Lonely Clown Loach With Ich

[thefishycouple]

I have two clown loaches. One of which just came down with ich. They regularly reside in my 30 gallon planted tank with some neons, a dwarf puffer(who is completly non-aggressive. so please dont tell me to rid of him, hes happy in teh tank) and a pleco. I do 10% weekly water changes and vaccums. my stats in that tank are no nh3 or nh4 or ammonia with a 6.8 ph. I didnt want the loach to infect the other fish or allow the ich to spread or grow in my main tank so i removed the infected clown and put him in a small 3 gallon hospital tank. (Hes only about 2'' so dont worry about him feeling too confined) Anyways, hes always been the more nervous of the two loachesh, and seems very upset now that he has been taken away form his pal. Ive provided some hiding spots in the hospital tbak vut he still seems unhappy. The stats in the hospital tank are no nh3 or nh4 and ammonia, and a 7 ph. Temp is at 82( same as main tank) Should i put the other loach in with him in order to reduce his stress level? I was thinkng it may help him to heal faster. Thanks for the advice.

 

[sophos9]

Loaches should never be kept on their own and need to be kept in groups of 4 upwards, this needless to say will cause stress. The bad news is that both tank will now have to be treated, the ich parasite will multiply like 2000x. I recommend Waterlifes Protozin

Don't forget to dose half measure because of the loaches and remove any carbon filtering for 16 days after the last whitespot has fallen

Do you have enough hiding places for the Loaches? Its a must for Loaches to be able to completely hide

 

[thefishycouple]

i know they shouldnt be kept alone and am thinking of purchasing a third.but for now, im concentrating on getting my loach back to normal. thats why my question is since i have two of them, should i bring my healthy loach into the hospital tank with the other? the hospital tank has a few hiding spots. not much can fit in there since its a 3 gallon. but my reg tank has numerous hiding places. i am half dosing the meds. without carbon. I was also told that you can not treat a planted aquarium with ich products because they will ham the plants. true? thanks.

 

[sophos9]

not kept in a group = stress

clown loach + stress = ich

With clowns as renowned as they are for ich, its most important they are kept comfortable and stress free or ich will be a reoccurring pain in the butt!

Personally I would get him/her in the main tank and treat. I've got a planted tank which is doing fine under ich treatment, thats not to say I'm right what plants do you have?

Maybe someone else can confirm plants as I really do not know...

 

[thefishycouple]

I am using API's super ick cure at half dose. I am using this only in my hospital tank at the time. My reg. tank is cureently going untreated because i was tld its harmful to treat planted tanks. I have an array of plants. amazon brazil and melon swords. wisteria. a cconresis java fern versanillia etc. Does anyone know if plants are effected by ich meds? i also have some drift wood in my reg tank that my loach normally hides in. its hard to keep track of him when he goes in there so i would probobly remove that particular piece untill he is cured. This is all of course if you guys confirm that its ok to treat planted tanks. any more recommendations? thanks again.

 

[sophos9]

Hi

I have all those plants in my tank and they have not suffered from any type of treatment. Leave the wood in place, the loachs need to destress, to remove a known area will only increase stress...

 

[thefishycouple]

i also have enriched substarte if that matters. If i do treat my reg tank.ill leave the wood. Should i clean the tank before i begin treatment. 50% and water change? Anyone else have as good of luck with plants and meds as sophos? thanks.

 

[sophos9]

Snap, I've got florapol, laterite and tetrapro substrate - no problems

Yep, good clean / sand / gravel vac, 50% change then dose the recommended, dont change the water until the fish are all clear of white spots then give a 25% change, vacuum substrate, fill up then DOSE AGAIN. If you are clear after 16days its a really good sign!

 

[thefishycouple]

Great. Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it.

 

[sophos9]

No probs, good luck!