clown loaches dying from ich

[deeboi]

wassup all. i recently moved my CL's to my only other tank a 30 gal with baby IT dats. now all of a sudden what's left of my clown loaches are dying, i had six left after getting eaten now lost 3 today...

these guys been in the tank with the dats for a long while now probably since last month which is why i can't understand why the are dying off so fast right now.

also all the rest of my dats are seems ok, none died yet! cross my fingers......i lost a few at the very beginning but now the loaches are just dying...

i'm hoping if any more fishes dyies it'll be the cl's and hopes it doesn't spread to the other fishes...dats look real stable tho.



oh btw, i haven't tested my water yet. i raised the water temp a long time ago to get the dats more stable/eating/rid of ich. also i did a small w/c the other nite.

 

[DDFishPets]

Add about a Tablespoon of salt per gallon to your tank for the CL's and the dats too if your worried about them. High nutrient foods, if they're willing to eat will also make a hasty recovery. Sad to say though, any nematode ones are basically doomed even if you use medications, like copper safe or half the dosage of anything else. Well, thats assuming you have any that might be affected.

 

[deeboi]

cool thx for quick response...I've been feeding mostly frozen bloodworms for a while now and am wondering if that's what's causing the deaths. the CL's when they were in the other tank they were not used to getting bloodworms...

i'm gonna try to avoid dosing the whole tank, but probably should go and get the salt.

 

[JakeH]

I've never heard of frozen BW causing anything but pure ecstasy in CL's...

Several questions: What makes you think its Ick? Do they look shiny & goldish, like maybe Velvet? If it may be Ick or Velvet, why haven't you dosed with a copper treatment ($5 bottle) to keep it from spreading? Why do you think its worth the risk of not treating the whole tank (including your precious baby dats) if its wiping out CL's that quickly? Are the CL's visibly skinny when you find them dead?

DD is correct that CopperSafe won't stop Nematodes, but incorrect that infected individuals are "doomed", as there are many effective IP/nematode treatment methods. I have personally treated several CL's that were clearly infected with "the skinnies" & many more that were questionable. All are fat, happy, healthy shoalmates now, so dont give up if thats the diagnosis...

Velvet kills very quickly, so if you think this may be it or if you suspect any other external parasite, dont hesitate to treat the whole tank or it will spread to your expensive baby dats.

Try garlic extract ASAP. Add it to the water for external parasites & soak their food in it for internal parasites. This will increase everyone's appetite & is a natural (but weak) anti-parasitic. Its not a treatment, but it helps. If you can't find any good info you can PM me for homemade anti-parasitic food recipes.

Finally: I think its safe to say that no one should never introduce wild-caught specimens to a tank with fry. Especially if they are showing symptoms...

 

[deeboi]

I've never heard of frozen BW causing anything but pure ecstasy in CL's...

Several questions: What makes you think its Ick? Do they look shiny & goldish, like maybe Velvet? If it may be Ick or Velvet, why haven't you dosed with a copper treatment ($5 bottle) to keep it from spreading? Why do you think its worth the risk of not treating the whole tank (including your precious baby dats) if its wiping out CL's that quickly? Are the CL's visibly skinny when you find them dead?

DD is correct that CopperSafe won't stop Nematodes, but incorrect that infected individuals are "doomed", as there are many effective IP/nematode treatment methods. I have personally treated several CL's that were clearly infected with "the skinnies" & many more that were questionable. All are fat, happy, healthy shoalmates now, so dont give up if thats the diagnosis...

Velvet kills very quickly, so if you think this may be it or if you suspect any other external parasite, dont hesitate to treat the whole tank or it will spread to your expensive baby dats.

Try garlic extract ASAP. Add it to the water for external parasites & soak their food in it for internal parasites. This will increase everyone's appetite & is a natural (but weak) anti-parasitic. Its not a treatment, but it helps. If you can't find any good info you can PM me for homemade anti-parasitic food recipes.

Finally: I think its safe to say that no one should never introduce wild-caught specimens to a tank with fry. Especially if they are showing symptoms...

i just picked out two more CL's that have died since last night. down to one. i really don't understand they're quick sudden death. i have been feeding them and they have been eating till the last day. now i only count one left, plus all the dats and other fish....

these clown loaches were way over quarantine but they were new to this tank i put them in with the little dats, reason is they (CL's) were getting picked off by my aro i presume!!

i looked at them as being infected with ich, for one the white spots, and also the texture on they're body from right before they died...

surprises me tho, they showd no signs and where eating like pigs really almost the day or two before they died.?..

 

[deeboi]

well just lost the last one. pulled it from the filter today. wondering why all the loaches died, and the rest of the fish seem not affected.

 

[JakeH]

No idea bro. Sorry for the loss. If you still have a dead one laying around, cut him open & check the gut for worms, but I'm at a loss...

 

[DDFishPets]

DD is correct that CopperSafe won't stop Nematodes, but incorrect that infected individuals are "doomed", as there are many effective IP/nematode treatment methods. I have personally treated several CL's that were clearly infected with "the skinnies" & many more that were questionable. All are fat, happy, healthy shoalmates now, so dont give up if thats the diagnosis...

Actually, what I meant about the Nematode ones being doomed, is if they're infected with Ich/Velvet when they have Nematodes. Those one's even with meds tend to never survive.
If they're not sick however, you can easily rid of the nematodes in no longer than 1 month.
The medicine's I mentioned were specifically for the ICH that deeboi mentioned not Nematodes.

Aside from that, try getting your water checked by an LFS for Ammonia,Nitrite and Nitrate. Sudden spikes can easily wipe out weaker CL's, additionally if theres anything causing stress for them, they become even more sensitive to water quality and it becomes much harder for them to fight diseases which is in this case the ICH.