peanut2110 Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hi everyone, Of the four surviving clown loaches I rescued from our LFS just before christmas, 3 are thriving and doing really well - chubby, good colouration and very active. However, 1 of them looks like it has a very bad case of anorexia. It spends a lot of time hanging upside down in the back corners of the tank about a third of the way down from the waterline. Other times, it comes over to where you are and just eyeballs you through the glass. Speaking of which, its eyes look far too big for it! It's little mouth is always open and it looks very white (in and around the mouth that is). I have noticed no funny stuff emanating from the rear end, there is no evidence of ick and I'm kind of stumped as to what might be going on with it. I feed them all a mixed diet - frozen shrimp, brine shrimp and std tropical fish flakes, spirulina discs, shrimp pellets and fresh cucumber and courgette once every week or two. Has anyone else had a clown loach exhibit similar behaviour? I would really appreciate any helpful advice you might be able to give me. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarimochi Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Sorry cant help you as I know New Zealand has closed down all of its anorexia rehab centers... I have had 2 loaches just like that, they both died, did all I could for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut2110 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Bummer - not the answer I was looking for! Just realised I probably should have posted this under "Diseases"..... Mods please move this post if you think it is better there than here. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 I had two cases. One of them being the smallest loach out of three, was really skinny and eventually died. The other one was the leader of the three, but the other loach outgrew it really fast and started to bullying the other one, so the leader became really skinny. At this point I introduced another 3 small clown loaches, was an instant improvement, the skinny one quickly put on weight and is not almost as big as the biggest one. Out of the three new ones the smallest one, much much smaller than the rest, only about 2cm long, unfortunately died, it could never get enough food and often had broken fins and tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut2110 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Yes I've noticed this one has a split in his tail and unlike the other three who are always together, the skinny one is nearly always on his own. Maybe it is more to do with their behaviour toward eachother rather than there being anything particularly wrong with the fish. I admit I hadn;t thought of that as I never see him being picked on or denied food. I do have a tank divider so perhaps I will try putting him in a section of the tank on his own tomorrow (when I clean the tank and do a water change) and see if we can improve the situation before it becomes terminal. It really is not nice seeing a fish essentially waste away like that... Thanks for the info and will let you know how he gets on. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 I'd seperate it ASAP incase its a parasite/disease that could spread to the others. I find it hard to believe that it would be getting bullied by the other loaches, they are usually very social and once a pecking order is established then things are fine, in fact if there is a size difference theres usually less aggression as its obvious whos in charge. If the two larger ones are eating all the food and this guy isn't getting any then perhaps you're not feeding them enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 i has this & mine survived. I put him in his own 18" tank & fed him heaps of bloodworms. Had him in there for about a month & he is back in the main tank now thriving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut2110 Posted January 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks guys. Unfortunately I don't have a separate tank to put him in but I can definitely separate him from the others using the tank divider. Smidey where did you get the bloodworms from? Was it somewhere in Whangarei or did you buy them on line and get them shipped to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks guys. Unfortunately I don't have a separate tank to put him in but I can definitely separate him from the others using the tank divider. Smidey where did you get the bloodworms from? Was it somewhere in Whangarei or did you buy them on line and get them shipped to you? i separated him so he didn't have to fight for the food. I get my food from the cameron st pet store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut2110 Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Great - I have a friend heading down there tomorrow - I will get her to pick some bloodworms up for me and give that a go. Fingers crossed he fattens up and gets better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Great - I have a friend heading down there tomorrow - I will get her to pick some bloodworms up for me and give that a go. Fingers crossed he fattens up and gets better! there are frozen, may want a chilly bin. has the pet shop up there closed? I treid to find it last week & it had gone from where it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanut2110 Posted January 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Ok we got the bloodworms back here today and they were still frozen thanks to being wrapped in lots of newspaper and stuck in a chilly bin with a cold pack! I have put the poor wee fellow in isolation and fed him some worms straight away which he took too very quickly and made short work of. I am assuming several small feedings a day would be the way to go? Re LFS Smidey, the one in town closed last year. A new one has opened up in Waipapa, across the road from the warehouse. It's a different lady running it and she doesn't have much in the way of fish or fish stuff as she admits it's not her thing! Of the 10 or so tanks, more than half of them are filled with goldfish and axolotls (sp?) so many in fact, I think she must have got a deal on the funny fish with feet! The only other place up here that does fish stuff is Kwan garden centre on the main drag in to town. They only stock goldfish but they have quite a good range of fish products - much better than the LFS anyway! Will keep you posted on the skinny loaches progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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