Just wanted to caution potential clown loach buyers that it seems like many LFS are importing clown loaches in with skinny disease. Its actually a parasite thats in the fish possibly due to transport(?) or some sort of harsh condition.
About two months or so ago i purchased a batch of skinny clown loaches from a LFS. Sizes varied from 2.5"- 4"
At first i thought they were just skinny from not eating. Maybe if i did frequent water changes and feed them with high quality food they would plump back up.
I've never heard of this disease and all of a sudden i started losing anywhere from 1-3 loaches per day despite they were all eating. Till this day i have lost about 9 of them!
I've literally seen the 3.5" ones waste away to the point bones were showing. These are supposed to be a plump fish!
Next time youre in a LFS looking for clown loaches, pay attention to a bone prominence slightly behind the eye. I call it the "skull bone". If its showing, DONT BUY!
I started paying attention to this bone prominence, and a lot of LFS lately have clown loaches with this issue. Not every loach in the tank will display this, but most will.
Apparently it can be treated with levamisole and melafix.
I tried melafix as i levamisole was hard to find.
I think melafix was keeping them alive, but once i stopped dosing it, thats when they started deteriorating. I was dosing melafix for roughly 5 weeks. 1 bottle per week.
I wasnt sure what this disease was at first as ive been keeping clown loaches for awhile, and some of my bigger 7" ones are in the same tank with the skinnies. My previously bought loaches were not affected, thank GOD, so its not contagious to the best of my knowledge. Only ones dying are the newer purchased ones despite living together in the same tank.
Im just pissed off right now! Im not blaming the LFS for bringing in these clowns as they dont have control over the packaging of the fish and what not. I'm pissed because these are more or less expensive fish and i've lost 9 to date! I still have 3 more thats not looking good. Im guessing another 2 days till they die. If you know clowns, the sizes i paid for them at any LFS range from $18-$35 each!
To iterate again, the juvie clown loaches found in LFS lately with the bone prominence behind the eye will likely die. They have a parasite in them thats literally eating away at them. They are active and will eat, but they will not gain weight. The parasite will keep attacking them until theyre too weak to fight it off. Looking from their underside aswell, the back half of the body is also very skinny.
Not my pic, but this is the bony prominence im talking about. Slightly above and behind the eye: http://www.loaches.com/articles/images/chronic-wasting-syndrome/chefkieth_skinny_01.jpg
Maybe these LFS are all using the same supplier, but i sure hope that they stop coming in with this disease! Good luck!
About two months or so ago i purchased a batch of skinny clown loaches from a LFS. Sizes varied from 2.5"- 4"
At first i thought they were just skinny from not eating. Maybe if i did frequent water changes and feed them with high quality food they would plump back up.
I've never heard of this disease and all of a sudden i started losing anywhere from 1-3 loaches per day despite they were all eating. Till this day i have lost about 9 of them!
I've literally seen the 3.5" ones waste away to the point bones were showing. These are supposed to be a plump fish!
Next time youre in a LFS looking for clown loaches, pay attention to a bone prominence slightly behind the eye. I call it the "skull bone". If its showing, DONT BUY!
I started paying attention to this bone prominence, and a lot of LFS lately have clown loaches with this issue. Not every loach in the tank will display this, but most will.
Apparently it can be treated with levamisole and melafix.
I tried melafix as i levamisole was hard to find.
I think melafix was keeping them alive, but once i stopped dosing it, thats when they started deteriorating. I was dosing melafix for roughly 5 weeks. 1 bottle per week.
I wasnt sure what this disease was at first as ive been keeping clown loaches for awhile, and some of my bigger 7" ones are in the same tank with the skinnies. My previously bought loaches were not affected, thank GOD, so its not contagious to the best of my knowledge. Only ones dying are the newer purchased ones despite living together in the same tank.
Im just pissed off right now! Im not blaming the LFS for bringing in these clowns as they dont have control over the packaging of the fish and what not. I'm pissed because these are more or less expensive fish and i've lost 9 to date! I still have 3 more thats not looking good. Im guessing another 2 days till they die. If you know clowns, the sizes i paid for them at any LFS range from $18-$35 each!
To iterate again, the juvie clown loaches found in LFS lately with the bone prominence behind the eye will likely die. They have a parasite in them thats literally eating away at them. They are active and will eat, but they will not gain weight. The parasite will keep attacking them until theyre too weak to fight it off. Looking from their underside aswell, the back half of the body is also very skinny.
Not my pic, but this is the bony prominence im talking about. Slightly above and behind the eye: http://www.loaches.com/articles/images/chronic-wasting-syndrome/chefkieth_skinny_01.jpg
Maybe these LFS are all using the same supplier, but i sure hope that they stop coming in with this disease! Good luck!
