clown loach swimming awkwardly, laying on side

[claire2307]

I need some advice regarding one of my clown loaches. I have 2 which i got two weeks ago and two that i bought one week ago. they all seemed to have been doing well in their new home but today I noticed one seems to be thinner and appears to be swimming oddly, it looks as though he is having trouble staying upright and swims around quite actively and then will go and lay on his right side in a curved form. he will stay there for a few minutes and then have another burst of swimming oddly. I immediately checked all water levels and all are fine, i have been feeding a flake diet, pellet food and frozen bloodworms. He looks as though he is foraging for food but not sure if he is actually eating.

I adore the clown loaches and am so upset that I have spotted his state to late and fear he won't make it but will do anything for him to save him. I don't have a hospital tank set up would it be wise to segregate him within the main tank to ensure that he has his share of food. None of the other fish are picking on him and I am leaving the aquarium light off to avoid any stress to him.

Any advise is greatly appreciated..................

[Diana]

Clown Loaches (and many other Loaches) are noted for laying on their side perhaps taking a nap, but they can wake up pretty fast, and have no problems swimming and eating. Also, they lie down pretty much the same way they swim, flat, not curled up. It sometimes seems they are trying to fool the aquarium keeper into worrying, "Oh no! He is lying on his side, and so still" Then the Loach gets up and swims off, almost laughing as he goes...

However...
The sort of behavior you are seeing, the inability to swim well, and a lot of time curled up on the floor of the tank, along with the skinny look does mean there is something wrong. This is not the normal behavior of healthy Clown Loaches.

Many bottom feeding fish (Loaches, Catfish and others) take in intestinal parasites while they feed. As long as the stress is low the parasite load is low. However, when a fish is caught (many Clowns are wild caught), transported and held the fish is greatly stressed, and no longer fights off the parasites so well. Also, the holding tanks may have even more parasites that infest the fish. The fish may have more than one type of parasite.
To complicate the picture there are many bacteria that can infect fish. While they are not stressed the fish's immune system can fight off these bacteria, and the fish stays healthy. The stress of capture, transport and holding, though, and the overcrowding can spread many diseases among the fish.

Here is what I would do:
1) Best is to hold new fish in a quarantine tank for at least a month and treat for internal parasites and bacterial disease. Since these fish are already in your main tank it has become a quarantine tank, and all the fish have been exposed to the diseases and parasites the new fish (all of them) may be harboring.
2) Treat according to the information here at this site for 'Skinny Disease'. (Do a search, and click on any threads that include the word 'Skinny' in their title)
Plenty of water changes, gravel vacuuming, and alternate between medicines for internal parasites, and antibiotics.

Here is the method I used:
Levamisol
Maracyn and Maracyn II or else Kanamycin
Prazi-Pro

Read the labels on all the meds. Internal parasites are usually treated with some variation of
"Medicate for 3 days then no meds fore a week, and repeat 3 days on/ week off for about 3 treatments"
Clear each round of medications with large water changes and 24 hours of fresh activated carbon before moving on to the next medicine.