White Spot And Clowns

[Skysters]

The thin loach. Is he eating well but not putting weight on?
As you might need to use an internal wormer once the whitespot has cleared up.

http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artiklar/praktbotia/clown%20loach.htm

Information taken from the above link.


Special problems:
There is a couple of things that you should keep watch for concerning Clown loaches. The most common problem is white-spot, these fish are easily struck down by this disease. This often occurs when the fish have been kept too cold or in newly bought fish after being transported. Habitual fish that are well cared for are not more susceptable than others, in the ten years that I have kept these fish privately, I have only had white-spot once. For safety´s sake always have white-spot medicine at home if you acquire botia, it can save lives. White-spot is easily cured but can be a catastrophy if not treated.

N.B! follow the dosage instructions carefully for all medicines, some medicines recommend half the normal dosage for just loaches, because they can be sensitive to some ingredients, mainly coppercombinations.

Loss of weight or "skinny disease" is also quite common in Clown loaches. Typical symptoms are loss of weight and behaviour known as "knifeback" even though the fish is acting and eating normally. This sickness is more difficult to treat, it comes from a parasite organism (spironucleus) in the intestines of the same type that is thought to cause the so called "discus disease". I have successfully removed this disease from newly imported fish by using Spirohexol from JBL in the form of tablets. I have taken one tablet and crushed it and dissolve it in as little water as possible. I have then used discus granules which have been soaked in the solution. It becomes like a thick porridge after a short time when the food has drawn in the liquid. I then feed this to the sick fishes, after a week it looks like the sickness is gone. For the best possible effect do not feed with any other food. Flagyl (Metronidazole) also helps fight against this sickness but at least here in Sweden it is on prescription and can be a little difficult to come by.

Apart from this Clown loaches are not more susceptible than other fish, the above sickness usually occurs in fish that have been stressed during transport or subjected to other stress factors like cold water or poor aquarium hygiene. Do not buy fish that look emaciated! Well looked after fish are seldom sick. To quote my friend Elisabeth Hallberg; "the best way to avoid sickness is to keep the fish healthy".

Thanx for this wilder , he has always been that thin since having him , yes he eats well but not sure how much .. and as for blood worms yes the loaches go mad when they in tank up until today all loaches have scavenge about for food while i watch so i am assuming they are eating , normal poo etc so other than white spot i havent noticed anything else wrong cept hes like smaller than the rest of the clowns i am trying to pull them thru this ordeal as Ws has really got the loaches bad! ..

so i will do this white spot and hope that i can make these better , then look into treatment for this also ..thanx for the advice and info

 

[WILDER]

Good Luck.

 

[Skysters]

gutted lost one of the clowns today the very skinny one the other 2 in hiding not seen sign of them this morning ..altho most the day they were about yesterday turned light out ,,had on for a little time to see if they come out too feed but no sign of yet been nearly 2 hours i fear they either in hiding cos their mate didnt make it or well i dread the thought

ill keep u informed how things are doing ... water change again later

 

[Tizer]

I can honestly say i'm not surprised, it did look on deaths door. Keep at it though, its worth the effort. Gluck.

 

[Skysters]

I can honestly say i'm not surprised, it did look on deaths door. Keep at it though, its worth the effort. Gluck.

Thankyou Tizer .. not sure if i shud try looking for the other 2 in their hidy hole today if i dont see them in another hour or so to make sure they still with us

will start water change again about 1.30 ish then med again

 

[Skysters]

ok after 6 hours not seeing the loaches i went and looked for them , expecting to find dead loaches ..checked all hidey holes carefully both dissapeared i know i fished one dead one out this morning he was just too week but im really at a lost where these could have gone surely the golden loach and poorly platties and 2 snails couldnt have eaten them ..i searched all about the gravel and just cant find them , they couldnt have gotten out so how can i lose 2 loaches

 

[Tizer]

lol, good question, found em yet? didn't suck em up the hose did you? They are very good at squeezing into small places

 

[Skysters]

lol, good question, found em yet? didn't suck em up the hose did you? They are very good at squeezing into small places

nope not found them , and nope didnt suck in hose when doing water change either unless they have completley hided in the bog wood gaps even tho i tried looking then i have no idea i checked all about the tank looking for anything like a half eaten fish etc pulled my plants and checked filter and nothin

i have read they are very good at hiding but where i just dont know

unless they under the gravel i did a sweep but didnt disturb them if they are

im sure they are upset that they have lost a friend and just litterally gone into hiding , i just hope they may show them selves soon

its upsetting to think one has died already but too think 2 is missing im just errrm gobsmacked

 

[WILDER]

You will have to remove ornaments, wood, etc from the tank and take a really good look. Also check filter.

