Clown Loach Rapid breathing

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
R

Reiner

Dovii
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2005
604
386
102
51
Los Angeles
I have a group of clown loaches in my 180 gallon tank. 5 are acting totally normal but the biggest (about 10") has been breathing super fast for the past week. Not sure what it could since no other clowns show the same symptoms or any other fish for that matter in the same tank. I already did a water change, but this fish who has never missed a meal in his live actually didn't eat the last time I fed the tank.

quick video I did this morning. He's actually seems to slow down a bit since a few days ago the breathing was even faster. Could it be related to his overweight issue?

 
I doubt it's that. If a fat guy is panting for a few days, he's gonna rest and recover. It could be an infection in the gills, could be just stress. I'm leaning towards stress if you see no other symptoms and he's still eating.
 
unfortunately he hasn't eaten yesterday either. When I fed the tank he came out from under his piece of wood but just swam around for a moment all crooked and went back to the bottom under his log. This fish used to swim around all day and now just sits there for about 10 days now panting
 
IMO, bacterial gill infection. More likely than gill flukes. If you don't treat, it'll starve to death. Clown loaches are my favorite fish, been raising these for years. Basically, it's immune system is impacted due to stress, water conditions, etc, then the fish succumb to such infections that they are typically able to fight off.
 
I would place in hospital tank, maybe seed with BB from sponge or biomedia from established tank. Try API general cure, complete treatment. It's difficult to know precisely what the problem is, so try it first. If it doesn't work, we'll go from there. Just my opinion.
 
I'd also go with salt to promote more slime production and make osmoregulation easier for the gills. Damaged gills mean that the fish has trouble getting oxygen, getting rid of CO2, getting rid of ammonia, and keeping ions in the body. A little salt will help with that. However, it is a loach so GO EASY. I'd say no more than 1ppt of salt. About 1tsp per gallon. Even half that will help with osmoregulation.
 
I caught him on Saturday since the other loaches sensed his weakness and started to bother him. Unfortunately he didn't survive the night in the hospital tank and was upside down in the morning.

RIP Fatso

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom