Bloated Clown Loach

D

Darwin

AC Members
Feb 4, 2006
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Australia
I was wondering if anyone could help me work out what best to do for my sick clown loach. I started up my tank (90L) 9 weeks ago ( I am new to keeping fish). I set it up and waited two weeks before putting any fish into it then added 4 giant danios and then two weesk later I added 2 clown loaches and then a week later two cories. Last week one of my clowns looked like he had a gash under his eye. My pet shop recommended treating for fungus (1/2 dose malachite green/formalin/acriflavine/dihydroabietylamine acetate) which i did in a hospital tank (water siphoned from main tank - filter media from main tank added) however his face got red and sore looking and he got bloated and died within three days of first looking ill. I inspected him after death and he has another symetrical 'gash' under his eye on the other side as well, which made me think maybe it wasn't a gash after all.

My second clown is now bloated, breathing rapidly, and flopping from side to side but doesn't have any soreness or redness on his red. His colours are still bright - but then again so was the other clown. He isn't eating much unless it falls right near him and he can eat without moving. On the advice of my pet shop i treated him yesterday with trisulfa. Today he looks even more bloated.. what else can i do ? My other fish (cories and danios) look fine ... for the moment.

My water parameters are pH 7.0, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate - i haven't been measuring, dH = 5, 25% water change weekly - but i because of the sickness and setting up the hospital tank the water changes have been twice weekly recently.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Bloated Clown Loach -

Hi, it is probably useful to known that the tank is an AR620 Aquaone - so that it the filtration system i am using. And also the clowns had two caves and appeared to he goin well up until now. Colours were always good, hearty appetite (fed frozen bloodworms), very outgoing and playful and would come to the surface for food.

Although i haven't had them for that long, I have grown very attached to them !
 
Well, first of all a 90L tank is way too small to keep clown loaches in. That's only 20gallons US. You will need a 284L (75g) tank at minimum to keep the loaches. I've had mine for 3 months (12 weeks) and they have already outgrown my 36g. They are in a 75g now and using every inch of it.

Secondly, you really need to test for nitrates. Nitrates will affect bottom feeders, especially clowns, well before any other fish in your tank. It sounds to me like nitrate poisoning, but it's hard to tell without a test result.

Please test for nitrates and post the results, thanks.

Roan
 
Contrary to what Roan said, your tank size may be fine if it is just a short term. That shouldn't have caused a problem. I have my clown loaches in a 10g quarantine tank for 11 weeks now. They could have went into the main tank prior to this, but I was experiencing some problems that had to be addressed in the main tank, before introducing them. They are as happy as pigs in poo in the 10g...temporarily. They even eat their bloodworms directly from a pipette. But as for the bloating... I can;t help you there. Hope things turn out for the better.

Roan, all I'm saying is it depends on the size of the fish and whether or not it is a long term situation. Your advice is always good and appreciated.
 
I was expecting to have to move them to a bigger tank once they grew bigger but thought they would be o.k. for the short term. I'll get a nitrate kit - and test and post the results.

One thing I was wondering was if it had anything to do with one of the caves that is in there. The cave is one of those ones that is hollow inside and has holes that fills with water and sinks to the bottom. Just before the first clown got sick I had moved the cave around (gravel cleaning) and then when i set up the hospital tank I moved it out of the water to catch the sick loach. When i removed it from the water - the water that drained out of it was foul smelling (but my tank water sisn't smell at all). Could this be part of the problem (that the foul water went into the tank) ?

these caves are sold everywhere so I assumed that they would be fine ?

Thanks for the quick response.
 
My experience so far is that clown loaches seem to grow very slowly. I've had my 3 for over a year and a half and they seem to have hardly grown a bit. The largest is about 3 inches and the smallest is 1.5 inches. At this rate, it will take many years for them to become massive. . .
 
The caves shouldn't be a problem, especially since clown loaches like hidey holes. If your filtration is up to par , the water params in the caves should not be that different from the tank itself. If your tank is still "cycling" you have other problems. But from your readings you have posted it doesn't look like that is a factor. Are your loaches suffering from the effects of the nitrogen cycle, As you added them before you were fully cycled. They are very sensitive fish to add during the cycle..

Keep their water pristine over the next few weeks, No ammonia readings, no nitrite readings, and 10 or below nitrate readings and hope that things turn around for the better. Keep stress as minimal as can be by providing lots of cover, be it hidey holes or plants, or both. I wish you all the best as they seem to be such a woderful species to keep....Cuter than kids, but I must mention, mine are teenagers. I would trade them for a rare pleco species, at the drop of a hat. ;)
 
Thanks so much for the feedback. I hadn't realised when I started that it took quite a while longer to cycle a tank and thought that it would be o.k. if I added the fish slowly over a few weeks. I really wish I hadn't made that mistake with the clowns - they are VERY sweet. I will make sure the tank stays clean and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again. This is a wonderful resource. I am sure it has been said before but I wish I had looked on-line BEFORE I ran into trouble.
 
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