Sick Dojo Loach

[Solarris]

I just started stocking my 55 gallon aquarium about 2 weeks ago. I currently have 2 dojo loaches, 6 congo tetras, 1 rainbow shark, and 1 rubber lip pleco, all of which are very small. I've been monitoring my water conditions and the ammonia and nitrites have both remained at 0 with no fluctuations. One of my dojo loaches looks healthy and is swimming around and eating like nothing is wrong. The other one, however, has seemed to get more and more lethargic over the past couple days. This morning he didn't even come out to eat. I've looked him over and I don't really see anything that I can tell is wrong with him. He looks like me might have some very tiny white spots on his feelers and his fins but they are so small that I'm even second guessing myself about whether they are even there. I just finished my weekly 20 percent water change this morning and when I was finished I reached in and scooped him up in my hand. He just laid there so still for so long that I had decided he must be dead when he swam out of my hand to the bottom and is now just lying there against the front of the tank. All of my other fish are acting and looking normal, even the other dojo loach which I have been keeping a very close eye on since I noticed this one having problems. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with the little fellow? This is really bothering me having a problem like this with no obvious causes so soon after setting up my tank. Any help anyone could give me about this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Solarris]

Well, right after posting this I just saw him swimming around but he seemed to be kind of wobbly then after a just a few seconds he came to rest on one of my silk plants so he is moving some, he's just far from looking healthy at the moment.

 

[Solarris]

Just got home after running to town for a little while to find the poor guy on his back in the corner of the tank. Right now it doesn't look like he made it but I guess I won't know for sure till I try to take him out considering how he did this morning when I picked him up. Guess I'll just be keeping a close eye on the rest of his tankmates for the next few days to make sure they remain ok. I just wish I knew what caused this.

 

[Ilikefishes]

I'm sorry to hear about your fish. You might have just gotten misfortunate and picked out a sick one from the store. If you're really worried, I'd pick up a bottle of Melafix and Pimafix, and treat the tank for a week or so. It won't do anything to the fish except make them better, so it's definitely worth it anyway. And if you don't use it already, pick up a carton of freshwater aquarium salt.