stephikinsfish Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 One of my clown loaches is sick. I don't know what's wrong just that he won't eat and is not swimming happily with his tank mates as usual. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Clown loaches are very sensitive to water quality, some large water changes might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Hard to do any kind of diagnosis without more specific symptoms so... 1) Check the temperature of the water. (Use a thermometer, not the dial on the heater) 2) Do a large water change. 50% may help. Make sure the water has been dechlorinated and ideally slightly warmer than it comes out of the tap. 3) Take a sample of the old water to a fish store and ask them to test the quality - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH etc... 4) Post back here with more info: How big is the tank? How long have you had it set up? How big is the loach? How long have you had it? What other fish are in there? Have you made any changes to the tank in the past few weeks? (eg introduced new fish, cleaned the filter, put new plants or ornaments in there...) Please get back to us if there are any changes to the clown loach or if any other fish in the tank start behaving oddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephikinsfish Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 The tank is 200litres and has been set up for about 6 months. There a 2 clown loaches 30 7week old angels 7 5 month old angels 2 plecs and 3 bolivian rams in it. Have not added anything except the baby angels last week. Am doing a water change today so will see if that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephikinsfish Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 The clown loaches are at least a year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 Hmmm... that all sounds good. A large-ish established tank, with an established community and a loach that has been living in there for a while, and doing well until now... Sound like it's less likely to be a cycling or water quality issue... Is the loach showing any other symptoms of illness? Is it looking skinny with a sunken abdomen? Can you see anything on its skin like a velvety look, or tiny white spots, or red or injured areas? At this stage you should probably set up a hospital/quarantine tank so you are ready to act quickly if you need to isolate the sick fish and/or medicate it. See if you can get hold of a smallish tank, a heater and some kind of small filter (a basic box-type filter is very cheap from a pet store if you don't already have one lying around and can be run from a small air pump). Use old water from your existing tank to set up the new one, and get the temperature etc as close as you can to the existing tank, so it's ready to go if/when you need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephikinsfish Posted May 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 My clown loach didn't survive but I still have my big one left. He will be lonely though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephikinsfish Posted May 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 It was looking really skinny and not eating...but the big one is fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32GOTMLK Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 sorry to hear that about your wee guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 Sorry about your loss Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Oh that's sad. I have heard a lot about new clown loaches not thriving and fading away like this, but not older loaches in well-established tanks. Keep a close eye on your other loach just in case it was something that might have infected that one too. RIP little fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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