Sick Loach.

[Satsumas]

I saw my yoyo loach (fat 4 inch) today and it had some redness on its tailfin. It seems to fade internaly from the tip of the tail towards the body of the fish. There was also a 'spot' like red part on its tailfin.
Also its gills are moving much quicker than normal, but its other characteristics are normal, laying on the bottom in its territory.

I recently noticed all my fish except my 2 pleco's flashing.
I added some parasite treatment and have been doing so every otherday (what the instructions say) i didnt have any carbon in my filter to start with so i didnt need to remove any.

I tested my water as soon as i noticed the loach, other 2 seem prefectly fine. The sick loach is the biggest fish in the tank and is the dominant loach out of the 3. My water was ok except there might have been some ammonia in the water as the test wasnt a clear 0ppm.
I carried out a gravel vac and a water change, then added the parasite treatment about an hour later.

So basically my biggest yoyo has a small-ish but noticable red spot on its tail, and feint red internal fading.

I have a 20gal tank but it is heavily over filtered.
Outflow
1050l/h

Aquarium size
150 – 300L

I carry out a gravel vac with a pwc every 3 days.

Any advice will be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[TCTFish]

Red streaks in the fins can be a sign of a bacterial infection known as septecemia...not sure on spelling. The clown loach should be put in a hospital tank and treated with an antibiotic...but with caution. Loaches are scaleless fish and are very sensitive to chemical medications. What I do is either half dose or find a natural alternative such as PimaFix or Melafix.

I would like to know the numbers of a recent water test. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Are all three of these loaches in a 20 gallon???

How long has the tank been up and running with fish in it?
What type of filters? Please be detailed.
How much water do you take out during water changes?
What do you feed and how often?

This flashing behavior you mentioned...can you elaborate on that a bit more? Are they scratching? Can you see any parasites?

 

[Satsumas]

I have some Melafix and i put the correct dose in this morning. Im worried that the treatment breaks up far to quickly to actually do anything with the filter im using.
It gets sucked into the filter and comes back out but surely the treatment wont be as effective once it has been through such a big filter.

All my loaches are in the same tank my 20 gal

My tank has been running since november 05.
My filter is a Rena Filstar XP2
I do a 30% water change every week, with a gravel vac and 20-30% water change mid-week
I feed everyday, a sprinkle of flakes or bloodworms for the top dwellers and some pellets and wafer or 2 for my plecos and loaches.

 

[TCTFish]

For starters...that tank is too small for even one clown loach. They can reach about 7" or more. Having a bunch of bottom feeders in a small tank is also reason for possible battles as they grow. What type of plecos? Some do get very large like the common plecos can reach over 24 inches. You will want to make some adjustments considering what type of fish you have in there and what will fit when they are adults.

Also, the water changes are too much. Sufficient chagnes so long as the tank isn't overfed or overcrowded is about 10% once a week or 15% every two weeks. If you need to do more, then you do more frequently, but less amounts of water taken out at once. Such as 10% twice a week. Granted freshwater fish are much more well adapted to tolerate sudden changes within their environments than marine, but they too have limitations. You're taking out 30% and then another 20% to 30% all in a single week. Way too much and can stress the fish out over time. If you need to vacuum more, then you can tie a filter bag and catch the debris without having to change water. But if you need to vacuum that much, you may be feeding too much and the tank is overcrowded without even knowing what other fish are in there.

Try to feed no more what the fish can consume in three minutes per day...preferably split into two or more feeds. Skip a day or two out of the week and let the fish pick around for leftovers along the gravel and such. Plecos can be offered food at night.

When medicating, you can remove the carbon cartridge from the filter until you are done with treatment. Carbon will absorb some of it. Other than that there's no further interferences from the filter with treatments.

What are the water parameters?...ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? Numbers please.

 

[Satsumas]

Lol, no i have 3 Yoyo's! Not Clowns!

1 female bristlenose pleco
1 clown Pleco
5 danios
6 black neons
2 oto's
3 yoyos

My Nitrite when i last tested was 0ppm
My ammonia wasnt 0 but it wasnt 0.01ppm either, it was sort of in between.
I done a water change because of this.

When i put any treatment in i always feel that its pointless because of the size of the filter compared to the tank.
Once its sucked through a filter it cant be as strong? it must dilute itself a bit?

 

[TCTFish]

The water changes dilute the treatments. As of filters, only the carbon interferes by absorbing the medication. Bio media and floss does not.

Yoyo loaches get big too...about 6". Eventually they will need a larger tank.

