Gill Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 I have been trying to get hold of some Clown loaches, I couldn’t find any so although I knew their survival chances were not very high took the plunge and bought 4 babies, they were tiny. Slowly one by one all but two have died, no obvious signs of illness or visible symptoms. One of the remaining two had been sick with white spot. Initially I treated with white spot meds but after a week he was still sick and looked pretty close to drying, one day I thought he as dead and tried to catch him in the net, anyway to cut a long story short and after using a combination of higher temps daily water changes, some salt and white spot meds I think he has turned the corner, the white spot looks much better, he is swimming around much more eating, I will continue the treatment untill he is free from white spot and let you know how things pan out.So I hope after three weeks of TLC I will have another two Clown Loaches to add to the three I already had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Hi Gill - good luck with your clown loaches I hope they get better I really like them, but have heard they're prone to whitespot that's what makes me think twice about getting them - I do know whitespot can't survive in temps above 28* not sure if the loaches like it that warm though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 I had a read up and read that you turn up the temp to 30* and treat with salt but that on its own didnt seem to work so i added in the white spot treatment and did the daily water changes of about 40%.I also took out the filter and added in a couple of air stones. Its week two now and today is the first day i have found a reducation in the white spot.So i am keeping my fingers crossed.Thank goodnes i had them in my small (50l)tank all of this time. If i am successful i might get some more and have another go .Large Clown loaches are hard to find.There are some on that other site but there are 11 up of grabs ,its all very tempting ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Yes, clown loaches are definitely prone to white spot. They can also tolerate quite high temperatures, so I think that is a good way to go as part of a treatment regime. Unfortunately loaches are also quite sensitive to both salt and meds, so you need to be very careful when dosing. Most people recommend half-strength meds for loaches. You're obviously doing the right thing with the water changes. As far as I know, the higher temps don't actually kill off the parasite that causes white spot. It just speeds up the life cycle so they come out of the fish and into the water - that's when the meds can do their job. I'm not sure of my facts here, so someone else might be able to clarify. Anyway, good luck to the little fellow and his companion. I hope they grow up to be big, strong loaches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Whetu's right about raising the temperature. It doesn't kill the bugs, just makes them grow and mature quicker, meaning that you can get away with treating for less time than you would otherwise, and the fish can survive better because they aren't under so much stress being medicated. It's the same thing with cycling; your tank can cycle in about a week less at 29* than it will at 25*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 They dont like to much nitrate either, seems to make them over produce slime, ive found the best way for healthy clowns is good feeding and plentiful water changes. I have 11 ranging from 6-22cm, my biggest will come to the surface for a pat and food. Them and an angel fish were the only survivors from a 38deg stuck on heater that killed a BGK and 4 adult GBA's so temps not a prob. Higher temp means less oxygen though so some form of air would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Higher temp means less oxygen though so some form of air would be good. Also remember that more air does not mean more oxygen in the water, the only way to increase O2 in the water is to increase the volume/surface area ratio; that is, expose more of the surface to air. Having your filter outlet above the surface of the water helps if it stirs up the top of the water, having a pretty bubbler which makes very little change in the top of the water won't be doing much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 clowns are a great fish to start with... but some research is needed... They are prone to white spot, and the move from the LFS to your tank could do the trick... so you must be VERY careful when transporting them. Now you say this fish are small, Clowns are biostrous but do you keep and other fish that may be causing them trouble? again easily stressed... White spot... When it comes to filtration, a nice big powerful internal or even better and small canister is needed, they do make a mess... Or keep up with water changes and good gravel cleaning once a week will help get out fish poo and left over food. Also by dead you mean dead? not lying on their sides? again this is something clowns do so dont get worried if you look into the tank and the are lying on their sides. They do this... White spot... HALF DOSES!!! very sensative gills and you can easily damage them! Not only that make sure their is NO carbon running in your tank. Even when the spots are gone treat the tank for another five days to make sure you get the little suckers... Then add carbon and a nice big water change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Thanks for the info. You're right Clown Loaches are a great fish; they have a great personality and are fun to watch, they love 'playing dead' My three larger ones coped with the trip home and are in another tank so the plan is to eventually move the two new ones in with them but not until they are bigger. I will continue using meds and doing the water changes and then i will setup another filter this time I might use the spare external i have kept running rather than taking up space with an internal one i used before the treatment started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Let us know how your new little loaches get on, Gill. I got a new loach a few months ago to go in the tank with my big ones and he didn't live long. No obvious signs of illness, just seemed to gradually lose weight and fade away. I think your experience here is also a very good demonstration of why a quarantine tank is so useful. The fact that you had your new fish in quarantine meant you could observe them closely and medicate easily, without the danger of messing with your main tank. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Its been an interesting experiance to say the least. I feel chuffed to think if i keep my fingers crossed and with alot of TLC they will make it . I might go and get a few more in the buy one get one free sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Also remember that more air does not mean more oxygen in the water, the only way to increase O2 in the water is to increase the volume/surface area ratio; that is, expose more of the surface to air. Having your filter outlet above the surface of the water helps if it stirs up the top of the water, having a pretty bubbler which makes very little change in the top of the water won't be doing much. Rising oxygen bubbles disrupt the surface increasing oxygenation and will also help keep the surface clear of scum. I run air through Aquaball filters and have found it can make quite a difference. 250 odd med to large GBA in a 120ltr tank for the last couple of years will testify to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Yipeeeeee i now have four more Clown loaches and they are much bigger than the LFS usual supply , at a rough guess they are about 8cm long .Dont you just love the buy one get one free days :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Rising oxygen bubbles disrupt the surface increasing oxygenation and will also help keep the surface clear of scum. I run air through Aquaball filters and have found it can make quite a difference. 250 odd med to large GBA in a 120ltr tank for the last couple of years will testify to that. ^^Yup, that's that I said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwibrick Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I used the temperature method very effectively in my community tank with 6 clown loaches. A couple of the smaller ones had white spot quite badly, so I searched around a bit and decided to use the temperature only method, since they are quite sensitive to meds. Over the course of a couple of days I raised the temperature to 30deg, and made sure to add more agitation to keep the oxygen levels up, which seemed to work since my Gourami's and Betta didn't show any signs of stress. It took probably a week for all the whitespot to disappear off the loaches (only the loaches had the whitespot) and then as advised in the article I found, I kept the temp at 30deg for 2 weeks after the last whitespot had gone to make sure they were all dead, and I haven't had any white spot since (this was about 3 months ago). The raised temperature does indeed speed up the life cycle of the whitespot, but most importantly it stops the reproductive cycle, it doesn't kill them but they can't reproduce in temperatures over 29deg, so once they detach from the fish and fall to the bottom they can't reproduce so it stops the cycle, thats why it was recommended to keep the temp at 30deg for 2 weeks after the last one was spotted to make sure none are lurking anywhere waiting to reinfect the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks for the info ,i was wondering how long to keep the tank at 30*.So far the white spot seems to have stayed away .The sick loach is skinny but i think he is coming right ...I have dropped the water changes to every two days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 ^^Yup, that's that I said. actually it appears you said the opposite.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Did you seriously just necropost a 2 month old thread to wrongly correct me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Welcome to the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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