Clown Loach Trouble!

[lililumps]

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone might be able to help-

I have taken over a tank from the mother in law, have had it for about 18 months. Everything was fine til about 2 months ago. The tank had 1 clown loach and a cat (think it was a dwarf algae eater).

A few months ago, we added 3 guppies and 6 neon tets.
One of the tets went missing, but things seemed ok.

About 6 weeks later, we added two platys (I think, small pretty orange things, husband bought).

From that point on, fish were dissapearing overnight, first the tets over less than a week, then the guppies, leaving only the male who eventually went a week later along with the platys.

That was it. I checked all hiding places and filters for bones, scales etc. Nothing! None of the fish seemed stressed or had fin problems, bites etc. They just dissapeared!

Then, 3 weeks later, the cat went.

Now it's just the clown loach, all on his own. I can't understand where the hell they've all gone. I mean, the cat was the same length (slightly longer) than the loach (about 4 1/2 inches)

Completely unsure of what to do now

Do I keep the tank running for this one fish? Can I only add more clown loaches or would anyone suggest adding only larger fishes than the loach?

Hoping someone can help x

 

[mark.w.jones]

Now its doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out who your main suspect is. However, I think it is more likely that you have poor water conditions in your tank that the other fish have been been more susceptible to. Clown Loach are reknowned for their hardiness. Dead fish also disintigrate very quickly and may have been eaten up by your cat and the loach.

I would add nothing for the moment and get yourself a water test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Post these levels here asap. Your Local Fish shop will also test water you bring in for a small cost if you don't won't the kit. Write them down. If these levels are fine then you may have other problems with the tank / your maintainence procedure.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Does the tank have a filter, and if so, have you checked inside it? Does the tank have a lid/hood and have you checked around the tank to see that the fish have no jumped out? What sort of filtration does the tank have (if any)?

The reason for the death of the fish could be down to water quality problems, what is your average tank cleaning regime like (water changes, clean filter and substrate etc) and how do you go about it exactly?
How often do you feed the fish and what and how much on average?
How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width, height)?
Do you use dechlorinator in the water and do you have any test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?
Did/are any of fish showing any odd symptoms whether behavioral or physical like gasping/rapid breathing, flicking/rubbing themselves on objects, inflamed gills or anus, spots or growths on fish etc etc?

More info on your situation would help a great deal .

 

[lililumps]

Cheers Jonesy,

Will do this weekend. I'll let you know

 

[england]

are you 100% sure the lid is airtight?my sister had a similar problem which we discovered they had all been jumping out this very small hole on rear of the hood....

once i lost 4zebra fishs looked everywhere except under a large peice of bog wood which i had burried in the substrate,anyhow there they were all 3 remains

 

[lililumps]

For tokis and nelly -

No there were no problems on the fish, as said, they seemed completely normal one day then were gone the next. No stress, no spots, blemishes, discolouration etc.

Have checked all round the tank, have checked the filter and all hiding places. Absolutely nothing

The set up is: 80 cm high x 70 cm wide (hexagonal shape),
fluval 2 plus filter
Water change every 12-14 days change about a third and replace with water treated with tap-safe. Always been a very clean tank.
Never had any problems before, they all seemed quite happy for ages then all seemed to go pretty rapid, like I said, no clues whatsoever, I thought there'd be at least some tell tale signs on fins or some remains etc.
Fed on tropical flake food, occasionally given some frozen mosquito larvae. Am thinking now that the loach could have done with some more live food perhaps?! (Or he definitely could now because there's no more fish for him to eat!)

Thanks for your help guys x

 

[poopsydrew]

For tokis and nelly -

No there were no problems on the fish, as said, they seemed completely normal one day then were gone the next. No stress, no spots, blemishes, discolouration etc.

Have checked all round the tank, have checked the filter and all hiding places. Absolutely nothing

The set up is: 80 cm high x 70 cm wide (hexagonal shape),
fluval 2 plus filter
Water change every 12-14 days change about a third and replace with water treated with tap-safe. Always been a very clean tank.
Never had any problems before, they all seemed quite happy for ages then all seemed to go pretty rapid, like I said, no clues whatsoever, I thought there'd be at least some tell tale signs on fins or some remains etc.
Fed on tropical flake food, occasionally given some frozen mosquito larvae. Am thinking now that the loach could have done with some more live food perhaps?! (Or he definitely could now because there's no more fish for him to eat!)

Thanks for your help guys x

Water stats would really help.

 

[england]

well all i can think is that they died And got eaten rapidly...doe happen

 

[dazz]

well all i can think is that they died And got eaten rapidly...doe happen

I would guess ur cat ate ur small fish ( they like tetras for supper ) and as with other posters im guessing somthing killed him too and ur clown polished him off. Water changes are key with a good filter properly maintained will keep ur future fish happy. My cats have eaten most of the small tetras in my tank i have clown loach too but they usually wont go after live fish only dead. anyway hope u set up a new tank nicely, darren

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

For tokis and nelly -

No there were no problems on the fish, as said, they seemed completely normal one day then were gone the next. No stress, no spots, blemishes, discolouration etc.

Have checked all round the tank, have checked the filter and all hiding places. Absolutely nothing

The set up is: 80 cm high x 70 cm wide (hexagonal shape),
fluval 2 plus filter
Water change every 12-14 days change about a third and replace with water treated with tap-safe. Always been a very clean tank.
Never had any problems before, they all seemed quite happy for ages then all seemed to go pretty rapid, like I said, no clues whatsoever, I thought there'd be at least some tell tale signs on fins or some remains etc.
Fed on tropical flake food, occasionally given some frozen mosquito larvae. Am thinking now that the loach could have done with some more live food perhaps?! (Or he definitely could now because there's no more fish for him to eat!)

Thanks for your help guys x

Neon tetras are very sensitive to water quality conditions, i would advise doing water changes on a more regular basis (like once a week), do you clean the substrate in the tank or filter at all?
I would strongly advice you buy an accurate test kit for testing water quality (like one of the Master test kits) that tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. Water quality and the ecosystem of the tank is a finely balanced thing, it can go wrong for a variety of reasons and then the next thing you know all the fish are dying, the water may look clean but things like nitrites and nitrates are odourless and not visable to the naked eye, so the only real way to know whats going on in your tank is to test the water and get the exact stats for these things . One of the no.1 causes for fish dying or falling ill is water quality problems.

Do you know what type of catfish you had? There are thousands of types of catfish, some are herbivores, while others are omnivores, carnivores, scavengers, predators, insectivores etc. Some grow to 1inch long, while others available in the hobby can exceed 4ft long. If you don't know exactly what type of fish you have, then you cannot know how to look after it well etc- so it is very important to make sure all of your fish are accurately ID'd.
The clown loach would have done much better on a diet of algae wafers, catfish pelets and things like frozen bloodworms and krill etc.

What sort of decor do you have in the tank (types of plants, rocks, substrate, caves etc)?