LOACH IN TROUBLE!HELP!

[onah]

i was about to do a pwc when i noticed that one of my loachs tenticles was what looked like desolving, it was white and a bit shriveled. it fell off a bit ago, not all of it but a good chunk, i am experienceing for those of u that dont know a prob with something i thought looked like ich, i checked the faq, i asked on the forum and everyone seems to think it is, none of the fish are are showing any of the symtoms except my tetra, the goby, and now my loach have some minor spots, the gourami has a small soar and i wanted to start treating but i have to leave outta town, so i am going to have to wait till i get back on sat, i took a bad pic, and there is pics of the other fish here:http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=86446
i did a 50%water change a bit ago havent tested yet but i will do it tomarrow, talk to u guys then. can anyone tell me whats happening?

 

[coldmachineUK]

I've not heard of loach barbels 'falling off' from ich before...this sounds fairly bad. What substrate are you using? Is it particularly sharp edged? That may have damaged it.

As for the other problems: looking at your first picture of the other fish in the other thread it looks a little like velvet rather than ich. The second picture with the red dot could well be an external parasite, but you need to answer a few questions about that before we'd know for sure:
* How long has it been there?
* Has it grown in size at all over the last week/few days?
* Is it raised above the skin?
* Is it rough or smooth looking?

The good news is that most treatments for ich actually assist with velvet too. Because you have loaches in the tank it's extremely important for you to watch your dosage levels: have you already treated the tank with any medication? This again might explain the damaged barbel on your loach.
A medication I recommend which is safe for loaches, is EsHA Exit. This treats both ich and velvet.
You have to be careful about raising the temperature and salinity of your water with loaches as scaleless fish, but I would still go ahead with both of these if you are very careful about it: raise the temp to 28 celcius (I'm no good with farenheit sorry). And, add one quarter teaspoon of aquarium (not marine) tonic salt (I used this on a small 72L tank without adverse affects, so go with a ratio along those lines: 1/4tspn for every 70L or so). You can increase the level of salt dosing gradually if the problem does not go away after a week, to 1/2. If you treat with the EsHA then make sure you've stopped running any carbon in your filter too.
This level of salt and temperature will not be enough to irritate your loaches but should at least contribute to overcoming the problem.

As for the gourami...again...it could be a sore or it could be a parasite. I would recommend in this instance treating with Melafix initially: this is a natural tea-tree oil medication which will help heal open sores and wounds. However, if this is a parasite after all it won't help so you will need to keep an eye on things and see if the red mark/ulcer grows bigger.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Moved to the Unhealthy Fish forum.

 

[onah]

alright

well it seems to be getting worse, i am not really sure i may just be playing on the fact that i dont know, but either way i cant start treatment until i get back will everything be ok?i really dont want to come home to dead fish again?!?!?
well i havent feed themand i have a couple of shrimp in there so i fig if they need to they will eat one of them, but there fairly large so i dont think i have anything to worry bout, but will this kill the fish that quick?
i have quick cure i was going to use that, thats what everybody has been recommending, i havent heard of this other stuff u speak of eshia, but ill check it out and see if i can get some for sat, thats when i get back and i plan to start treatment immediatly.

 

[onah]

well he didnt make it, i started the treatment and had a friend come over well i was gone, but he just couldnt take it i guess, she found him yesterday, that had to be the worst call i have made since i started with the tanks. well i am going to finish treatment, thanx for the help though guys.