Saltwater & Reef

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 07:04 PM

So come home to find my Loach not being very active, kind of just sits there. Watched it for awhile and saw some white strings on it's upper and dorsal fins. I could not get a good pic of the dosal ones, but attached are the best pics I could get of it's upper fin. It is hard to see, but you can make it out on the top fin.

I am assuming this is a parasite? If so what do you recommend for treating it? Going to be moving him to a QT shortly, or should I be treating the whole tank? Currently in a 55g with another Loach, 3 BN plecos, about 12 guppies, and 17 guppy fry that showed up a couple days ago...

EDIT: Will have tank parameters in a bit.

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 07:25 PM

Ammonia 0, NitrItes 0, NitrAtes ~10, ph 8.0, temp 78. Around a 60% water change last night, and gravel vac.

**absolutangel04** · 02-22-2012, 07:28 PM

I can't tell from the picture. I can see the little white line on the fin, but I'm not totally sure what it is. Is it an anchor worm? Try googling that and seeing if its that or something else.

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 07:47 PM

I'm not sure. Anchor worms sound possible. It is very hard to see, but looks like very fine strings attached somewhere around/on the fins. The Loach was very active with it's buddy until today, now it just sits in one spot for very long periods of time. It only moves if you get to close, or anther fish gets nearby.

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 08:48 PM

So how should I treat if I don't know for sure what it is?

**absolutangel04** · 02-22-2012, 09:07 PM

I am not sure. Hopefully somebody else will have an idea. I would usually say try a bit of salt to see if that helps, but I don't know how sensitive that particular loach is to salt.

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 09:10 PM

Yeah I was thinking a daily salt bath, it seems to be a very effective treatment. Just trying to figure out the best dosage, I don't have anything to measure salinity though.

MRT555 · 02-22-2012, 11:36 PM

Alright. So I am slowly increasing the temp, and we added 1 tsp salt per 5g. It is a low dose of salt. I really can't find any good information on how salt will effect my Loaches, so went with a very low dose.

I don't know if it will be enough for something like anchor worms, but hopefully it will be low enough not to hurt the Loaches or plants. I guess we'll see...

**absolutangel04** · 02-23-2012, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRT555

Alright. So I am slowly increasing the temp, and we added 1 tsp salt per 5g. It is a low dose of salt. I really can't find any good information on how salt will effect my Loaches, so went with a very low dose.

I don't know if it will be enough for something like anchor worms, but hopefully it will be low enough not to hurt the Loaches or plants. I guess we'll see...

That sounds like a good plan. Most plants will be ok with a little salt for awhile. Same with the loaches. Be on the look-out for any odd behaviors though. Hopefully somebody else has some better input for you.

MRT555 · 02-23-2012, 08:33 PM

Did a 50% WC, added dosed another 1tsp per 5g of the aquarium, which should bring the salt up to about 1.5tsp per 5g. Can't see the white strings on my loach anymore, but it has a larger belly than my other loach, and breaths rapidly. Any idea if the loach has something like bloat, or an internal parasite? I'm really at a loss here, just raising temp and adding salt... Here is a crappy pic, best i could get so far.