my clown loach needs help

You done well w/ CL for such long time and fish looks very plumb.

Although this could be oodinium/Ich infestation, what caught my attention was the fact that this MAY have started after you dose with MG which can definitely have caused allergic reaction displayed by your CL, mimicking oodinium infestations. Extra heavy production of slime caused by MG and extra slime collecting floating sediments which may looks like if they have Oodinium/Ich infestation..
Heay breathing can also be results of high temp/MG.

If you decide to treat, are you going to do it in Q/T?

btw, fluctuation of temp, especially suden drop can trigger infestation of Ich.
 
I am so confused as to what to get and what to do. The qt I have isn't big enough for that fish and I'm afraid that he would become even more stressed. I don't want to kill the fish with meds tho. I worry about the dojo loach and the pleco and of course the clown.

I went to and lfs a few minutes back and got a parasite cure that doesn't contain copper or formalin. they didn't have a huge suppy of stuff. It's from mardel I thought but I can't find what it's called on the internet. I forgot the name. I'm going to go home and on the way I'm going to stop at another store and see what they have. I'm at work so I have to be quick. I dunno. .
 
nanguz said:
I am so confused as to what to get and what to do. The qt I have isn't big enough for that fish and I'm afraid that he would become even more stressed. I don't want to kill the fish with meds tho. I worry about the dojo loach and the pleco and of course the clown.

I went to and lfs a few minutes back and got a parasite cure that doesn't contain copper or formalin. they didn't have a huge suppy of stuff. It's from mardel I thought but I can't find what it's called on the internet. I forgot the name. I'm going to go home and on the way I'm going to stop at another store and see what they have. I'm at work so I have to be quick. I dunno. .
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My heart goes out to you, big time. You're exactly right, it is sooo confusing and frustrating and the very last thing you want to do, is cause more harm and suffering. If I were you, I would complete the treatment I started, with the salt, then do your water change(25%) and watch him closely for a few days and see if there's any improvement. If not I would find a treatment with Metronidazol/Praziquantel in it and perhaps try it. Maybe pm lupin and see if he has any suggestions. Good Luck to you...I wish I could be more helpful! :( Leeann
 
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I found MG to be very toxic when improperly dispensed.

Personally as I have posted many times previously, I depended on CLOUT by Aquarium Product (metronidazole) for most Ich/Oodinuim but half the dosage for CL.

Dissolve Clout tab in separate container and pour little bit at a time and remember to remove any chemical resins, carbon, etc during treatment.

Like I said, it could be neither in your case. You should be able to tell when you get home to see if it got worse or not. If memory serves, infestation of Oodinium also displayed cloudy eyes further down the road. Thus check the eyes along with other symptoms for any abnormality when you get home.

I hope this is nothing but reaction to previous med.

Good Luck!

btw, forget about copper safe by Mardel or Aquarisol by aquarium Products.
Formalin is OK as long as fish dont have any open cuts but Formaldehyde never yielded good results by itself as CLOUT did.
 
I've never seen the allergic reaction that Cerianthus describes, and certainly that could be it, but when I do a close-up on the loach on that last photo I can see what looks just like a dusting of flour, tiny tiny specks of dust on him, especially on his head and face down towards his nose and mouth.

If you did use MG in the tank he's in you could run some carbon in the filter for a couple of hours to get any residue of MG out of the water column, but I would start with an anti-parasite treatment ASAP.

The medication that Tonergirl mentioned is a good one, and I called and talked to a person at Jungle Labs and they said that Jungle Labs Parasite Clear should take care of it, you just do a half dose for Loaches because they are sensitive.

Any anti-parasitic treatment may need to be done at half dose in the case of the loaches.

Cerianthus is right that your loach looks nice and fat; it's obvious you've been taking good care of him. I would respectfully suggest, however, that you seem over stocked from the looks of the video, and from what I've learned CLs need a huge tank and really need to have more of their kind to be comfortable and happy, so he may be a bit stressed in this tank.

I would strongly recommend that you get a good liquid test kit, such as the API Master so you can carefully monitor water quality. Parasitic infestations can often often be resisted or fought off by fish with healthy immune systems if you're water quality is pristine, though the new additions to the tank probably did introduce the problem.

You need to keep your parameters at: ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and the nitrate at 20ppm or less. A lot of times, in a cycled tank, it's the nitrate that has slowly crept up to levels that are harmful.

You may be keeping the water really pure, I didin't read your original thread so someone may have asked, but how often do you usually do water changes in that tank; frequency and volume of water removed and replaced?

