Loach Emergency! Infection and an Escape!

O

Oops

AC Members
May 5, 2013
16
0
0
So I've been away at college and sorry to say my tank has gone neglected for awhile. Pretty much the only maintenance it's gotten is being topped off by my fam when it gets too noisy for them. They never turn the light off so it's covered in alge. They also never changed the filter bags. The fish were eating fine, and seemed ok except...

One of the loaches has a fungus or something growing on his face. He doesn't seem bothered by it at all. He is less ative then the other loach, but he always has been.. He is 6 years old.

mg69u4M.jpg



I've been treating him with this for about a week with no signs of improvement. Today I realized I never took out the carbon filter bags. So I did that. They had gotten completly filthy and when I took them out the water got flooded with gunk and I could barely see the fish. I thought it was just a cosmetic issue. So I went to work, came home with a headache, went to sleep it off.

aexpKFH.jpg

Just read on the box that its Not suitable for scaleless fish. :uhoh:


I guess I was wrong and the water quality is horrible. My grandmother woke me up screaming that a snake was in the hallway. One of the loaches has escaped. The one that doesn't have something growing on him. This is the first time this has happend. I'm thinking the water was bad so he left in search for a fresher home. I freaked out and did a 200% water change until it was clear and added some prime.

This is the escape artist.
c049m97.jpg


I don't have a test kit.

55g
1 fancy goldfish
2 weather/dojo loaches.


HELP!!
 
You need to test that water. If you don't get a test kit, get test strips, or, at the very least, take some in to get tested.

Ironically, the water change you did, while typically a good thing, may do more harm than good on tank that's been neglected.

People who can advise need the current parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp).

I didn't know weather loaches were cold water fish.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
authmal said:
You need to test that water. If you don't get a test kit, get test strips, or, at the very least, take some in to get tested.

Ironically, the water change you did, while typically a good thing, may do more harm than good on tank that's been neglected.

People who can advise need the current parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp).

I didn't know weather loaches were cold water fish.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...
I'm at work right now but will be picking up a test kit after.

All the fish were in the tank this morning and seemed fine. Both the loaches were swimming into my hands this morning when I was getting some uprooted plants.

They do great at room temp and can live in colder, upper 50s F.

My grandfather told me this morning he did do the occasional water change. Maybe the water wasn't so bad. Maybe the loach escaped because the meds bothered him. Maybe he just did it for fun, don't know.

I will post the water test results ASAP.
 
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
Ammonia .25
Ph between 6.4-6.8
Hardness 250
Alkalinity 80
 
Loaches don't do well with meds which is why I'm so ocd about changing the water in my 100g lol. Glad to hear it's looking up for you!!
 
What do you treat your water with? I ask because ammonia should be at 0. However, some dechlorinators create a false positive of .25 on ammonia tests.
 
rufioman said:
Loaches don't do well with meds which is why I'm so ocd about changing the water in my 100g lol. Glad to hear it's looking up for you!!
Click to expand...

Yeah Im not sure what to use. I [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]read PimaFix is safe for them.[/FONT]
 
Oops said:
I use Prime.
Click to expand...

Prime gives the false positives. My 55 has been set up and running for two years, and I always show .25 ammonia. I used to freak out about it, then I learned it's just Prime.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom