Snuffleupagus
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hey folks!
I recently got a pair of clown loaches for my 29 gallon (yes, I know they get big -- if I still want them I'll upgrade, otherwise I'll sell/give them away), and one of them came with some bonus gill flukes, almost certainly. I picked him because he's very bold and has good dark,clear colors, but he's also got ugly red spots on his gills, and he seems a bit on the lean side, even though he should be fat with all the snuffling around and eating he does. The other loach is much plumper, but has faded colors and spends all his time lying vertically against a fake log under a petrified rock I leaned up against it. I wish he would come out more (and when he does all he does is zoom up and down like a fish possessed, with his nose to the glass, staring at his reflection. I call him Narcissifish. He doesn't go after food when I put it in, and I've only rarely even seen him half-heartedly snuffle about, like he knows it's what loaches are supposed to do but doesn't care for it, personally), but I'm hoping with time he'll get bolder, especially once I add another loach or two. Maybe he needs more caves to feel safe.
But I digress -- mostly I'm concerned with treating these gill flukes. It's no trouble to put some parasite medicine in, but my tank's filter (a presumably cheap-o top fin HOB which seems to be working well) has only one element in it which is supposed to provide all three types of filtration (that is, the carbon is coated on fibers that do mechanical filtration, and on which the bacteria is supposed to be growing). So it doesn't seem like there's any way to remove the carbon without removing the filtration entirely. I don't really know what to do to make the medication effective. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks.
I recently got a pair of clown loaches for my 29 gallon (yes, I know they get big -- if I still want them I'll upgrade, otherwise I'll sell/give them away), and one of them came with some bonus gill flukes, almost certainly. I picked him because he's very bold and has good dark,clear colors, but he's also got ugly red spots on his gills, and he seems a bit on the lean side, even though he should be fat with all the snuffling around and eating he does. The other loach is much plumper, but has faded colors and spends all his time lying vertically against a fake log under a petrified rock I leaned up against it. I wish he would come out more (and when he does all he does is zoom up and down like a fish possessed, with his nose to the glass, staring at his reflection. I call him Narcissifish. He doesn't go after food when I put it in, and I've only rarely even seen him half-heartedly snuffle about, like he knows it's what loaches are supposed to do but doesn't care for it, personally), but I'm hoping with time he'll get bolder, especially once I add another loach or two. Maybe he needs more caves to feel safe.
But I digress -- mostly I'm concerned with treating these gill flukes. It's no trouble to put some parasite medicine in, but my tank's filter (a presumably cheap-o top fin HOB which seems to be working well) has only one element in it which is supposed to provide all three types of filtration (that is, the carbon is coated on fibers that do mechanical filtration, and on which the bacteria is supposed to be growing). So it doesn't seem like there's any way to remove the carbon without removing the filtration entirely. I don't really know what to do to make the medication effective. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks.
