My Clown Loach Is Getting Skinny, And Prob With Another Fish!

Hey all --
I've got a Clown Loach (part of a pair) that's about 2 years old and getting really skinny, to the point where it's looking a little angular, like you can see the outline of his spine through his skin.

Also, I have another fish (don't know what kind it is -- he looks like a cichlid, but he's very docile and hides most of the time) that seems to be paralyzed in the tail -- the last 1/3 of his body kind of droops, and he has some kind of sore on the side that sticks out.

A few weeks back, I had a blue dwarf gourami that had a small hole suddenly appear in his side midway down his body up near his top fin. He died last weekend. I thought that perhaps he was roughed up by another fish, but now I'm not so sure.

Could these things be related? I've had all of these fish for several years in a 29 gallon tank that's been established for a couple of years. I do regular water changes probably every 3 weeks. Nitrates and ammonia are zero. The water is a bit alkaline (I use tap water with a chloramine remover).

Other fish in the tank: one other healthy Clown Loach, a couple of glass (or phantom) catfishes, a platy, and a couple of tetras.

I haven't added any new fish to the tank in 6 months at least. I use a Bio Wheel filter and a powerhead. The fish get about 11 hours of light that I keep on a timer.

I feed the flakes daily, and once a week I feed them either some defrosted bloodworms or brine shrimp.

Any ideas? Are they just getting old?

I attached a couple of pics that may help.

Thanks for any input!
zipR

When clown laoches going skinny, it;s called skinny desease.
http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artikl...own%20loach.htm

I have not seen loaches with diseases, I keep 2 clowns and 2 weatherloaches in a 37 with many other fish that are constanly breeding.
Has anyone seen rosy barbs spawn? Thats what the loaches are doing. Perhaps i have stumbled opon there secret!

Back on topic, that cichlid looks like a keyhole, keyholes are weak and sickly. It could be getting old. Make sure it does not have TB, because if it does, youll be in for a really bumpy ride. Do not touch the animal until you figure out what exactly the disease is.

Wilder....Great link and great for posting it. I 'stopped by' from marine to read here...good job. I lost a loach in the beginning of my FW startup and I think that is what he had..skinny dx. SH

Hi and welcome to the forum,

When you say nitrate 0 do you mean nitrite 0 as an established tank should have a reading of nitrate. It is doubtful they are just getting old, clown loaches for example grow 12 inches long and can live for 40 years. How big are they at the minute? You will need to upgrade to a bigger tank in future.

As you only feed flake and frozen food once a week, try feeding some sinking foods for the loaches, mine get shrimp tablets, catfish pellets and algae wafers on a daily basis as well as flake and they get frozen foods a couple of times a week. They also love cucumber so you could try that. I have no idea about the cichlid as i have never kept them.

Emma

ChestnutMoray55 said:

I have not seen loaches with diseases, I keep 2 clowns and 2 weatherloaches in a 37 with many other fish that are constanly breeding.
Has anyone seen rosy barbs spawn? Thats what the loaches are doing. Perhaps i have stumbled opon there secret!

Click to expand...

What with your freshwater morays and your marine bettas, what are these clown loaches of yours spawning in? Lemonade?

Keyholes are not weak. I've always found them to be quite hardy. Also, if your fish have TB, it's not just the animal you shouldn't touch - it's also the water and any equipment that's been in it. However, I wouldn't think it's TB anyway. Sounds more like some kind of internal bacterial infection that is causing ulcers, possibly introduced by the gourami. I can't see the pictures though and the clown could very well have skinny disease.