White Spots On Clown Loach!

[star4]

Good news, so long as no more appear on any other fish in the next 48 hours your well on the way to curing it , BUT even if all the spots disappear, finish the course of treatment to make sure you kill all of the parasite in its free swimming stage.

 

[Samj11]

I will certainly do that! I always get nervous when I turn the lights off at night! I always worry when I next turn them on I would'v'e lost one! lol!

 

[Samj11]

BAD NEWS.
 
Somehow my 100L is now infected, too! Only explanation I can think of is I got a fighting fish from the same store at the same day and the fish probably all share the water and parasites! (Never going to Pets at Home again!)  I've altered the heating settings up so the temperature rises and is at 80f (as it was a bit below) and now I have to do a water change and use the same medicine to treat my smaller tank! SIGH. Gone midnight but I don't want to leave it to the morning.
 
Somebody worked it out for me the last time because I'm awful at maths and what not, even if it's realtively simple, but it says that 1ML treats 9 litres of water. 100 divided by 9 is 11.11, but because I have to half the dose because I also have a loach in there (that I was planning to move to the bigger tank before the outbreak and now he's infected too!) I have to half it, so that makes it 5 and a half ML's of the medicine, right?
 
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! 

 

[star4]

thats bad luck but yes on 1ml/9l of water you want 5ml for 100l. How is the clown loach doing?

 

[Samj11]

He's acting relatively normal. Swimming around and exploring as he always does. I sat down to feed them last night and that's when I realised he and some of my tetras have ich, which SUCKS.
 
As I said, I've upped the temperature, did a water change and added the medicine and I've made sure the filters constantly keeping the surface area moving for oxygen. My loaches in my 300L seem normal. There's still a spot here and there but it has only been a few days. They should go over time, too! (Heres hoping anyway!)
 
Oddly enough, my fighting fish seems fine. What are they immune, or something!? Lol.

 

[star4]

Fingers crossed he doesnt get it.

 

[Samj11]

Argh, it's so frustrating. There're spots on my clown loaches in my big tank again. I don't understand. I've been applying the medicine every 48 hour as instructed and the temp is at a constant 80f (in both tanks). Am I just being impatient? Does it take a while to kill all the free-swimming parasites?

 

[star4]

Unfortunately it does take a while to kill all the free swimming stage and due to having clown loach you are only half dosing so some do manage to get onto a fish.  With clowns being bottom dwellers they would be first to get it. Keep going with the treatment until the end of the course, hopefully it will get everything in the end. As I said before I have never used KB before, how long is their treatment for? Does it say in the instructions that you can continue for longer?
 
If there is no improvement by then end of the course I would recommend switching to Esha exit. To do this you would need to do 2 x 40% wc over 3 days before using esha exit (according to their leaflet). Esha exit is only a 3 day course but you can half dose for upto 3 additional days if necessary.  It is totally safe for loaches you do not need to half dose the first day (as per instructions) and it is the only medication that will actually kill the parasite in the cyst stage (spot on the fish)

 

[Samj11]

It doesn't really say anything about a course of treatment. I don't know if it's safe to get more. The bottle doesn't have much left in it now though as I'm using it to treat two tanks. I'll keep it going but if there's no improvement eventually I'll have to do as you recommended and change medicines.
 
My loach in my 100L is very skittish at even the slightest movement I make. I've turned off the lights of the tank and covered one side of it up so he doesn't stress himself out when I get up and move around my room. It must just be because he's ill. He's never been like that before. It's a shame all these problems have started now. I was looking forward to moving him to my new tank and giving him some friends.

 

[star4]

Poorly fish can act out of character, your doing the right think keeping the tank dark and partially covered, it helps reduce stress. I have found a write up on King British it just states to keep using every 48 hours until its clear, so you could end up having to get another bottle of it, but I cannot find anything about how long it is safe to use for.
 
Its typical fishkeeping, you make plans on moving fish and something happens, well it does for me anyway lol

 

[Samj11]

I know, that's the annoying thing. How long before I'll have to do a water change? It's so frustrating lol.
 
And yes, indeed! Thanks for all your help and advice star4. It's much appreciated.

 

[star4]

This is the other problem with a long term medication, doing a wc removes the medication, but you still need clean water. This is why I like esha exit, its 6 days at the most.
 
All I can do now is keep my fingers crossed that is all goes soon

 

[Samj11]

Still hasn't cleared up fully but I've got some more medicine. I'm worried about fresh water as I can't do any changes whilst treating but the fish need water changes once a week. Can I not do some vacuuming and add some fresh water after and then add some medicine? 
 
Two of my loaches are slightly paler than the other two, which I'm a bit worried about. They're still active and swimming around though so I'm not sure. 
 
I've also got several packets of frozen food (one of which contains garlic) so I've added some to my tanks tonight which they seemed to love. The man at the store said not to use any food other then the frozen food as it will "mess up my water". Is there any truth to that? Does that mean I can't continue using flakes as well? Or veg for my plecos?

 

[Samj11]

Please someone give me some advice on what to do regarding water changes and food?
 
I'm seriously concerned as I caught the clown loach in my 100L laying on it's side on the gravel. I know they're known to do that but I've never seen this particular loach just lie on the bottom on his side.  

 

[star4]

If the spots have not gone by now I would do a wc and give the bottom a good gravel vac, there will still be some medication in the tank. Do another wc on Monday and Tuesday buy or order some esha exit, it will treat the ich a lot quicker.
 
The only reason dried food will "mess up water" is with over feeding. Constant frozen foods are not a varied diets, so yes you do still need to feed the other foods. Garlic enhanced foods are good as it helps with the immune system.
 
I will pm you a link to an ebay food seller with some garlic enhanced food that is very good, my clown loach go mad over it.