Sorry for you loss.

 

[Skysters]

You will have to remove ornaments, wood, etc from the tank and take a really good look. Also check filter.

Sorry for you loss.

thanx Wilder , i have checked deccos filter etc but im thinking the bog wood has hollow bits they could climb into fully so later i will keep a watch in the dark see if they come out.

 

[WILDER]

I remember once a member taking her ornaments out to clean and a clown loach fell into the sink. They do seem to hide themselves pretty well.
If you haven't seen the clown loaches by tomorrow you might have to gently turn over your substrate.

 

[Skysters]

I remember once a member taking her ornaments out to clean and a clown loach fell into the sink. They do seem to hide themselves pretty well.
If you haven't seen the clown loaches by tomorrow you might have to gently turn over your substrate.

i will do wilder thanx for the support here you and Tizer have been great with the help u have given me

 

[Skysters]

well today im still at a loss , still 2 missing clown loaches ,

i am sad too say 4 neons left i died this morning , the other 2 i cant find , 3 platties and 2 snails and i golden loach so a have lost so many with the strain of white spot in tank .. i just think im losing a battle

today ..

my plan is to transfer all neons and platties into a hospital tank with water from main tank and a filter from main tank some plants for them to hide in .. then continue to treat hospital tank and big tank for white spot . untill sunday as suggested and then see how we get on from there i do undertsand this is a big risk and can mean more loss , but im losing fish one by one now other than ammonia which is .25 nitrates between 10 and 40 ,, hence daily water changes .. nitrites 0 and ph normal i can only think so many water changes have upset all big time


Thus leaving 2 apple snails and one golden loach in big tank

im going to empty most water in buckets today , deccos and the remaining plants to preserve it while i go thru the gravel with a tooth comb so this will be a good tank clean today , thus im guessing restarting Cycle but not cleaning windows so sucking loach will still have those to clean and obviously the stones i have will not get cleaned so he will still have plenty of algae to eat from them

the golden sucking loach is the only thing in my tank not too catch white spot , i been watching him closely and monitering his moves over the last week too see if there is any signs of Ws ..but no flicking nor spots ..how he has escaped Ws is beyond me.

so To tizer and wilder .. obviously this is going to start a full Cycle of the tank im guessing .. which will take a cpl weeks or more to put right obvilsly filters will get a quick rince leaving most bacteria , and the subtrate isnt being removed to be cleaned just a good gravel clean ..

will my golden loach and 2 apple snails be enough to do this ?? to help recycle it ?

im having to empty most of the water today preserving what i can in buckets as the only place and i cant see how they could have gotten out of tank is to check behind tank cabinet too see if i can find missing loaches its a full cabinet now gaps at bottom to see to back , least this will put my mind to rest , other than that if they are not there ..im assuming they died early thru the night and was eaten but 2 eaten loaches in one night from a tank full of poorly fish cpl snails and neons 3 plattys and a gold loach is unbelieveably hard to grasp at the thought they could have eaten and completly disposed of said loaches

this is gonna be huge step for me starting all over in big tank ..but i dont think i have any choice now i have to find the clown loaches least try

anything i need too know ? advice etc before starting this at lunchtime ? thankyou both for all u have done to help advise me the last few days , been very much appreciated ..

and i will keep you informed if said loaches are found

 

[Tizer]

Water changes don't stress fish as much as people believe, as long as the new water temperature is very close to the tank water.

I'm not really sure what to suggest but personally, i would move all the fish to the small tank, with the small filter running, do your daily water changes on that tank, lightly medicate it and see if you can keep them alive.

This leaves you your big tank to clean up and then get the filter in working order with a fishless cycle using household ammonia.

Personally i'd have everything out of the big tank so its just glass. Give it a clean in some warm water, buy yourself a new bag of sand or gravel, whatever you prefer, fill it back up, set the filter going and get going with your fishless cycle.

there are hundreds if not thousands of threads on here where people do this for you to gleam info and don't forget the beginners resource forum, its the best place to start.

 

[Skysters]

Water changes don't stress fish as much as people believe, as long as the new water temperature is very close to the tank water.

I'm not really sure what to suggest but personally, i would move all the fish to the small tank, with the small filter running, do your daily water changes on that tank, lightly medicate it and see if you can keep them alive.

This leaves you your big tank to clean up and then get the filter in working order with a fishless cycle using household ammonia.

Personally i'd have everything out of the big tank so its just glass. Give it a clean in some warm water, buy yourself a new bag of sand or gravel, whatever you prefer, fill it back up, set the filter going and get going with your fishless cycle.

there are hundreds if not thousands of threads on here where people do this for you to gleam info and don't forget the beginners resource forum, its the best place to start.

Thank Tizer think ill do this then