HELP - Two ClownLoaches With White Spots !

[Grant R]

Nooo !

Upon feeding time tonight, I was greeted by the nasty site of my two ClownLoaches with tiny little whitespots all over their body & fins. The Platy also has a few on his fin.
From what I've read / understand, this is whitespot ? It's definitely the disease that matches. How do I go about treating them both though and the Platy with the speckles on his fin ??

I'm actually really worried, it's only happened today and I can't help but think I'm to blame, even though they seem happy as normal.

HELP !!!!!!!

PS - A barrel ruin I have is starting to obtain brown patches on the top. Could this be a cause as the loaches are regularly in there.

Thanks in advance, a worried Grant !

 

[jasonit]

It sounds like Ich to me. You can get a variety of medications to treat this. I am not sure what works best, but most pet stores carry several brands. Someone here might be of help.

 

[Guest]

Yes, that definitely sounds like ich (aka whitespot). Some medications are not safe for loaches and some require using at a half-dose. Take a trip to the pet/fish store and see what they recommend (I don't know what's available in England). Most medications will tell you on the package to treat for 4 days or so, but the life cycle of the parasite is actually longer than that, so its best to treat longer. Once again, ask at the store for advice related to the medications they have available. The lifecycle of the ich parasite is shortened at higher temperatures, so raise the temp (slowly!!!!!) to about 85 degrees, if you can, in conjunction with some loach-safe medication.

As for the brown spots on the ruins, sounds like brown algae to me.

 

[sunsplash76]

Yup, Sounds like Ick. Alot of times new tanks seem to have a bout with it at some point. When I started my 10 gallon, I got it twice. P.S. In my opinion PLATY'S are Ick proned. Every platy I've come across has had ick. They seem to stress easy which can contribute to it. I'll never buy a platy again, unless i quarantine for awhile. Did you quarantine? Here are a few tips about Ick. I'm not sure about loaches, but any Ick medicine will probably do and will more than likely dye everything in your tank green! If you value the deco in your tank, I would take it out! It'll even dye the silicone green, but that will fade in time. Raise the temp, and take the filter media out of your filter so the medicine is in full strenghth. Think you treat for 48 hours twice, then do at least 25% water change a few days in a row and replace filter media. replace deco when water is clear. If the loaches can handle it, I add salt to my tanks to prevent against the Ick; dunno if that is what;s doing it, but haven't had it in a long time. Good luck Grant.
~Melissa~

 

[Grant R]

Thanks everyone, I shall try and get down to the place tonight. It doesn't seem to be harming them, but they are hiding much, much more.

 

[SleeplessLwd]

Along with raising the temp of the tank cut down the lights. This also causes less stress for the fish and will aid in the healing. I've used salt in my tanks with the clown loaches, but according to what I've read they aren't supposed to handle it well. Mine did ok. I added a teaspoon for each 10 gal.

 

[Grant R]

Light is currently on for about 11.5 - 12 hours per day, no more. I'll reduce this to about ten in that case.
Will be off to aquarium place after work, will let you all know how it goes.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Somethingfishy]

Hi Grant,

Coming from the UK I use a medicine called Waterliferotozin, which comes in a little white bottle, and you only use a little bit, depending on the size of your tank.
I have also found a shop here that sells Melafix, which I understand from our counterparts in the States, that it is a very good product, specifically for post disease treatment.
PS on another note I find the Waterlife products very good for disease treatment. The shop is in Dartford but I am going to ask my LFS to see if he can get some in. I have used some Melafix in a tank of Angels and other varieties of fish as one of the Angels had a bad case of ICH and Finrot, and this stuff did the trick. Fins are almost back to health and all the other fish are happy.

OH and the increasing the temp does work as well.

 

[Grant R]

Hiya, thanks fot you're advice there. My girlfriend lives in Greenwich which isn't a million miles away from Dartford, I've been there before.

Will let you all know what I buy.

 

[Grant R]

Right, I ended buying two different substances. One for general diseases, EG Finrot, Scale problems etc and the other to treat the whitespot disease direct. Both bottles came in the droplet form and are made by eSHa. The whitespot cure is called ' eSHa Exit ' and the other ' eSHa 2000 ' I think.

I was told to add the whitespot treatment yesterday as well as the general medicine and then the whitespot treatment today and tomorrow, on its own and also to use half as many drops.

The ClownLoach' are still very ' hidey ' at the moment, I'm hoping this phase will pass ASAP.

So there you have it, lets just hope it works. :?

