I bought a pair of small clown loaches about a month ago. 1 of them is doing great, and has grown about .75 inches in that time. The other is not doing so good. He is very skinny, and lies on his side on the bottom all the time. I recently had ich in the tank, and treated it with high temps and ich-attack, which worked well. There is 0 ammonia, but I am not sure about nitrites or nitrates. Ph is about 8, water temp is currently about 80 degrees. However, he was having problems before the ich, he never really ate. Any idea what I could do to get him to start eating?
Skinny CL
- Thread starter Z Rex
- Start date
Sounds like a case of the skinnies to me. You need Kent Marine Garlic Xtreme, Jungle Anti-Parasite food, and some sort of anti-parasitic med like Prazi-Pro or API General Cure or the Jungle anit-parasite tabs. Quarantine him if you can, but either way get started on treatment ASAP. Sounds like he's pretty far gone...
I agree I suspect parasites. Unfotunely loaches of that size are still very frail. best of luck with him.
It's most likely mycobacteria. A lot of things can cause an animal to waste away, not just starvation or parasites. You know those patients with advanced AIDS or cancer wasting away in hospitals? It's not because they have parasites or the hospital isn't feeding them enough.
Mycobacteria are resistant to many antibiotics. Your best bet is a hospital tank and 0.4 g of kanamycin per 10 gal and the same dose of TMP-sulfa. Change the water daily and then add a new dose. It may take weeks or even months to treat.
Mycobacteria are ubiquitous in aquaria so keep your water quality as high as possible so their immune systems have the best chance to fight it off. UV has been reported to reduce infection rates but it won't cure a fish.
Mycobacteria are resistant to many antibiotics. Your best bet is a hospital tank and 0.4 g of kanamycin per 10 gal and the same dose of TMP-sulfa. Change the water daily and then add a new dose. It may take weeks or even months to treat.
Mycobacteria are ubiquitous in aquaria so keep your water quality as high as possible so their immune systems have the best chance to fight it off. UV has been reported to reduce infection rates but it won't cure a fish.