Sick Loach?

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Silhouettes

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Jan 2, 2003
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One of my small clown loaches has not been looking too good the past two days.

Lately he seems to be breathing very hard, seems weak, is constantly hiding in new unusual places on his side, and has not been eating. There are no physical problems that I can see, and no other fish disturd him at all.

He is the only fish in the tank that appears to be acting any different then normal. My other two small loaches might be breathing a little bit harder then usual, but I might just be paranoid.

This loach in particular has always been a little different from the others, spending alot of time on his own, having a harder time with past ick problems, and such... but there is definitly something seriously affecting his health.

Does anyone has any suggestions as to what could be bothering him? Could it be an ammonia problem?

I'm very attached to my loaches, any advice will be greatly welcomed.

*Silhouette
 

Cichlid Woman

Dwarf cichlids rule ...
Nov 27, 2002
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Clowns are touchy sometimes. I had one, and wanted to get some buddies for him, so I bought two more that were slightly smaller. I knew one was in trouble after a few days; he hid a lot, didn't fatten up, and just didn't act like the other two.

I eventually lost him, and I never did know what the problem was.

You ask about ammonia--do you have a test kit for it? Any readings?

Are they new loaches? If it's ammonia damage and there's none in your tank, it could have happened before you got them. I hope not--that's hard to recover from.

-- Pat
 

koolkatzfish

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Dec 7, 2002
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Definitely get a water sample asap to a LFS and make sure your parameters are okay. Also clowns like warm water so make sure tank temp is at least 78 degrees. Higher temps do reduce the oxygen in the water so make sure you have good agitation. You could also offer it some frozen bloodworms. Do a water change, can't hurt.
What size tank do you have and how long has it been set up?
Clowns are extremely sensitive to water conditions, and unfortunately die easily. Good luck
 

Silhouettes

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Jan 2, 2003
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I lost him...

I only have a 20 gallon tank, but the largest of the three loaches is probably only three inches long. It's not a crowded tank in the least either.

Before he died, I tested for ammonia and it wasn't a problem, put food by him which he didn't touch, and did a water change... he just seemed to want to hide in the plants while losing his strength.

Maybe my efforts were too late, I just with I understood what happened to the little guy...
 
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