Help!!!!!

[maddmatt]

Iam havin a real problem and am about to loose one of my clown Loaches. i have a 100 gln f/w tank 3 (3-4 inches each) 6 powder blue gouramis and 3 head & taillight tetra. temp is apprx 80, Light is on for at least 10hrs a day regent 500 dual cartridge filter,,wich is replaced apprx bi-weekly,, water changes every week.
My problem is that the last couple days only one of my clown loaches has been sitting vericall in my tank (head pointing down) he will stay there all day. I had contacted a few shop in this regards and they stated he was either stressed out by the recent introduction of my gouramis?? and or he has just found a spot he enjoys,,so I left it at that all other loaches are acting normal..last evening I started to notice white spots on this particular loach that sits in the corner,,,so last evening i removed my charcoal filter added 1/2 they recommended medication for Ich as I was told to do as per scaless fish..this morning I awoke to find him still vertical but very very stiff,,his tail will not move to swim his gills are flapping extrimelly fast..I phone a locall shop asap to see if i could bring him in.They will not bring in sick fish but was told to bring in a water sample.So I did everything checked out excellent as per p.h nitrate & nitrites..they had no other suggestions to give me...i have had my loaches for a long time and dont want to loose a one.he is getting worse by the hour,,i have found him now on occassion lying on his side at the top of the tank as soon as touch him he tries desperatly to swim down but seems to be in alot of pain..
I would appreciate any info on this matter and so would Willy as my son calls him

[vjvl51]

The ich was probably brought on by the stress that your loach is under.

I would move the loach to a quarantine tank, if you have one. This is to prevent any other of your fish from getting whatever this loach has.

I have gone through Baensch's Aquarium Atlas looking for any disease with the "head standing" symptom and listed them below for you. While we do our best for our fish, sometimes, like with humans, we just can't cure them. I'm sorry that I can't positively identify the problem for you.

Vickie

Your loach may have sleeping sickness or Cryptobiasis

Symptoms "The fish become sluggish, their heads are held lower than their tails and in extreme cases they become immobile or "sleeping" and can be picked up by hand. Occasionally they swim in circles. The eyes retract and their bodies become thin. The gills will become pale, a sign of anemia." This is caused by Cryptobia cyprini flagellates that live in the intestine of the fish leech Piscicola. "The good news is that the leech rarely survives in an aquarium environment and is seldom seen in the hobby."
Action "The disease is incurable. Infected fish should be removed and destroyed. Any leeches found int he tank should also be destroyed."

Another possibility is Coccidosis

Symptoms "Sunken eye and substantial weight loss are among the first signals. Fish may try head standing and a yellowish exudate may be seen at the anus, especially when the stomach is pressed."
Cause "Coccidosis is caused by Eimeria cyprini, a sporozoan which reaches its host through parasites ingested with the excreta of infected fishes."
Action "Coccidosis cannot be cured therapeutically but fish can be protected against it. The disease is generally introduced along with Tubifex worms and glass worms harvested from local waters home to native fishes. Food from such sources should be avoided. Infected fishes should be removed and the tank thoroughly cleaned and disinfected."
My opinion - I do not think this applies to the frozen and freeze dried Tubifex worms - only the live ones.

Another possibility is Swim Bladder Inflammation (Aerocystitis)

Symptoms "In the early stages fish stop eating, but as the disease progresses gas or pus-filled cysts are formed at teh rear of the abdominal cavity, distending the body and producing "head standing."
"As the cysts increase in size so will girth of the fish affected..."
Action "Though the disease may be slowed through the use of antibiotics, sulphonamides and methyl blue, we suggest the deseased fishes be killed."

[fishy714]

If your loach has ick I would be careful with the ick medication. Since loaches are scaleless fishies they tend to take to medication a lot more then other fish. I also agree to have your loach moved to a quarantine tank.

[maddmatt]

thanks for all your great information regarding my loach,,and i believe i was very cautious when treating him for ick as only half dose was given,,,but unfortunatly he did away last eveing at apprx 4:00am..Im upset that i lost one of my favorite fish,,,but extremelly upset that when in a crunch like i was no aquarium store would take him in to evaluate,,i was willin to pay for tank cleaning medications etc,,,,,,but they all said no!. Iam no expert when it comes to diseases and treatments except for the basics and would have thought there would have been vetrenarians out there that would perform this type of service for the serious hobbiest.
Thank-You very much Vicky for the information you have been most help full I know you spend alot of your free time replying to our questions and want to say thanks it is sincerlly appreciated.
there reason I sent you a message asking if you were on line was because I was hoping to get info on this loach by myself to help him.....My only fear now is that i hope whatever it was is not contagious and infects my last two loaches....
thnks again all sincerlly Mathew Brunet

[vjvl51]

I'm sorry that your loach died. I'm sorry you couldn't reach me. I was browsing other forums last night. AquariumPros have a spot in the profiles for ICM, AOL and other instant messengers. I use MSN because it tells me when I get a posting on the forums that I'm moderator to. Maybe I should ask Dave in add one more instant messenger to the profile.

I will pass this info on. I asked my vet one day (when I took my cats or dogs in) about fish. He told me that it is a specialized field and there are vets that specialize in fish. It's like my vet would not look at birds. There again, he doesn't have the knowledge. I don't know if there is some central registry that you could contact for this or not. It might be worth a phone call to a vet.

Loosing a pet is never easy.

Vickie

[maddmatt]

Thanks again Vickie for all your info and yes I will look into phoning local area for this type of proffessional. Thanks again for all your information in this regards if I may be of any assistance to you i would be more than willing to help out. If anybody requires information r/e fish locations etc in Alberta Canada I would spend the time to research that for them as you have done for me so please keep that in mind.
Thanks again,
Sincerlly
Mathew Brunet