Bad weekend!

[Bagstar]

After what I think was a belt of Bloat or Dropsy I have just lost 4 of my Clown loaches.

Most of these loaches were only young but I lost my favorite loach Dave who was getting on for a good 6 inches when he died. I have now lost nearly all interest in my tank as I can no longer afford to replace the Loaches and would hate to see the same thing happen again. Could this have been caused by something I have done and could it have been prevented?

I started to treat the tank as soon as I found out what the problem was but perhaps I was too late. I think this was caused by some fish that I bought at a local pet shop but im not sure.

 

[aquatic_wonders]

That's why it's best to quarintine first fishes you buy in lfs...did you do regular water changes on their tank?

 

[Bagstar]

That's why it's best to quarintine first fishes you buy in lfs...did you do regular water changes on their tank?

Yep once every 2 weeks I do a 30% change.

 

[wataugachicken]

tank size?
nitrates?

 

[Bagstar]

Tank size is 165 litre and the water was good. Can't remember the exact nitrates and im at work at the moment so I can't test them now. All my other fish are ok at present, just the loaches that have had problems.

 

[Cohazard]

you should be doing weekly 50% min

bloat was either introduced by the new fish, or if you feed live worms or feeders in that tank (even if it's not for the loaches).

sorry to hear it, I lost my favorite loach with double saddlebar and spots to bloat.

 

[ShadowBass]

30% every 2 weeks is pretty negligable as far as keeping good water quality.

What are your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

Do you top off with tap water or distilled? Could be old tank syndrome.

Do you siphon your gravel or simply change some water?

 

[Greenaveli]

I think 30% is good for once a week or better. Might want to do a bigger change or up the frequency. IMHO I would do at least once a week.

On a side note I have not quarintined a fish is like 10 years. (Bad habit). I try to keep my water quality as best as possible. I try not to use feeder fish at all.

 

[dchaos52]

you should be doing weekly 50% min

bloat was either introduced by the new fish, or if you feed live worms or feeders in that tank (even if it's not for the loaches).

sorry to hear it, I lost my favorite loach with double saddlebar and spots to bloat.

50% a week is way to much, youll destroy all the good bacteria.....

 

[X24]

50% a week is way to much, youll destroy all the good bacteria.....

there is no such thing as too many wc's 50% a week is fine. i did 75% a week until i started testing my water and realized i could get away with that every 2 weeks without any problems.