need help with sick weather loaches ?

[lori_z3a]

I bought 2 new weather loaches and they were doing just fine for 2 days - swimming and eating - but today I noticed them floating at the top of the tank -

ph - 8.0
nitrate 0
nitrite - 0
ammonia - 0
temp - 74 degrees
Tank size 33 gallons

there are 2 small shubunkin in the same tank

What could be the problem - my first loach I bought last year is doing great and the gold dojo seems to be ok as well (dojo bought the same time as weather loaches and from same place )

 

[ferret]

This should move to the Freshwater Sick Fish forum, if a Moderator would be so kind.

Weather loaches and dojo's are the same, just two different common names. Your ph is at the upper range suggested for them, 6 to 8.. But they're also rather hardy fish so I'm fairly sure its not your water parameters if the above values are right.

They may have simply been sick already when you purchased they from the lfs.. Describe what you mean about floating at the top? Just swimming around, or floating like they're sick? They will occasionally forsake the bottom of the tank and swim at the top for a while, specificly (By traditional myth anyways) during bad weather.

 

[lori_z3a]

floating like they are dead and breathing real fast - kind of just hanging there

 

[ferret]

What kind of filter do you have? This seems like majorly odd behavior unless something is fundamentally wrong with the tank, or they were already sick. It sounds like a lack of oxygen, but Dojo's are probably one of the most resilent fish you can find as far as low oxygen situations. Do you have a lot of water current in the tank? Plants?

 

[lori_z3a]

I have a lot of plants and hiding places for them - plus 2 filters hanging on the back of the tank and a round disc air stone going - the one filter is called a tetratec pf150 pumps 150 gallons an hour and circulates the water around - so the water is not sitting still

 

[ferret]

Could you retest your water parameters? It seems odd that the nitrates are 0, though the plants could cause that. How long did you acclimate them?

 

[lori_z3a]

They are plastic plants - and the tank has been cycled for 1 month already - I did do a nitrate retest and all the others they are all the same as I mentioned above - the testers I use come from aquarium pharmaceuticals inc. - nitrate tester has 2 bottles marked #1 and #2 and I redid the test it is 0 ppm

 

[lori_z3a]

Just broke open the new box for nitrate test and did one - guess my kit was defective because it showed that my nitrate level was sitting at 10 if not a little higher - oops guess loaches was trying to tell me something - did not think you could get a bad kit , but I did - guess who will be visiting the shop where I got it from , well what I did was change 1/2 of the tank water and lowered the ph in the tank as well - will buy some drift wood to see if it will keep the ph down a little - just hope it will be ok with the 2 small shubunkin that share the same tank. will do smaller water changes over the next few days.

Hope there is no ill affects to the loaches and they will get better - I really love watching them and mine will feed out of my hand - feels weird and I love seeing my daughters face go ewwwwwwwww every time I do that - she can not stand worms of any kind never mind things that wriggle. Oh yes I will put off feeding them for a day or 2 as well - did not have any fish in with them at first so the loaches also would not eat the food I put in there all up - now with the 2 shubunkin it helps with the left over food - and before you mention it the shubunkin I have had in a smaller tank for some time now and decided to let them go into a bigger one - thus omitting 3 tanks to look after into just 2

 

[LAGlocker]

That is a strange reading if your tank has been up for at least a month. Mine usually reads between 10 and 15ppm nitrates even after the water changes and being planted.

 

[lori_z3a]

well I did kind of goof - when I bought the new filter tetratec pf150 I was so excited in getting it on and running that I figured to also change my other filter media - again I said not thinking - bad me 1000 lashes - guess this is what put it up so high - in 3 days.

 

[ferret]

The ammonia is the real big killer.. Nitrites come second. Nitrates is a very very very distant third. Technically, it'll never kill your fish, unless they go from a low nitrate environment to a high one without being aclimated correctly. Anything below 40ppm is generally considered perfectly safe for a normal FW tank. I've seen 150+ with no ill effects. The fish become acclimated to it, so as long as there's no sudden swings they'll be fine. If you do regular water changes, its fairly impossible for nitrates to end up killing a fish.

 

[LAGlocker]

Not sure what the levels that loach likes are, but I wouldnt think 10ppm of nitrate that bad on a tank. I usually change my water out at around 40ppm, not sure about the rest of the peeps on here. But if it is helping the fish out, wouldnt think it would be a problem to keep your levels at there or so.

 

[lori_z3a]

well my ammonia level was a bit high - always thought if nitrates were ok then ammonia would be - but never figured that the test kit I used was bad. - well I did do a 50% water change and the loach that looked like it was dead (gills not moving - moved it back and forth a little in the water till its gills started to move, is now breathing again , and instead of it hanging like an up side down u it is resting on the bottom - keep checking it every 5 minutes and it is still alive - will do another water change this evening and test again for ph / nitrate / ammonia

Keeping my fingers crossed maybe after the last water change I will add some more cycle to the tank (what do you think ? )

 

[ferret]

What were the values? Ammonia is far far more toxic to fish than nitrites are. Ammonia is produced from fish waste. Nitrites are produced by bacteria that eat the ammonia. Then other bacteria eat the nitrites to make the nitrates.

If there are nitrites, you'll almost always have ammonia as well. They'll both go to 0 after a while, probably within a day of each other.

 

[lori_z3a]

got the nitrates down to 5.0 and the ammonia down to 0.25 right now

still going to do another water change later tonight I think - then will test again