Clown Loaches rubbing on decor.

[JosephMCorbett]

Anybody got any ideas. I know, sounds like ich. None of the other fish do it. The Clown Loaches do it just occasionally and on only one item in the tank - a plastic tree stump. All of the fish are relatively new - purchased within the last 2 months. The tank has been up for 3 years. I recently restocked from Oscars to a community tank of smaller fish. I did have Ich about 2 weeks ago that killed one Bala Shark. My temp was 76 and no salt in the water. I've raised the temp to 80 and have about 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) per 5 gallons of aquarium salt in the tank and it's been that way for about 2 weeks. There is no visible signs of Ich in the tank anymore. But as I said, the Clowns still occasionally rub off on the tree stump. I know they have reps. as being goofy...are they playing?

 

[wynn]

I'm not really sure that it means much of anything. I've seen some of my fish do this before without ever coming down with ich or anything else. Being that they are clown loaches though, I would keep a very close eye on them. Ich or velvet isn't something to take lightly with these guys since they are so hard to treat.

 

[daveedka]

Rubbing or flashing is a sign of gill irritation, it could be anything, but Ich would be the first place I'd look. at low levels, ich can survive salt. Anything less than a teaspoon per gallon is not a surefire cure, and I'd go on up to two teaspoons per gallon if it were my tank. At an elevated temp, Ich reproduces very rapidly, and the salt may be hindering but not completely killing them. I'd up the levels, and go at least one more week, if not two.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759


other possibilities are gill burn from ammonia (this is sometimes permanent) and could easily have happened before you bought the fish.

Any type of parasite or fungus that attacks the gills. Since you have already started adding salt, I would finish that treatment first, and then go from there with careful observation. once you know ich is dead, then you have once less danger in the tank and can proceede with other things.
Dave

 

[JosephMCorbett]

Thank for the input so far guys. Over the past couple of days I have upped to salt to 1.5 tsp. per gallon and plan to add more tonight to make it 2 tsp. per gallon. I'll keep it there for over a week and then dilute through regular water changes until the salt is gone and then hopefully my ich will be gone as well.