Ick & ???

[talenzmeier]

Hello,

I need your help. In my 38 gallon freshwater tank, I have some sick
Clown Loaches. At first, I thought it was Ick, but now I'm not so
sure. First of all, all of the Clown Loaches are covered in white
spots (hence my Ick diagnosis), but they are the ONLY ones that are
covered in spots. I found one of my loaches had died and when I
fished him out (sorry about that terrible pun), I noticed that he was
coated in slime -- not sure if it was his. Now this evening, several
of the Loaches have been swimming near the top of the tank. They
don't appear distressed, but their behavior seems odd. Also, I have a
young Angelfish who has a mysterious hole -- about 1 millimeter -- in
his dorsal fin. I have been treating the tank with QuICK Cure for the
past four days. They don't seem to be getting any better. My water
chemistry is normal; that is, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, traces of
nitrates and 7.6 pH. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Menagerie]

Read this article about FW ich and look at the pics.
Are these clown loaches new?
It may be for whatever reason they got sick and no one else did. Much like in a household: everyone gets sick but dad (or whoever).
I would treat the tank with heat and salt. What other fish are in there?

 

[talenzmeier]

I've begun raising the temperature. It's at 77.5 degrees now. I've added salt. The tanks has 4 Clown Loaches, 1 Plecostomus, 1 Angelfish, 4 Neon Tetras, 4 Danios, and 6 Panda Cories and 1 Flying Fox. One more tidbit, it's a moderate to heavily planted tank. I just did a 30% water change (before adding salt!) and gravel vaccumed.

 

[talenzmeier]

P.S. All of the Loaches have been in the tank for over 1 year; about 16 months now.

 

[Menagerie]

The amount of salt you will need should not affect the plants or cories. Keep an eye on the cories when you get the temp up in the 80s. Some cories do not tolerate heat well.
How warm has the tank been? Has anything new been added? Any filter or heater malfunction?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Loaches are very susceptible to Ich. Has anything changed in your tank recently? Any new fish? Temp changes? Parameter changes? Anything you can think of?

Ich is caused by stress mostly...

HTH