Lost 4 loaches

[ukloacher]

I lost 4 loaches that I purchased recently. I bought 2 large ones and put them in separate tank and after 2 weeks time added another two. 2-3 weeks later I noticed some problems and found that fish have obvious signs of itch. I have heard that clown loaches are susceptible to itch but hoped that fish 5-7'' got some resistance. I was wrong, the problem is that I have noticed all of this when itch was well developed and fish suffered badly. I treated them with salt for half an hour in a separate tank, made the same another day, then changed all the water in the tank and after that added some methylen blue. Next day 2 of them died, another 2 day later.
Do you think that it was too late to treat them and salt and methylene weakened the fish more so it eventualy caused their death?

In the future I will by buying more loaches. What can I do to prevent itch outbreak?

[Therese]

I am sorry for your loss. I had good luck using Kordon's "Ich Attack", which is a 100% organic treatment...contains natural herbals containing Naphthoquinone.

[djoneser]

Are you aware of the heat and salt treatment for ich? I do not like to use meds if I can help it on my clowns. If you are not aware of the heat/salt treatment, you can read more at http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php and if links are not allowed (or this is removed) just google "treat ich with heat and salt" for a large list of artciles on that topic.

[Therese]

yes, I had investigated heat and salt...I had fish in aquarium that could not tolerate too much heat though. The "Ich Attack" is not a medicine, per se, it is a mix of herbs containing naphthoquinone...it smelled and turned water brown but it worked for me. How are your loaches?

[Therese]

or rather, did you get some more clowns?