Unhappy Weather Loach

[goldenhornet]

Our weather loach, Dave, has recently (a couple of days) been off his food and very shy which is most unlike him. He is currently spending quite a lot of time hidden in the planting at the back of the tank, not moving very much. He was previously a very active fish, nosing about and digging everything up. I can't see any obvious signs of illness (no spots or anything) apart from the unusually quiet behaviour

We have a 180L freshwater tank (Jewel Rio 180), unheated, although the temperature got a little warm (30C) during the couple of weeks of really hot weather we recently had in the UK. During that heat wave we lost a couple of fish (a Hillstream Loach and a fairly new Paradise fish). I have recently dosed the tank with an internal bacterial remedy and have done a couple of 30% water changes.

Water stats are ph 7.6, Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates 40ppm (Nitrates were up to 80ppm before water changes, there is a lot of algae in the tank now the Hillstream Loach is gone)

Current residents of the tank are:
1 Black Moor (about 4" long and the ruler of the tank)
1 Weather Loach (Dave) - about 5" long
1 Golden Weather Loach - still only a baby at 2"
5 White Cloud Mountain Minnows
9 Zebra Danios
3 small (1.5") unidentified fish. (LFS had them for about 6 months and no-one wanted them so we gave them a home. Still don't know what they are)

I have recently seen the Moor bullying Dave a lot more than he used to. They used to tolerate each other pretty well but the Moor just seems agressive at the moment. I am wondering whether the bullying is why Dave is hiding a lot recently or whether he has an infection of some sort.

Dave did pick up a little this evening after the water change but I am a little worried about him.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Nick

nb. The Moor has several small white spots on each gill cover which have been there for many months and haven't spread anywhere else. Are these normal on a Black Moor? Thanks again.

 

[wetmanNY]

What's the biggest water change you could give him? I bet Dave would love it. I could do with one myself tonight-- air temps are in the high 90s in my place, tank temps in the mid 80s...

 

[goldenhornet]

I gave him a ~30% change tonight and plan to repeat that a couple more times in the next few days. The tank temp is back down to about 25C (79F) although I am beginning to doubt the accuracy of the thermometer (one of those flat, external stick-on ones)

 

[OrionGirl]

Agree with wetmanNY that the higher temps are probably the problem. Weather loaches tend to really suffer in the heat--I know mine was a total recluse in the warmer tank, but is now much more active in the cooler tank. Big water change to lower the temp should perk him back up.

 

[PumaWard]

IMO, it's the attacking moor that is causing the loach to hide. I have had my 2 weather loaches for about 9 months now and I used to keep my tank around 86 with them showing no signs of unhappyness (is that a word?). In fact, my loaches have never hiden, until recently due to attacks by one of my other fish, though I never caught anyone in the act. They are out and about once again, I think it was a one-time thing.


If the attacks continue, you may have to move the moor or the loach.

Good luck

 

[ChilDawg]

I'd suggest increasing the surface disturbance...can you crank the filter or get an airstone?

 

[goldenhornet]

Update

After a couple more water changes Dave seems a little happier. He's still not as lively as he was, however he is eating a bit and coming out of hiding.

We did lose one of the Zebra Danios today, he looked very thin. I have done another water change tonight and added a good dose of anti internal bacteria medicine to the water. I hope this keeps everyone else alive.

Thanks for all the advice, it's good to find people that are willing to help.

Nick