 

[Satsumas]

Surely a 30% water change on sunday
followed by a gravel vac (the water i take out depends on how long i take vaccuming) on wednesday is fine?

I was advised to get a larger filter to help the maintenance of my tank, as it is overstocked then carry on my normal routine (above)

So what should i do with this sick yoyo then?

I have melafix and i put some in this morning. He's still just lying in his territory with his gils going mad! Dont wanna loose this chap, he's a fat muva!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

A couple of things that I can think of that haven't been mentioned. (from what I've read)

Do the pleco's surface to get air, then come back down? if so, how often?

I notice you have live plants, is there a film on the surface? does the loaches breathing slow down when you add new water in (tends to be heavy in O2), then speed back up as time goes on?

I'm thinking oxygen deprivation. but the flashing is more consistant with something irritating their gills (Pleco's don't flash that I've seen)..

Could you try adding an airstone to help oxygenate the water. since he's the largest fish, he'll also demand the most oxygen.

 

[Satsumas]

No i have never seen my pleco's surface for air.

My filter is really powerful for the size of the tank, so the flow of water is good, also the funnel where the water re-enters the tank is slight above water level so that helps oxygenate it (creates a small splash)

I have 2 small airstones in my tank, i'll turn them up a bit.

There isnt a film on the surface at the moment. sometimes there is though.

I just want him to get back to his normal self!

 

[TCTFish]

Surely a 30% water change on sunday
followed by a gravel vac (the water i take out depends on how long i take vaccuming) on wednesday is fine?

No. It's too much water being changed out at once. The chemistry of the water becomes disrupted and can create drastic changes to the chemistry of the water. It's too sudden of a change. You'd be better off doing much smaller exchanges and stop vacuuming when you've reached the the percentage of water intended instead of what comes out. If the gravel is so dirty that it needs that much cleaning, then there's either too much food or too many fish or insufficent filtration.

I was advised to get a larger filter to help the maintenance of my tank, as it is overstocked then carry on my normal routine (above)

A larger filter does help so does adding porous rock like lava and lace rock. Any porous material in good water flow will help maintain ammonia and nitrites. Water changes and vacuuming is only to control nitrates...waste and the end product of ammonia. Such drastic water changes should only be done in emergency situations where the water quality is deadly to the system. Much better off doing smaller water exchanges, two to three times a week instead of one large change one day and another a few days later. That can easily put fish under stress over time.

I'm not saying that's what is wrong with the fish...it may or may not be, but you could very easily run into complications, especially if a fish's immune system is weakened for whatever reason. The drastic water changes can weaken it even more. It's more of a long term stress. It may take awhile before fish start to show signs of breaking down from such stress.

So what should i do with this sick yoyo then?

The fish should go into a QT for treatment to keep him from infecting other fish just incase it's ailment is contagious...such as certain infections and parasites. Treat until better according to the directions of the medications.

I have melafix and i put some in this morning. He's still just lying in his territory with his gils going mad! Dont wanna loose this chap, he's a fat muva!

Can you do a water test today? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

I'll see in a minute if you posted anything on water quality, but would be good to do another anyway.

Please post results...numbers please.

Keep the bubblies going too (the airstones).

What is the temperature set at?

Have you ever seen the other two ever picking on him?

Are there any red streaks in his fins or redness around the gills?

If you've seen it...what does the poop look like? Color in particular.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, the size of your filter is not too small. Don't worry about getting another filter, as the XP2 is more than enough.

Do you have carbon in the filter? If so, remove it, then keep up with your treatment. The filter itself does not remove the treatment, just helps disperse it more evenly in the tank. What kind of media do you use in the filter?

And I'd stick with PimaFix or Melafix at least until you know it's not working, then QT him and use something a little more potent, but do it in stages, as they are scaleless fish.

 

[Satsumas]

I just noticed that my heater is broken! a section of glass has smashed and there is water inside it bubbling around. Could this be the cause of the problem?! The heater still works and my temperature is 26 C what it normally is. There is no store open at this time so i cant really take it out, i'll have to go and get a new one tomorow morning.

I carried out some tests and here are the results:

Nitrite - 0ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm
pH - 7.4

I was really surprised with my nitrate level, i took the test twice. The level of nitrate is normally really high!

My pH has always stayed stable for months on end now so i cant see what the problem is?
unless the heater is releasing something?
I have a Rena 100w heater.

I noticed some very feint redness around his gills when i last got a good examaning of him earlier today. He's not chasing the other loaches which is very rare! The other 2 were zipping around the tank flashing earlier.

What could the problem be?