Unexplained clown loach deaths

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MarvGT

MarvGT

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2014
110
45
46
United Kingdom
Recently I purchased 8 2inch clown loaches from a LFS. I drip acclimated them for around 45 minutes into my quarantine tank which is a small 15g 2 foot long tank. All the patimiters were checked before they went in. Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and 5 - 10 (50% water change 24 hours before). They all went in fine and shy at first but by day 2 were very active and eating well. Day 4 and one clown loach dies. Parameters are 0 for both ammonia and nitrite and nitrate about 15. The clown had no ich, no marks and looked well fed. The temp is kept at 80 degrees F and ph was 7. I left the rest of the clowns in their quarantine tank for 2 weeks. I then put them in their new tank a 4 foot 75 gallon tank ( again I drip acclimated them for 45 minutes turned the light off etc). They all seemed extremely active and rarely hid away. After day 2 another clown dead. Again parameters were fine absolutely no idea why he died and all the others are fine and still are. That was about 5 weeks ago.
4 weeks ago I bought 5 more clowns I repeated the exact process again except no clowns died this time. After 2 weeks I acclimated them to their new tank. A 3 foot 35 gallon grow out tank. After 2 weeks one of the clowns has died. Again no ich no apparent stress no blotches or marks. Nitrite is zero as is ammonia temp is 80 ph is 7-7.5 and nitrate is around 20. I do weekly water changes and can't understand why I'm losing clowns. Is it just bad luck or there sensitivity to change ? Am I doing anything wrong is the real question I'm trying to ask.

thanks for any feed back guys.
 
More likely than not, your CL are wild caught. They've probably been through a lot before you bought them. They are probably extremely stressed , and stress will cause health issues. Also, since they are wild they are probably carrying parasites. The parasites and stress together could be a lethal combination to some weaker individuals. You probably should have left them in the quarantine tank for a few months instead of moving them again to the 75 after 2 weeks. Doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong in terms of water changes and maintaining proper water parameters. Sometimes the weak are culled just like in nature and only the strong survives. I suggests for future reference to treat with parasite treatment, such as Prazi pro, during the qt period. GL
 
Thank you for the response. Anyone know where you can buy prazi pro or similar in the UK? A quick google search makes it look like you can only buy if from the US. Thanks again!
 
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