Clown Loach has a sunken side?

T

Tay690

Addicted to Loaches
Feb 5, 2009
666
0
16
Hello all,
and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I haven't posted here for a while well simply because everything has been fine and well with all of my fish

my move was successful with no casualties and no mini cycles or anything

What I'm concerned about now is a little strange

One of my clown loaches has a sunken side...i don't really know how to describe it

She's been like this since the ich outbreak i had a few a months ago and she was very very skinny

I figured if I gave it a month or so that her stomach would fill out and she would get her width back (Clown's get thicker when they're healthy)

Her belly has filled out to a normal girth again but her left side behind her belly seems like it's sunken in (if that makes any sense)

You can't really notice it when she's just swimming but when she turns it is extremely noticeable...almost looks like there is absolutely no meat under her skin between her belly and tail (No cuts...no scratches and there never have been that I have witnessed at least)

What could this be? internal parasite maybe?
I've read some articles about fish having sunken bellies due to intestinal parasites or simply not having enough food

but this seems to be different

any help is more than appreciated
 
check out "wasting disease"
 
Thank you for the help and as always the prompt response

Much appreciated Bishop
 
trying to find the recent thread on it...
 
So I've read up on wasting disease

I'm going to start with Melafix for the 7 days it recommends

If that doesn't fix the problem then I will look into the direction of internal parasites I think

Thank you again RBishop for the quick and pretty much dead on diagnosis
I've already gone and gotten a 2nd bottle of Melafix because the one I had wouldn't end this treatment period...

What internal parasite meds do you recommend for CL's? and Melafix at a normal dose will be ok for them also? I don't see anything on the bottle that recommends differently

Thanks in advance,
Taylor
 
Just thought I'd throw in an update

3 days of Melafix now and the loaches already seem to be improving

they are eating much more aggresively today so I believe you hit the nail on the head bishop

I'll continue the melafix treatment until sunday and hopefully this will finish the problem

keep those fingers crossed
 
Another update...

Clowns seem much better activity wise but I don't see any drastic improvement in her sunken side

Should i expect her girth to be coming back so soon? or will it take a couple of months for her to fill out again and look normal?

I just finished the treatment on sunday night and put the carbon back in the tank...is it too soon to start another treatment method?

Any other recommendations for anti-bacterial meds to clear up wasting disease? The melafix might not have done the trick

And again dependant on how fast I should see improvement in her physical appearance...when (if at all) should I begin a different anti-bacterial treatment?

Thanks in advance,
Taylor
 
The use of Melafix is interesting. Yes, it's completely fine for clown loaches (as you've pretty much found out anyway!).

I would say it's too soon to expect her side to fill out yet; it can take some weeks for a loach to recover from the skinny problem. I personally wouldn't add any other anti-bacterial medications, as you do not even know if this is a bacterial problem, and medications shouldn't be added unless you really need them, due to the issue of side-effects. I think further courses of Melafix would be fine if you wanted to use them, as Melafix doesn't have any adverse side effects at all, but I do work for the company that makes it, so you may want to bear that in mind.

For now I would just ensure she gets enough food and has good conditions.
 
I like the advice above, as well, but I will add that Melafix can impact your biofliter, with prolonged use, becuase of its mildly antbacterial properties.

I have an Oto that was attacked by a predatory shrimp, nipped the caudal fin right off very close to the body, a big chunk out of the dorsal fin, and a bloody nose and mouth.

I treated the tank with Melafix every day, doing big water changes every day, just before the dose, for a week. Then I went to every other day on the water changes, but continuing the Melafix for about a total of 3 weeks. I began to detect ammonia, which I addressed with Prime and by going back to daily water changes.

My Oto recovered; his fins beautiful and fully restored. I had to monitor params daily, but once I was finished with the Melafix my biofliter recovered within a few days.

So, Melafix didn't totally nuke my beneficial bacteria, but did have a slight impact.

Just thought I'd add my experience in that case. I think Melafix is a good product. I can't believe my Oto didn't develop an infection, the trauma of that attack was terible; I literally had to rescue him from the grips of that dang shrimp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom