Clown loach growth thread.

[Backfromthedead]

The PraziPro treatment doesn't seem to have resolved the issue. Did you try anything else? Prazi is really only an effective treatment for certain flatworms, and ectoparasites, and is not always going to have any noticeable effect on internal pathogens, such as spironucleus aka hexamita, etc. You might find this paper interesting. Praziquantel use in aquaculture – Current status and emerging issues - ScienceDirect

Personally, I would also try feeding them epsom soaked foods for several days and see if the fish in the red circle comes around. One of the 4 oddball loaches that I currently own (6-7 yrs old now) initially came to me as a runt, and on the skinny side. The previous owner thought that he was sickly. I fed the entire group NLS Hex Shield (basically a garlic/epsom salt infused pellet) for several days, then again a week later for several days, and he seemed to make a noticeable improvement shortly after. He's still the smallest loach in the tank, but filled out, and I believe that he is also the only male, so being smaller than the rest makes sense. Good luck.

Im typically a minimalist with medications so no i never tried anything else besides salt and heat. The red circle loach is clearly visible between 30-40sec of the most recent video i posted on last page yesterday. You think it is worth separating and treating this loach with another method? Ive been monitoring him and like i said he starts to look better when i keep the very small pellets in the mix so ive just been hopeful with that, giving it time.

The prazipro definitely had a marked effect on all the fish circled. But like you said may not have finished the job. I dont find hexshield available at my LFS but it may be worth me searching out.

 

[RD.]

I believe that Hex-Shield was discontinued, or at least recall reading that somewhere on MFK. I'm a minimalist when it comes to meds as well, but a magnesium sulfate aka epsom salt and garlic pre-soak of pellets is pretty harmless, compared to most treatments. I would feed the entire tank with the TherA that you have on hand, presoaked in an epsom salt solution, for a week or more. It can't hurt, and if any of them have spiro lingering, it might just knock it back enough that their immune systems take over. I know that it certainly made a difference in my group when I first got them.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I believe that Hex-Shield was discontinued, or at least recall reading that somewhere on MFK. I'm a minimalist when it comes to meds as well, but a magnesium sulfate aka epsom salt and garlic pre-soak of pellets is pretty harmless, compared to most treatments. I would feed the entire tank with the TherA that you have on hand, presoaked in an epsom salt solution, for a week or more. It can't hurt, and if any of them have spiro lingering, it might just knock it back enough that their immune systems take over. I know that it certainly made a difference in my group when I first got them.

Cant argue with that. My thera A is medium size and i have normal tropical in small and probiotix in very small. Would it hurt to do the same for all these foods? Im assuming the magnesium sulfate is the key additive here not the garlic. If i do need the garlic i just chop up a fresh clove and mix it in?

 

[RD.]

Some studies in the past have shown garlic working along with the magnesium sulfate to eradicate spiro, but garlic juice, powder, would work in a presoak of your smaller pellets.

 

[phreeflow]

IMO the vast majority of fish coming out of Asian waters, including holding or grow out ponds, have a very high risk of harbouring internal worms.

Where’d you get the Hex Shield…been looking for it everywhere.

edit: never mind, just read it’s been discontinued

 

[Backfromthedead]

Lots of changes with this tank lately. Did some rescaping and 2 waves of new arrivals. There are now 27 clown loaches in my care.

The first wave of 8 came from imperial tropicals at a bit smaller than the advertised 3". Pretty easy to pick them out at this point but they are growing well.

The second wave came from a buddy who is moving back to VA from texas. Sadly, only 4/6 loaches survived the trip, the two largest (5-6") appeared to have stroked out from hypoxia. The other 4 were roughly the size of my older loaches and two of those are sporting irregular patterns. Our plans were to keep them separated so he could take them back once he set up his tank here, but when he witnessed my loaches eating from my fingers he insisted i just add them to my pack. I happily obliged.

the first group of smaller loaches fell right in line when they came out of quarantine. The 4 newest loaches caused quite a bit of turmoil in the ranks. The whole pack stopped coming to the top in the mornings to feed and they were much more skittish overall. I can only assume this was some kind of power struggle between the alphas of either group or maybe the rescape. Anyways, after i was away for a week on vacation, i returned to a group of very friendly, united, hungry loaches lol.

With all the new loaches, i had to move the balas out into the dead sea tank with the rest of my buddys fish that survived the trip. They represent just too large of a bioload for me to keep up in the one tank at this point.

Guess ill have to build a new q tank...

RD. I cannot say with 100% certainty it was the epsom salt but for about 5 weeks i mixed the morning rations (~1 tsp thera A) with ~1/2 tsp epsom salt dissolved in a few drops of water and presently I have no more "skinny" loaches. Many thanks for the guidance.

 

[Backfromthedead]

The couple largest loaches are now around 4" SL. There are 29 total now or should be at least. Impossible to count. This group utilizes every square inch of this 7x2x2.


Im considering putting these loaches into my 400g stock tank, make room for a predator tank maybe.

 

[jjohnwm]

Very interesting and informative thread; thanks to all who contributed. I've never kept this iconic species but can certainly appreciate the care that their fans lavich upon them.

Backfromthedead , I am not a fan of the appearance of bare-bottom tanks...although I keep a number of them for reasons of practicality...but this one of yours is probably the nicest I've seen. I especially like the first iteration shown in the original post. Too bad that floating wood eventually sank, it looked great across the surface like that.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Very interesting and informative thread; thanks to all who contributed. I've never kept this iconic species but can certainly appreciate the care that their fans lavich upon them.

Backfromthedead , I am not a fan of the appearance of bare-bottom tanks...although I keep a number of them for reasons of practicality...but this one of yours is probably the nicest I've seen. I especially like the first iteration shown in the original post. Too bad that floating wood eventually sank, it looked great across the surface like that.

Black liquid flex seal. Ive been experimenting with it in tanks, really like the way it looks when finished with a coating of algae. I think it reminds you of your plywood tanks lol.

Yeah i may try to suspend that tangly piece again. When the surface was obscured with the wood, the loaches would ball up right at the top of the tank and nibble my fingers nearly every feeding. Since it sank they are much more reluctant, only come up when ive been gone a week.

I do not find the clown loach particularly interesting on its own or even in a small group. Nor is it the most visually striking fish. But once you get a dozen or more going in a sizable tank they are easily among the most entertaining of fish to keep. Such curious behavior and interactions.

In the evening they all just swarm in the corner for some reason:

scouring ohko stone for precious pellets:

Some sort of "sermon on the mount" situation here:


Many thanks for the compliments. With any luck we'll be watching this group for years to come.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Guess ive decided to stretch out these updates. This is probably the last youll see of them in this tank, new home should be ready by this summer. I had a slight scare with what appeared to be anchorworms but they seemed to have disappeared quickly after i added salt to the tank 3 lbs per 100g for a few weeks.