Kahlii Loaches

[N.S.]

My girlfriend picked up a couple of eel-looking fish a couple of months ago and I only recently discovered that they were Kahlii loaches.

Very, very shy - almost to the point of being invisible. I took an interest after noticing one, hiding in a crevice, had a white fungus growing on most of his belly. Upon finding the other, I realized that both were subject to this fungus.

None of their tankmates (4 balas, 2 giant guarmies, 1 silver dollar, 2 rainbow shark, 1 upside-down cat, an armored bichir, and a rubberlip) exhibit the same symptoms in any degree but I have, nevertheless, been adding MelaFix for the last couple of days. Upon recommendation, I removed the carbon from my filter and am now presented with a cloudy tank.

Is this due to the medication, the removal of the carbon filtration, or perhaps both?

Water quality seems to be unchanged so I'm not worried but I thought I might be overlooking something. Also, I have only recently added the bichir and I have heard that it is quite sensitive to medications. This would be a topic for another forum but since I'm here...

 

[N.S.]

"Kuhlii Loaches" - correct all. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The kuhlii loaches are sensitive to medication as well.

How big is the tank? You might try a water change to see if that helps.

 

[N.S.]

Approx. 100 gallon. Is there a med that would be suitable for scaleless fish and treat the problem?

 

[Lotus]

It would be better if you could take the loaches out of the tank to treat them.

I have used Jungle Fungus Clear tablets with loaches in a tank before, although it can stain gravel etc. It treats a range of bacterial and fungal infections.

Is your gravel or substrate sharp? That may be causing injury, which has gotten infected.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Good luck getting 2 kuhlii loaches out of a 100 gallon ... I have a hard enough time getting them out of a 10.

 

[N.S.]

I did a partial water change last night and cut the MelaFix to 50% and that seemed to clear up the water.

I use small roundrock for substrate so I don't think that could be the culprit.

As CAPSLOCK pointed out, getting the two little buggers out of the tank will be a daunting task. If I could somehow manage it, do I need to treat them in a filtered tank or can I just use a small fishbowl filled with some of my cycled water? Also, how long could they stay in there.

Thnx for the advice.

 

[Lotus]

Yes, I know it would be hard to do. You can treat them in the tank, it just costs a lot more

It's a good idea to have a hospital/quarantine tank set up if you have a large tank, especially if you're still stocking it.

You could probably treat them in a bowl, but I would say it's better to treat them in the main tank if you don't have a suitable hospital tank.

 

[Sprite42]

Unless you have some type of aeration or filtration in the bowl, they won't fair well. They breath strictly through the gills and need oxygenated water.

They are also scaleless and some medications are very hazardous to them.

Also, Melafix is more like a herbal remedy and is comprised of a mixture of low strength meds that are not really strong enough to cure whatever ails them.

My suggestion would be to set up even a rubber maid tub (very inexpensive) with an airstone and a small heater set to keep the temp in a good range. Use half recommended dosage of Jungle Fungus Clear and see how they do.