Forum

One of my three weather loaches has become underweight, developed what look like holes on its face near it's nostrils and also has tiny red dot like marks at the end of its pectoral fins. It also has a coating of some kind over its body that makes its eyes look dull. I didn't notice until it got very bad as they are pretty lazy fish in the first place as far as I can make out.

I am happy with my water quality and none of the other fish show any signs of distress (two hillstreams and four danios). Having danios in the tank makes it a bit tricky to feed the loaches but they have all managed to hold their own until now. The sick fish shows signs of trying to feed but is generally quite slow on the up-take and misses out.

Any suggestions as to how I could treat? I don't have another tank that I could use to quarantine and assume that even if i did set one up it would be too late for this fish.

Thanks for reading,

Fez.

I am not an expert on fish health but I would definately isolate him. You don't need another aquarium to do that as a bucket or old tub will do. The shade that a non-glass container provides is good for sick fish anyway. Do make sure there's some kind of lid as he may well jump out to find his friends.

Hope he gets well,
Jon

yeah, I agree that putting him in quarantine will at least give him a chance to feed and get his strength back. however, he sounds pretty sick. Have you considered treating with antibiotics, or other medication, especially if he has red dots and slime coat issues, he may have a bacterial infection.

Thanks for your input, guys.

It's not even trying to feed, althoughIt's still spritely enough that it's diffcult to catch and I don't have a big enough net. The red dots are now more like haemoraging and are on other places too and the fish is even thinner than two days ago. I think i've narrowed it down to a parasitic infection.

I think i might have lost this one. Beggining to see the wisdom of having a quarrantine tank for new fish now.

Signs of a parasitic or bacterial infection in your loach. The first thing to do is isolate it from the others. Then treat it with a tank-wide medication such as Seachem Paraguard (parasitic) or Kanaplex (bacterial).Agar io Improve your fish’s diet with sinking food, extra garlic (Garlic Guard) and increase oxygen to aid recovery. Test the water regularly and reduce stress on your fish.