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i just recently set up my tank 2 or 3 weeks ago had it up and running and put some start-zyme bio spira stuff in there to help cycle the tank, thursday i brought home 2 clown loaches and the next day noticed they had ich just a small amount on their tails didnt have time to go buy any meds for them but added some salt and raised the temp a few degrees anyways one died on saturday and i took him back and got two Botia striata "tiger, candy stripe loaches" only around half an inch each the only reason i bought them is becausee i read that loaches like to be in groups and they didnt have anymore clowns but the two striata dont show the ich but im assuming they have it too,, well anyways i did a 25% water change today raised the temp a little more its at 82 i think thats as high i can get it with this heater and started medicating with half dosage of quick cure "malachite green & formalin" at 13 to 14 drops tank is 30 gallons. there seems to be pretty good circulation in the water with power head and pengiun bio whell running,, a few questions, the bottle of quick cure wasnt very specific do i do water changes in between each dosage 13 to 14 drops a day for 3 days or after 3 days do a water change?? and re dose.. also i havent really seen them eating i have some sinking food for loaches and a flake that has top mid and bottom pellets in it i try to remove most of the food i can get after 30 minutes to an hour there seems to be a lot of water movement though the food just moves around a lot... sorry about the long post any help would be greatfull, thanks in advance
also the clown and one of the striata are very active the other one seems to come out only when the lights are not on the clown seems to swim up and down on side of the tank with the most current a lot, im not sure if thats a good sign normal or what
james

Last edited by djcyborg at 31-Oct-2004 22:52

Neither Malachite Green nor Formalin is good for Loaches. Dyes really harm these scaleless fish.
There a couple products out there that are safe for loach use, but are slightly more expensive. "Kent Marine RX-P" I have found to be the safest, best quality Ich product out there. Its safe for fry, scaleless fish, and invertebrates.
You dont need to remove the carbon from your filter, and its easy to dose: 1 Capful per 10g every 2nd day for 14 days.
Works great. Kordon also makes an Ich medicine safe for sensitive fish, but I dont know the name of it, Im sure GaryRoland would know the name, you could ask him about it.


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i know that scaless fish such as loaches are more sensitive to medications thats why i was doing have doses instead of full is this still bad?

djcyborg

Touch wood (My balding head) have not seen that for many years now just lucky also I am extremly carefull as to what I put into my tank.

Raising the temp, no lighting, and using any medication at 50% less or more seems the way to go.

One thing over the many years I discovered it always happened at winter when the water was at its coldest(via the tap water). What I do now is store the water for one week in open water containers after I have added the necessary water chemicals nothing else.

Correct me if I am wrong this problem requires a hoast to breed, as there is no host in my storage container no problem. I also warm it up before I add it to the tank.

Finally I have a very close look at any fish before I buy and look to see how good the house keeping the Aqu is.

Some aquariums just hang their catching nets and other toss them into a disenfectant mix to keep them clean.

If they just hang their nets and go from tank to tank this could be asking for truoble.

Again I will use the words carefully only SOME do have poor practices these are the ones to keep away from.

If you are buying on the WWW I certainly have a hospital tank and use it for any new purchases.

Keith

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Hi James

The clown loach swimming up and down the side of the tank is normal behaviour for a fish under stress. When everything calms down its behaviour should change and it will be much more settled.

Does it have somewhere to hide? Clown loaches like nice snug places to hide in - a piece of pipe will do if you don't have a rock cave or hollow driftwood.

Also clown loaches do need company, but they need other clown loaches and will not buddy-up with other types of loaches. Wait until your ich problem is under control and your tank has stabilised, then we can talk about more friends for the little guy.

Sorry I can't help with your specific med questions. Like Keith I'm in the fortunate position of never having had ich *knocks on Keith's head*

One more thing. Salt is harmful to scaleless fish, so add the safe medications mentioned above but no more salt.

Good luck with the ich-fighting!

Last edited by whetu at 01-Nov-2004 03:45

thanks for all the help, i was planning on getting the clown a couple friends after a few weeks and also purchasing a 10 gallon without a substrate and a piece of pvc pipeing and treat them for a week before putting them in my main tank hopfully so i wont have to go through this again, i did notice a small spot on the tail of on ofe the striata's today, i think ill go to the lfs and buy another heater to see if i cant get the temp raised up to 84 it seems to stay at 82...

james

update:: i switched over to jungles rid-ich after 3 days using quick cure and 25 to 30% water changes daily to every other day,, all of the fishes are showing more white spots so i doubt if they will make it through this but im going to keep up with the medicine and water changes,, i still think i need to get my temp up to 84 degrees... my question now is, if they do end up dieing how long will the beneficial bacteria in my bio whell and sponge live without a source of ammonia, and how long should i wait to introduce new fish without worying about them getting the ich