Sickly Clowns

[E.C.]

I'm new to the land of loaches, but am concerned about my clowns. 2 1/2 weeks ago we were given a 75 gallon planted tank including its inhabitants:
3 clown loaches
2 discus
3 giant danios
We also added our fish to the tank:
4 bleeding heart tetras
2 small cory cats
5 bloodfin tetras
5 ottos
Much to our amazement, everyone seemed to be settling in nicely until this morning. I awoke to Nigel the loach having died and this evening found Basil also dead. The water parameters have been stable the whole time - ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 10, ph 8.0. We replaced a busted light last week which bumped us up to about 3 watts per gallon in a deep tank. Yesterday I noticed Nigel lying on his side out in various spots at the front of the tank all day (they usually do this behind the plants) - that's the only thing I noticed that was different. I don't see any white spots, inflamed gills, or heavy breathing, so I'm pretty sure it isn't ick. Everyone else in the tank seems happy and healthy. I would love to save the remaining loach, Spot. Any ideas?

Thank you for your input.

[tender]

Hi!
Welcome to LOL
I`m not an expert, but I advise you to give some more info on the tank.
Was the bio-filter fully cycled and intact when you started the tank? 2 1/2 weeks sounds pretty much like the time when nitrite levels will reach a peak in an uncycled filter. Clowns are really volunerable to this. I hope some of the experts here can help you with more info.

PS: Discus and Loaches is not a good match. Discus like calm waters, Loaches want a pretty high amount of circulation.

[Ashleigh]

What are/were the loaches like - were they nicely rounded or did they appear to be under weight? Were they small loaches (1-1.5 inches)? What were you feeding and how often?

Do you know what the maintance of the tank was like before you got it? Do you use any chemicals/co2 for the plants? Any water changes before the loach deaths? If so, how big and how soon before?

Have you fed anything odd, any frozen foods that could have been spoilt-defrosted and then frozen again?

Do you have plenty of aeration in the tank?

Quite a few questions, but as your water parameters are 'ok' a few other options need to be researched

I hope that your other loach is doing well, for future purposes we always recomend on here to treat loaches for any 'nasties' before adding to your main tank. This is to prevent any unwanted bacterial, fungal and parasite infections and if they do show, then you can contain them.

It is always best to have a spare tank (10g is fine) and a small spare filter. The extre filter is kept on the main tank until you buy new fish-setup your 10g and transfer the 'extra' filter over so you have an already established tank. You can then treat your loaches and other new fish for internal parasites (always do this for loaches), an ich treatment is also best as it can 'hide' in the gills. Just as its not visable to you does not mean its not there! This is a bit of extra info but it is best for future use to prevent and contain any other problems.


Ashleigh

[E.C.]

The tank we got was established and we used about half of the original water, all the gravel, and the same filter in our setup. We also used the gravel from our smaller cycled tank. Because the levels have remained stable, we assumed that we managed to preserve the bacteria and escape cycling.

As for the loaches, they looked like the pics I see online of healthy clowns. They were a good size - 5-6 inches each. I have been feeding a varied diet of frozen bloodworms and shrimp, sinking shrimp pellets, and some veggie flakes once a day. Up until yesterday, all 3 seemed to be eating well.

We do have a co2 system, but it is in need of a refill and isn't producing much. It is the same system that the loaches and discus have been in for the last several years.

We did a water change of about 25% on Sunday and I added some Flourish fertilizer at the end. We did another 25% water change last night just in case. I just did another test with a few extras - ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 10, Ph - 8, Kh - 40, and Gh - 150.

We have a rena air pump designed for a 75 gallon tank that has been running 24/day.

We didn't think to treat or quarantine as they were going back into the same tank and water, just in a different house.

I just did another test with a few extras - ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 10, Ph - 8, Kh - 40, and Gh - 150.

Thanks!

[Ashleigh]

Ahh I thought I read the clowns were new Is your kh and gh coming out of the tap the same as in the tank?

Im a bit puzzled that they were happily settled for over 2weeks I hope your remaining clown does well.

Feel free to put up pics when you get the chance.... we are nosey and loke to see pics of other peoples clowns/other fish


Ashleigh

[Diana]

You saved about half the water, which suggests the fish experienced something like a 50% water change when you moved them, and you have since done some more water changes.

Do you know if the water they were in at the old house was similar to the water at this house? Any problems because of the water being extremely different would have shown up right away, but a small difference might take longer to become a problem.

Odd reading:
KH so low (40 ppm is roughly 2 German degrees of hardness) and is more often associated with a rather low pH, somewhere in the low 6s.
Especially with CO2 running. Are you doing something to keep the pH up? Or is the water like this from the water company?

Hmmm... you say the CO2 tank is close to empty. Maybe it is running irregularly. Could it have overdosed the tank for a short time?