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Thread: Clown Loaches behavourial/Breathing problem

  1. #1
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    Clown Loaches behavourial/Breathing problem

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    my clown loaches i got recently seem to always try to hide in corners and darker spots . And their breathing , mouth & gills seem to be moving rather fast 4-5 times per sec.I have some tetras in the tank and their breathing seems to be the same.

    What can be done to help their situation ?
    And at the moment i've not gotten them any fish feed or such , Can anyone recommend me some ?

    Tank is a 2ft planted tank
    Co2 injection present

    []

  2. #2
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    I think they may be stressed by the new environment.

    Should calm down after some time.

    Is it a new tank?

    If you are worried, you should measure pH, KH & NO2.

    BC

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    my tank has been aged for about 1 week or so

    using the Ph tester , i gather that the PH is around 6.5-7 and the KH is 7 . As for the rest i'm not too sure as i dun haf the kits

    Any food recommendations for the Clown Loaches ?

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    unless yours is a planted tank with full plant load, its highly unlikely your bacterial filter has built up enough to convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.

    go read about nitrogen cycle first.

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    You can read this article to understand about nitrogen cycle.

    Your fishes are probably suffering or will be suffering from nitrite poisoning. You can use a nitrite(NO2) test kit to verify this. My suggestion is to aerate the tank and to add some salt to alleviate the toxicity. A small pinch will do. (1 teaspoon to about 300 gal (~1200L))

    As a beginer, I have used products like Sera Nitrivec which is said to help speed up the nitrogen cycle. The effectiveness is quite controvesial. I thought it helped (as a beginner) but not able to verify that as I have never set up a new tank since. Since you have already added your fishes, you might want to try some of those stuff. (Effectiveness not guaranteed. )

    BC

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    Thanks loupgarou & bclee . Will update you guys on The situation for better or for worse

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    Just for safety, you could add a low level of salt to your tank... even amounts as low as 1 TBSP/20G will have sufficient chloride ions to help against nitrite induced stress.
    Allen

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    Err... Allen... for nitrite poisoning no need so high salt. A pinch will be enough. Can refer to the link in my post above.

    BC

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    true... actually I missed your posting... I just gave a value which I knew would work, and would have almost no bad impact on plants and fauna
    Allen

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    i have kept clown loaches for a long time. i can tell you that 2 ft is too small for them. i give them TetraBits. It is actually for discus. Any sinking food would do.

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    If new fishies were obtained , would it be alright to add some anti-bacterial & melafix solutions while they are in acclimatsation & quarantine for about 1-2 hours ?

    I'm on tetra bits right now but from the day they were obtained till now , they have not eaten anything not even the bits , they are just lying in the bottom , not swimming around , except for an occasional shift of position .

    As for the Salt ... its Aquarium salt right ? not the normal table salt i presume ?

    and what is the difference between them both ?

  12. #12
    Please read up on basic fish-keeping before you start adding fish to your tank (re. Nitrogen cycle). One week is hardly enough to "age" an aquarium.

    Please read up on the fishes you wish to keep before purchasing them.

    And since you've already bought the loaches, do them a favour and read up how to take care of them.

    Applying medicine to clown loaches will probably kill them faster than you realise. Read this website to find out why.

    And do you how how large clown loaches can grow! Two-feet tank...sheesh.
    Another quality, non aquatic-related post from mrs budak!

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    And do you how how large clown loaches can grow! Two-feet tank...sheesh.
    fyi , if u though tank upgrades were impossible , think again .

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    ----------------
    On 7/18/2003 10:41:10 PM

    If new fishies were obtained , would it be alright to add some anti-bacterial & melafix solutions while they are in acclimatsation & quarantine for about 1-2 hours ?

    I'm on tetra bits right now but from the day they were obtained till now , they have not eaten anything not even the bits , they are just lying in the bottom , not swimming around , except for an occasional shift of position .

    As for the Salt ... its Aquarium salt right ? not the normal table salt i presume ?

    and what is the difference between them both ?
    ----------------
    Use normal table salt. No problem.

    I hope that this will be a lesson you learn that you must learn more about the fishes before you buy them. Many LFS shopkeepers are hopeless in giving advices. All they are interested in is to sell you the fish.

    BC

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    Thank you bclee , you have been very helpful .

    As for how the fishes came about , i shan't divuldge further other then to say that it was not obtained by me & without my knowledge. Thus i am sad to say that the other fishes and the shrimps are fine except the loaches .

    Information from the above links were plentiful , and it seems my next step might be to construct some hiding places/caves for them.
    And also bloodworms seem to be the easiest , cleanest and best food for em right now. Would you recommend otherwise ?

  16. #16
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    nbk3, actually my clown loaches comes up to the surface to feed on whatever I feed the fishes. For the first month or so, did not observe this behaviour but after they get really familiar with your tank and inhabitants, they are actually not shy at all. Anyway, don't be alarmed if your loaches sometimes lie on the side on the tank floor, they are not dead or dying, it is absolutely normal.

    Check your KH and PH and determine if you are injecting too much CO2.
    i always fighting algae but still got more

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    my ph is about 7-6.5 , and i've just measured my kh to be 10 [:0] (?!) i have some coral chips in the tank and also a small handful in the filter . I also have an airstone providing aeration.

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    your ph is fluctuating too much and i think your co2 too high
    Try lowering co2 injection rate

    and check this out

    http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

    cheers
    i always fighting algae but still got more

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    oh , when i meant 6.5-7 , i was refering to the colour of the solution . It looks like 6.5-7 not chaning between 6.5 to 7 []

    and the manual regulator i'm using seems comfortable at this output rate leh , any lower and it would shutoff after a day or two and it needs readjusting

    Btw , i have many small bubbles floating around , i would safely assume its from the Co2 Reactor ?

  20. #20
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    you are right about the bubbles, but your regulator should be able to handle about 1-2 bubble per second. anyway, what regulator you using?
    i always fighting algae but still got more

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