 

[Somethingfishy]

Good luck,

Not had much experience with sSHA myself so not sure if the dosages are correct. Keep us posted. Am always willing to try new medicines, but have found that the Waterlife was better than the Interpet medications.

 

[Grant R]

Well, I'm supposed to be noticing the whitespot fade away hopefully after three days. If not, I have to add the general disease killer (eSHa 2000) again and also, a larger does of the whitespot treatment.
So, fingers crossed. :?

 

[Guest]

Grant, Have you turned up the heat also? If not, rasing it to 85 or so (sorry, thats farenheit) helps a lot. The parasite that causes ich doesn't like it that warm, usually helps knock out the disease faster. Good luck, your clowns sound really cool.

 

[JurassicRIP]

Hows it going?

Hows the treatment working?Also like to thank you 4 the advice on the black moor situation again, hes coming along nicely now, especially now he has a new tank mate in the shape of a golden lion head:<3all these emoticons --and nothing to use for love!). Seems to have sharpened his appetite nicely.He also liked the brine shrimp treat tonight.Keep us updated!!

 

[Grant R]

Bad news unfortunately.

One of the ClownLoaches died on Saturday morning, along with a guppy. The other one still has the whitespot and doesn't appear to be getting any better. Making me feel very low at the moment and dissapointed. I'm going to continue tge treatment and add another ClownLoach soon, as I understand they are better in pairs.

As for the guppy, I presume only it was because of the temp. raise perhaps ? Or what else could I be doing wrong ? All water tests are fine.

I'm looking forward to my 30 gallon coming soon. Will be good to have a quarantine.

 

[targaboy78]

Hi Grant,

That is horrible news, I can only imagine how you must feel. It is a total feeling of helplessness, when you are doing all that you can and not getting positive results.

What is your livestock inventory like right now?

You said:

I'm going to continue tge treatment and add another ClownLoach soon, as I understand they are better in pairs.

IMHO I think you should wait until things settle down. What if "IT" (the bacteria, disease or whatever it turns out to be) is contagious and is still lurking around in your tank? I, personally, wouldn't want to add a Clown Loach into that environment.

Just something to consider.

 

[fishnutz]

The Clown Loach is very prone to whitespot and it is not uncommon to have an outbreak when adding new fish or moving them. Here is the treatment routine that has worked well for me in the past.

Remove filter carbon if used.

Raise temp to 82-84f if fish can tolerate (clowns can) this will speed the life cycle of the little white monsters as they can only be killed in the free floating stage and this will occur quicker with higher temps.

25 to 50% water change and very good gravel vac, best performed again during the free floating stage (diatom filters also work extremely well at removing them while free floating).

Add 1tsp aquarium salt per 10 gallons water (all my tanks keep this concentration as a preventive measure).

Treat with medication a minimum of 7-10 days, my favorite for loach / scaleless tanks is Maracide by Mardel Labs.

Keep lights turned off during treatment except when checking the tank.

At the end of the treatment add filter carbon to remove meds and do a 25-50% waterchange (replace carbon after about a week due to the adsorption of the meds) and replace salt per the amount of water changed to equal 1tsp per 10 gallons.

Sorry about the Clown you lost and good luck with treatment.

 

[fishnutz]

One other thing I forgot, don't add any new fish for at least 2 to 3 weeks after the infestation has cleared.

 

[Salty]

Garlic oil is a good option. You place the garlic oil on their food. Garlic works better as a preventive measure, but it also will get you started. The best option would be to isolate the affected fish in a hospital tank and treat them with meds. IMO Kick Ich by Ruby Reef (ava at LFS I believe they have a version for freshwater)) is OK. I used it once with great results, but I know some people who have used it and it has done nothing. The important thing with that product is YOU MUST follow the direction Exactly. Ich can be very frustrating, I know! I would isolate and treat or use Kick Ich. Hang in there and good luck.


Check out this link.....
http://freshaquarium.about.com/library/weekly/aa082798a.htm?terms=Ich

 

[fishnutz]

Isolation is not a good option here unless you intend to remove all the fish and put them in a hospital tank for treatment. Once you have an outbreak the free floating protozoan parasite will seek out another host to feed on.

If you move all fish to a hospital tank and treat them in it, the original tank would most likely be clear as the protozoan only lives for 96 hours without a host. The main problem with isolation is the stress created by the move and with Clowns this could in all possibility create another outbreak when the fish are moved back. To much of a chance of moving back a fish that still has one attached and just one leads to thousands rather quickly when they fall away and multiply.

No offense intended Salty, just a polite disagreement.