Not sure if this is Ich

BioFilter

BioFilter

Deep Sea Viper Fish
Dec 2, 2006
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I am not sure about this, but my bottom feeders seem to be irritated by something and flash into the sand. None of the tetra's or the top dwelling fish exhibit this behavior. It is as if they get sand in their gills (or something) and try to get it out. Only the clown loaches, cory's, and dojo's do this. There is no sign of ich anywhere but there has to be something bothering them. Has anyone ran into this kind of situation before with their bottom dwellers?

PS
Water parameters are normal, 0 ammo, 0 nitrites, water changes weekly.
 
The tank has been established for over 5 months, going on 6. The sand is plain/regular sand from a landscaper store and was cleaned very well before being added to the tank. The nitrates are low, a little over 5. Nothing added to the tank recently, except plants.
 
I noticed the dojo's started about a month and a half ago. Then the clowns started soon after, and now the cory's joined in. The last plant was added 2 weeks ago and the other plants have been in there for months. I added a few snails for the loaches a while back (cant remember exactly when). When it first started I examined all the fish very closely and there are no signs of ich at all. I check them daily and do not see any. I am trying to think of anything else that may assist, and no, I never quarantined plants or sanitized them.
 
It could be that the addition of the plants exposed them to something. However without a visual cue this can be hard to diagnose. On the other hand if none of the top dwellers are sick it might be the sand. While many think sand is the best for bottom dwellers...I do not. It is very possible for the sand to get in their gills when they are eating and cause irritation. This is a tough call you will have to make.
 
Scaleless fish are the most suseptabel to ich and may not even show the white spot's untill it is to late. It's hard to say what exactly it is but I would guess it would be some sort of external parasite. Here is an article on ich that my help answer some of your questions.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88601
 
Just a thought, but has salt ever been known to settle in substrate? I am wondering if salt is added to a tank from time to time, if any of it might collect in sand and not be removed with water changes.
 
Why would you add salt to that tank? And it would be dissolved before adding, anyway, wouldn't it? If it's plain old NaCl, it would not precipitate, either.

I noticed that nearly all fish I get from the fish stores that I go to have internal and external parasites. Now, everything I buy goes into the quarantine tank and gets prophylacticaly treated for parasites, whether I see any or not. And, as fish_freak already said, you probably won't see ich in scaleless fish until it is too late. I can tell this from my own experience.
 
I disagree in my experiences clown loaches are one of the fastest fish to show ich. I'm not saying that the fish do not have a parasite. However with loaches it can be just as risky to medicate as it can to wait and see. Just out of curiousity at what temperature are you keeping clowns and dojos together?
 
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