Oddball loaches, need some help

[jmart.cooper]

Well I know everyone hates walmart, I do also, but today I went by their tanks again (after getting an oddball clown loach a week ago) and they had four oddball pattern loaches in one tank. Either these things aren't as rare as people say they are, or I have really good luck. I thought about buying a lotto ticket lol.

I bought all four and put them in a 29 gallon by themselves. Unfortunately, they have ick and are in pretty bad shape, but I thought I would give them a try anyway. If nothing else they are better off in my tank than they were at walmart.

They are really small (about an inch long) and I know their isnt a great chance they will make it, but who can pass up oddball loaches???

They are also thin and I suspect they have nematodes so I went out and bought some Levamisole Hydrochloride and have dosed the tank once. I also started bringing the temp of the tank up to 86 to stop the ick.

This was about an hour ago and since then one has died, but it was the sickest looking and I think it may have just been the stress of being at walmart combined with the ick/internal parisites that killed this one.

I have feed them blood worms and have seen three of them eat, but the one that died never ate. I fed quite a bit and left the blood worms in the tank for them to eat later. I am not worried about the water quality since this tank is well filtered (AC 50 and a large sponge filter) and the tank has been set up for several months.

I was just wondering if there is anything more I can do to increase the chances of these guys surviving. I really hope they do, but if nothing else I am gaining experience. (dont worry, these arent my first loaches, Im not a master, but not a newb)

I am trying to get my hands on some snails for them and my other loaches so that might help.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be greatly appriciated. I will try to post some pics of them tomorrow. I have never posted pics before so I may need some help, lol. Anyway I will keep ya'll in the loop and hopefully this will be one sick loach story with a happy ending.

 

[jmart.cooper]

Oh, one more question. Would it be wise to treat all my loaches with the levamisole HCL at some point or another. Now that I have quite a bit I could do that. The rest of my loaches are doing well so I dont know if it is nessicary. Thanks

 

[groovitudedude]

They are also thin and I suspect they have nematodes so I went out and bought some Levamisole Hydrochloride and have dosed the tank once. I also started bringing the temp of the tank up to 86 to stop the ick.

I was just wondering if there is anything more I can do to increase the chances of these guys surviving. I really hope they do, but if nothing else I am gaining experience. (dont worry, these arent my first loaches, Im not a master, but not a newb)

I am trying to get my hands on some snails for them and my other loaches so that might help.

I'd like to start off by saying that you are pretty lucky. They ARE rare.

I'd add some aquarium salt and keep in mind that loaches are hard to treat for ich. Good luck.

 

[jmart.cooper]

How much salt would the experts recommend? I have read lots and lots of different opinions on the matter and I never know who to believe. My very first clown loaches had ick also (this was three years ago) and I added salt then and also increased the temp, and they were cured quickly, but since then I have read that the salt can just stress the fish more, so I haven't added any yet. What do you think is best?

 

[ewurm]

If you can quarantine them by themselves, do it. Add a tablespoon of salt per gallon and feed a high protein diet.

 

[Muske]

At least someone is finding oddballs....

 

[jmart.cooper]

I feel a litte bad for hogging all the oddballs.

They are in quarantine by themselves. The will probably stay in that tank for quite a while, until they get bigger and stronger. The three that were still alive last night are doing better.

The temperature is up to about 84 so I am going to raise it the rest of the way to 86-7 in a little bit.

Should I add the salt even with the de-wormer meds in there? And now do I do a large water change to get the meds/paralyzed worms out? I have to go reread the directions on loaches.com.

Well I am feeling pretty good at the moment, last night I didnt think they were even going to make it this far, so there is hope.

I will get some pics in a little bit and post them.

 

[jmart.cooper]

Also, I have one more oddball loach from walmart that I got about a week ago and I was thinking of putting him in with the others. I didnt quarantine him originally because he looked ok and I didnt want to put him in a tank by himself. I think if I put him in with the others he will get more food, because right now he's the smallest in my other tank. I am just worried about the Ick. If I get the temperature raised high enought then wait a day or two, do you think it would be ok to add him in with the others?

 

[jmart.cooper]

Yet another question, after this first course of levamisole, should I treat them with a wide spectrum antibiotic? If so which is best and where do I get it?

 

[Lupin]

I feel a litte bad for hogging all the oddballs.

Don't feel bad.lol It's totally your choice.

They are in quarantine by themselves. The will probably stay in that tank for quite a while, until they get bigger and stronger. The three that were still alive last night are doing better.

The temperature is up to about 84 so I am going to raise it the rest of the way to 86-7 in a little bit.

Should I add the salt even with the de-wormer meds in there? And now do I do a large water change to get the meds/paralyzed worms out? I have to go reread the directions on loaches.com.

Here are my thoughts...I'd like to point out that levamisole hydrochloride reduces the appetite of the fish significantly so you will need to add garlic to the food to entice the fish to eat. If your fish eats voraciously, then it should be no trouble but at the rate that you are going to need to feed them plenty of foods (not to the point of overfeeding), daily water changes are required to compensate the wastes. Go with bloodworms, blackworms, mosquito larva and anything else appetizing as commercial foods may not help much.

You say your loaches are an inch size. All clowns at this size tend to be ridiculously thin and are hard to keep compared to the larger ones at 2-3 inches body size. They need to be fed plenty of foods or they will be stunted. Like I said, daily water changes come to mind. What makes these clowns doubly tricky is they are likely to get stressed allowing ich to take a deeper toll on them so keep your lights at a minimum as bright lights do add to stress.

You can add salt in the tank but be sure to dissolve it thoroughly and add slowly. That's the tricky part. Some people tend to panick and add salt a little too fast thus causing osmoregulatory stress to the fish due to the sudden upsurge of the electrolytes added by salt.

Also, I have one more oddball loach from walmart that I got about a week ago and I was thinking of putting him in with the others. I didnt quarantine him originally because he looked ok and I didnt want to put him in a tank by himself. I think if I put him in with the others he will get more food, because right now he's the smallest in my other tank. I am just worried about the Ick. If I get the temperature raised high enought then wait a day or two, do you think it would be ok to add him in with the others?

No, don't add him with the infested ones. Not worth risking your current stocks. If possible, get another tank.

Yet another question, after this first course of levamisole, should I treat them with a wide spectrum antibiotic? If so which is best and where do I get it?

None in your first post indicates bacterial infection. Why will you add an antibiotic? You can't combine it with a powerful dewormer and then salt. This will prove more lethal than what was worth.