Clown Loaches and Ick

[Swordtail8]

I had 3 clown loaches that lasted around a month. They were an inch and a half long. They were the first fish to ever get ich in my 29 gallon. (I've had the tank since May or June) After they got it both my rams got it. I treated the ich for like 3 to 4 days and it went away. My male ram never got ich again. The female ram always had a little bit of ich and eventually was the first to go.

There was also a peroid of time where I unpluged the heater and never plugged it back in till a week later, (stupid me, I thought the water was cold and when I found out the temp was 69 degrees I freaked). Nobody died in that incident but the female ram (who was half the size of the male) I think died of the cold stress. The clown loaches got ich again and I didn't try the medicine again for awhile (mostly because I didn't have any left). I then switched heaters to one that would bring the temp about 80 so I did that and I also put a little bit of aquarium salt in there.

I eventually found my brothers ich medicine and then started using this. The Loaches got more active but eventually became tigger skins (they died).

I want to keep clown loached but how do I do it without these problems? I know they will outgrow the tank but in how many years? The lfs said he'd be happy to take 4 inch clown loachs off my hands. So don't include any out grow the tank advice.

 

[Lotus]

I think you already have a pretty heavily stocked, if not over-stocked tank. Under those circumstances, it's very easy for fish to get stressed and get sick. I wouldn't advise adding more fish to that setup.

The problem is, you really need to keep an eye on the tank, check the temperature, get meds immedietly if you need to treat your fish. A temperature drop can (as you found out) cause an ich outbreak, so you will have to monitor it more closely.

Yes, clowns (and rams) are prone to ich. Any kind of stress can bring it out. If you see one spot on one fish, it's time to treat the tank immedietly. Don't wait a day or two so that all the fish get it. In the meantime, read up on ich here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php and here: http://www.loaches.com/copper.html so you are ready for the next time.

 

[Swordtail8]

What is really ironic, is that my angel, dwarf gourami, rainbow shark, rasboras, neons, barbs, and pleco never got ich.

The solution I had in mind was buying bigger loaches (at least 2 inches) and quarentining them with ich medicine and when they are stronger, to put them into the 29 gallon.

I could take my 3 black ruby barbs and put them into the 10 gallon (but the betta likes to beat on the barbs however) or do some rearranging to make more space in the tank.

I have cut on the stock by removing the danios and corydoras. I'd take the neons out but they only live like 500 days and they are all jumbo sized and I have had them for at least 100 days already. The theory is that by the time the other fish get larger they will pass away (before the angelfish gets larger enough to eat them too).

I like to push the limits with fish tanks. Many people push the stock limit. Look at the tanks the webmaster of aquahobby.com. he had a 55 gallon with alot of fish that was quite stable (except the multiple rainbow/red-tailed sharks). My pleco will have to go someday because of his large size (he has grown 2 inchs since I got him last April) along with any future clown loaches I get.

My goal is to get experience with as many species as possible so that someday I can open up a LFS in a town that really lacks any LFS (besides Walmart). How a town of that size goes on without a shop, I do not know.

 

[Lotus]

You really do have some incompatible fish in your tanks. I understand that you may want to experiment, but you should do so with some understanding of compatabilities. Overstocking is another case where you can try it, but it's not always a good idea, or sucessful. Under these circumstances, you should expect some losses.

Some fish are just more prone to certain diseases. Clowns and rams both get ich more often than other fish. Just check the tanks at Walmart and see which ones have the ich, then you'll get a good idea of which are most prone to it.

It's always a good idea to quarantine fish, but you don't need to treat unless you see signs of illness. Even after this, clowns sometimes develop ich when you transfer them to another tank. As far as I am concerned, ich in loaches is completely treatable. I have never lost a clown to it, although ours have had it several times.

 

[Swordtail8]

What fish do I have that are incompatable anyways? (exclude the 10 gallon, that is kinda the reject tank, Betta hasn't killed the little dwarf gourami yet and they've been together for 4 months)

Here's how it works in the 29 gallon... Black Ruby Barbs are not really fin nippers, they never even try to bite the angel, they only fight each other sometimes. The angelfish and dwarf gourami have no problems with each other. Angels eat neons but not when the angel is only 2 inches long and the neons are fully grown. The neons will likely die of old age before the angels grows up anyways. The rainbow is about 2.5 inches now. He is probably the meanest fish I have now. If he picks on anybody it is the barbs. He chases the ram sometimes too.

I used my uncle's camera today to take pictures of my tanks and I will have a new "rate my tank" later on this week when he emails to me.