My loach is going belly up :-(

[redrf900]

Well, After fighting ick for the past 9 days, my biggest laoch BOBO, is looking in sad shape..He was out this morning swimming around and not looking so hot. I think he'll be floating by lunch.
His ick has disappeared but he looks roughed up. extra mucuous and not alot of color. The rainbow shark looks like he has extra mucous too, but he looks and is behaving fine. Any guesses...I'll see if I can take a picture and post it.

[stoopid]

Little more stress coat in the water and pray.

[OrionGirl]

If the fish already have a thickened slime coat, adding stress coat will likely be counter productive. Stress coat acts to irritate a fish, forcing it to produce more mucus--not beneficial when the slime coat is already heavy.

Instead, I would focus on providing good water quality, and slightly cooler water. Not cold enough to cause a shock, but enough to increase the oxygen level in the tank. A thick slime coat can inhibit the gills, reducing the amount of oxygen the fish is getting, so the cooler water will increase the amount of oxygen available. Running an air stone, or increasing the surface agitation will help even more. Provide some known tasty treats of good nutritional value that will stimulate the appetite-for the loach, I would add snails.

[redrf900]

Thanks everyone... I went home for lunch and found out he had just bought the farm. :-( The other 2 loaches look as upset as I do.. :-|

[stik6shift98]

poor loach

[redrf900]

Thanks!! I had him for over 10 months and really got attached. Loaches have their own personalities. My big fantail goldfish do too. Those guys are H-U-G-E...If things got tight, they could be an alternate food source. ;-) J/K I've had those guys for over 6 years and they really are my buddies. :-) They actually like it when you pet them...very social....Will splash if I don't feed them on time.
The eat like horses. ;-)