White film on my Clown Loach's stripes - I'm puzzled.

[LMOUTHBASS]

Hey guys - my oldest fish, my Clown Loach is about 7 years old and has always been very strong and healthy, anyhow I noticed a day or two ago that on his rear two black stripes there is a white blotchy skin tight film covering over the majority of the black stripes. It is not cotton like and does not protrude off of his body. It almost looks like the skin pigmentation has been coated with a white coloration. This does not appear anywhere else on his body. He otherwise looks normal and is behaving normally, foraging and feeding.

I feel like I've seen this once in the past with him and that it cleared up on its own but I'm not quite sure.

Does anyone have any ideas what this is? I plan on doing a water change today. No ammonia, nitrites or nitrates but my ph was a little high the other day because I am guilty of topping of the tank water lately with a lack of free time with work and holidays.

Ideas? Should I treat with something? I should also mention all other fish look normal.

Thanks,

LMB

 

[The Zigman]

try to get a pic or 2 posted here

 

[digitalphrage]

Without photos or knowing more info about your tank, this is all conjecture so take it with a grain of salt.

It could be that your fish is stressed. Clown loaches prefer to live in groups -- not that I recommend a group of clown loaches for the average hobbiest since these fish get quite large -- but if it's not in a school, it will be stressed out from solitary life. IIRC, I think 175 - 200 gallons is a typical minimum sized tank recommended for a school of these loaches. How big is your tank and how big is the fish. At 7, I'm assuming he's pushing 6 - 8 inches. Have there been any recent changes that might have stressed him out more? Lots of people coming over for the holiday? A new cat, pet, kid? Any new fish in the tank?

Also, I'd re-run the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests to confirm those aren't factors. Again, I don't know how large your tank is, nor do I know how big this loach is, but it'd be very unusual to have no nitrates in your water if you've been busy and slacking on the water changes lately. So, immediately an alarm should go off if you're seeing 0 nitrates. Even in my most heavily planted tanks that have few animal inhabitants, nitrates become detectable if I skip water changes for more than a week or two.

Overall though, if the fish is still active and eating, and the "stuff" isn't spreading, then I suspect that once you get back on schedule with the water changes, it'll go away.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

As one who has a few clowns in my tanks for close to a decade, I can tell you they do "fade" on occasion. Also, as they get old and big, their color naturally becomes less vivid than when younger. This is independent of the fading one sees when they are fighting or stressed.

The more of them you can group together, the better and the bigger the tank you can provide, the better.

Also, clowns do like clean water

 

[rufioman]

I had 4 clowns when I started. Two of them "paired", I can find no other explanation, and killed the other two. They are now 3.5" long and super fat and happy. The only thing I can think of is that it's finally fading into old age. Keeping the water clean and your parameters in check is the only thing I, and most, can suggest.