henward Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 weird, in my 2 tanks, in the past 10 days i have had m ysterious clown loach death, i find them on their side, unable to stay upright - eventually leading to death. water params are perfect - nitrate low, in the 10ppm mark or less. no other fish suffers from this, at first i thought my small ornates in one tank is attacking them, then my other tank started to suffer ... so far 1 large one and 1 medium on started to show symptoms. in the other tank , 8 in the last 10 or so days have died the same exact way. i have no clue to what it is, i introduced IAL in the tank 2 weeks ago, i have take this out and will stop to retore the usual parameters. any ideas? can a large ornate bite and leave no visible marks and only internal damage? all my bichirs are going anyways, and the 2 large ornates, but just wondering what this could be. ..... a bit anxious! never really had mass death like this ever before and like i said, no other fish is affected or dying except for the clowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Also note that they are kinda of like confulsing and cant swim properly and what i noticed is that they cant seem to control their eye spike... tne eye spine just keep flickering in and out, sticking in and out... they cant hold it in. weird i have NEVER seen this before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Henward, what is IAL? Do you share nets or implements between the tanks? If IAL is Indian Almond Leaves could it be the way they have been treated to allow them into the country that the fish have reacted to. Have you thought of doing an autopsy on one of the dead loaches. I am sorry to hear of this as I know how much you love the big schools of them you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Sounds like some sort of parasite/virus to me. No idea exactly what it is though. Sorry to hear man. Good luck with the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Could be parasite (internal) or poisoning of some sort. To me it seems like paralysis. I've googled a few sites but nothing similar has come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 if the Indian Almond Leaves were treated when imported chances are they would be iradiated or fumigated with methyl bromide along with 1% chloropicrin for the safety of the operater (as methyl bromide is odourless and chloropicrin is tear gass) Since all these things are used to treat foods for human consumption I don't think there would be much chance of a toxic residue. Is it possible that there is something in the leaves which the clowns are sensitive to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Odd. You would expect something else to show similar symptoms if water is the issue. Since CLs are often wild caught it could be a case of worms/internal issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 I have eliminated little things. I have checked corners for rotting carcasses i missed, Negative. what i have found that the IAL usually takes 4 to 6 days to start to brown the water, These ones started to leech tannins with in 2 to 3 hours. i checked the PH - usually my tank sits at around 7 or very high 6. Basically 7 ph, my tap water is 7.6 to 7.8 Ph. i tested and it was beyond 6, probably a lil lower than 6. I belive that it is PH shock, over night the PH must have dropped significantly and shocked them Looking at the patterns of death, it started when i introduced IAL 2 weeks ago. i have taken out all IAL and upped my water cahnges over 24 hours to restore the balance. i feel annoyed at myself becaues the IAL was unneccesary, i wanted it really for the brown in the water - as a result, lost 2 large clowns and about 10 smaller to medium clowns in 2 weeks!! :sick: :tears: :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 IME Indian Almond leaves do take quite a while to turn the water brown. Are you sure this is what they really were? I do hope you have found the cause, not that its going to bring your clown loaches back, but it may prevent more deaths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 i agree with you completely, i surely hope that is the cause man... i tell ya, i have not had this sort of mass death since ages ago when i first started getting heavily into the hobby - growing pains, embarassing really!! IME too, that IAL tend to take ages, last time i used them, it took literally a week before the wa ter started to brown! this one, straight away. i bought it from the same person i got it from last time, i have 40 leaves left, i will not use it and discard it. dont wanna take that risk again! if its not the cause, then i am stumped! but the patter of use vs the symptoms starting coincides - that is the only thing different i did in the tank!! i will not feed anymore today or tomorrow and test ph twice daily. i turned up the water changer slightly to get the ph back to normal and have it stable. no other fish has suffered any ill health at all what so ever - arowana is very active and hungry, spotted metynis are fine, plecos are fine, eel etc but what i did see, is the parrot scratching itself a few times this morning before i took out the IAL. maybe coinsidence. but who knows. i lost 2 large ones at least worth 250 to 200 each today, and 10 smallish and medium clowns in the past coupel weeks!! half of whcih are oddballs - 2x 4 stripes, couple with weird patterns and 2 spotted clowns :tears: i believe i may lose some sleep tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmillanm Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Sorry to hear about your clown loaches and GL with not losing any more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackp Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 i've seen your setup (bought an automatic fish feeder off you) and i've seen your passion. i feel for you mate. i hope you've got it sussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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