Clown loaches not doing well

[bwong]

We recently purchased two clown loaches (about 4-5 wks ago). They seemed to be doing well, dancing about the tank as if they were constantly playing tag with one another. This past weekend, we noticed one was very motionless, the other almost as motionless. Even though we've noticed that these fish like to take naps, it now looks like these fish are having problems. They appear skinnier than normal - haven't noticed them eating much. They spend most of the time in the 'nap' or motionless mode. There are no other external indications of problems (i.e. spots, redness).

Hoping someone can provide advice that may help save these fish.

Ph about 7.4 -7.6, Ammonia and nitrates virtually zil. Temp at 80 degrees.

thanks!

 

[catman]

Hiya..

Just to clarify...

Ammonia should be zero, nitrite should be zero and nitrate should be as low as possible...

Might be worht checking these parameters again.

Without more detail, i'm not sure what the problem is, but i would start by increasing to a 25% water change every other day (with treated water) and see if this helps.

Has anything recently changed in your tank?

 

[gadazobe]

Are they being bullied by anything else in the tank?

 

[bwong]

Hi again,

Just a quick update.

Temp = 80 degrees
Water is clear
Ph = 7.4, Ammonia = 0, Chlorine = 0, Nitrate = < 0.1 (I don't know what else to test)
Feeding = some flakes, then frozen blood worms or frozen brine shrimp

We have a 35 gallon tank with the following fish...
3 gouramis (a gold, a blue, and a moonlight - see previous post - only fish showing visible sores)
2 clown loaches (the ones mentioned in this post not doing so well)
1 red tail shark
1 yoyo loach
1 dragonfish
1 striped peacock eel
1 glass catfish
1 twig catfish
1 pleco
(total linear fish inches < 35")

Everyone seems to get along... have never seen anyone fighting or picking on another fish
None of the fish are scraping along the ornaments
Have been vacuuming once a week, followed by changing out about 5 gallons of treated water

What else can I describe? What else can I do?
Should I treat with some medication (i.e. Miracyn or Miracyn II)? I heard that some medications won't hurt any healthy fish even if applied to the tank which may or may not contain a sick fish.

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[catman]

Bwong...

Is that your nitrite or nitrate reading??

If its your nitrate reading, then you need to get a nitrite tester ASAP...

I don't know how experienced you are so i apologise if what i'm about to say you already know.....

Fish waste produces ammonia, bacteria in the filter changes the ammonia into Nitrite, then another bacteria changes the nitrite into nitrate, which is less toxic and is removed by water changes..

The only reason i state this is because if your nitrate reading is nearly zero, then your filter may not be changing the nitrite into nitrate, so you have a build up of nitrite....

If on the other hand its just a typo.... and thats your nitrite reading of <0.1, then i would try the following...

Check your GH and KH.

Increase the water changes to a minimum of 10 gallons twice a week... (5 gallons is not really enough, you want at least 20% which is 9 gallons..) for the duration of the problem..

See if this improves matters..

Failing that, try adding a dose of melafix, it can work wonders on stressed fish.....

 

[ostrow]

I saved a clown loach with similar problems you described using Hex-a-Mit. I've lost many over the last two months to internal and external parasites, but there are other issues at play in my tank. But many folks are reporting clown loach problems in recent weeks, and internal parasites seem to be a trend. I wonder if there is a bad supplier out there or if this is just the wrong time of year.

 

[bwong]

Thanks everyone for the advice... I couldn't respond earlier as I had some business travel. The fish are doing better now. Think that the water changes and stress treatment did the trick. (btw: I did have a typo above - it was Nitrite that was <0.1)