What water conditioner do you use? I recommmed that you get Prime by Seachem, especially will this be helpful while you're trying to treat the CL and others in your tank. Prime can help by detoxifying the ammonia, nitrite, and even helps with nitrate as well. While using the anti-parasitic you many need to hold off on water changes for a few days and so the Prime can help keep them safe while traces of ammonia or the other harmful by-products are in the tank.

ADDENDUM: Cerianthus' recommendation of Clout is good as well, it's a good product, and I'd prefer that over Copper safe, and I think it's AquaZole by Seachem that you're talking about Cerianthus. I posted regarding this in the other thread on this case.

Nangus, you need to try to stay with one thread or the other regarding this problem so you and we won't need to be going back and forth to try to keep up with your questions and the input of others.:) I'm not meaning to be critical, please know that. I know how deserately you want to save you CL, and the others.

It's in the other thread that has the best photo of your CL showing a close up of his head and the dusting on him.
 
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The other thread with photos and video is the most recent thread. Maybe a moderator could consolidate the two threads, I don't know if that's possible.
 
I believe nanguz has done very well maintaining livestocks for many years in his/her own ways. I would not change/deviate from your way of maintaining tank for so many years what ever it may have been.
I am not a firm believer of water conditioners (for few decades) but I will leave it up to you. Stick to your routines as you have done so well for many years.

Overstock issue, I wll also leave it to each individuals as outcome all depends on their ability to maintain their water quality.

Like I said, this could be infestations due to new fish and/or improper water chagnes performed prior to this mishap (perhaps sudden drop of temp??) but also could be what I explained above.

Do not over react which usually can/does result in further implications. Think and reason before tempting anything.
 
You've obviously done a good job taking care of them. Clown Loaches are very gregarious and are most happy and feel safe when they have others of their kind, it's just a fact.

The issue of water quality is always at the core of any recommendations regarding stocking and tank size, so close monitoring with a good liquid test kit is vital. Even in a cycled tank harmful compounds can slowly build up if they aren't removed by regularly scheduled water changes.

Nanguz mentioned in this or the other thread that he/she hasn't done testing on the parameters, so water quality may be a huge factor in this present case of illness.

Forgive me, Nanguz, if I'm preaching to the choir here and you do frequent water changes, but if not, the slow build up of nitrate and other dissolved organic compounds can have a negative impact on the immune systems of fish in the tank.

Regarding water conditioners, chlorine off-gasses but chloramines do not, so for this reason, as well as to help with other contaminants in municiple water systems, water conditioners are a necessary evil. Also, not everyone has the necessary reservoirs to age large volumes of water to use for water changes, though even if they did this would not address chloramines.
 
This is what I got to treat the problem, Sentry AQ Mardel Quick Aid. I went to two stores and all they had was coppersafe and several formilan types. It's suppose to be less stressful for the fish according to the label I guess.

I change the water 50% every two weeks with out fail but I'm trying to get around to it every week now. There are some BIG fish in that tank and I did slack off a bit. I usually use API water conditioner. We have really nice water were I live. It comes from hemlock lake in the finger lakes.

I have two other clown loaches. I tryed putting them in the tank with Basil, the big guy a long time ago and they did not do well. I put them back in thier 37 gallon tank. They really like it in thier. Maybe some day, if I don't end up getting rid of all my tanks, I will get him a couple of pals. He is very outgoing and friendly on his own. He moves stuff around the tank, he taps on the glass with his mouth, he's the first one out in front at feeding time. (or was :( ) I checked that water parmeters in the tank a couple of months ago and the amonia was 0 the nitrates were 0 and the ph was 7.
 
That sounds pretty good. On the nitrate test, and I'm mentioning this because this happened to me and to many others, regarding the two bottles you use for that test; the number 2 bottle you have to shake the bejebus out of, and I mean violently so, teeth jarringly so, for a full 60 seconds, and then once you've done that and you've added them to the vial, you do it again, violently, for a full minute and then wait for the results.

I learned the hard way that I was not shaking things up adequately. I got a totally different reading when I shook things up the way you're supposed to. This may not be an issue here, but I just thought I'd let you know about that as a possible problem with nitrate readings.

I think with the bioload you have in your tank you should probably up your water changes to at least a every week. Even better if you could do 25 to 30% twice a week. This helps remove dissolved organic compounds that are detrimental in addition to excess nitrate. If the nitrate reading has been 0 then you must have a very heavily planted tank. If it's not heavily planted then the nitrate readings may have been inaccurate.
 
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