# White spots on clown loachs!!!



## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

Help guys! I never really had an issue with my tank till now. Pat 2 days my clown loach started to have white spots on her. I even think she lost weight!! :shock: 

I notice there is white particles in the tank as well. I changed the water 25% but it still seems to be there. I think my clown loach is rubbing herself on the gravel...

what could it be?!?!? :| :|


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 4, 2005)

sounds like ick... if they look like little salt particles stuck on your fish

Ive never treated it though so Ill wait for someone else to give a good way to do that.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

sounds like ich to me. clown loaches can be sensitive to meds, so you may want to try about half of the dosage. you can get something like Rid-Ich and try raising the tempature a bit, but you must do that slowly!


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

thanks guys! I did a quick search for it... ya think my clown would be ok with Coppersafe?


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

Also how deadly is Ich?


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## Ownager2004 (Apr 4, 2005)

i dont think ich is that deadly in itself, but i think it is usually a sign that the fish was in poor health before it got it. Correct me if im wrong anyone. Also i heard that is helpful in getting rid of ich to vaccum the gravel good to get rid of the eggs.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

If left untreated Ick can kill your fish. But luckly there are many medications on the market to treat it. Be sure to treat at about 1/2 the levels mentioned on the bottle seeing how clown loaches are scaleless fish and take medication at a much higher intensitity.


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

i called my local pet shop, they said they carry somthing called Nocktic? Is that ok to use?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

What country/state/providence are you located in. Medications vary greatly depending on where you are at.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

I had the same thing happen to my loach, he lost weight and had weird white spots on him, but it didnt look like ich, he ended up passing, even with treatment


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

fish_doc @ Fri Apr 08 said:


> What country/state/providence are you located in. Medications vary greatly depending on where you are at.




Chicago Burbs. 


I picked up Nox-Ich.. im gonna hope this does the trick. My clown loach is my fav fish in there,


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

Lexus @ Fri Apr 08 said:


> I had the same thing happen to my loach, he lost weight and had weird white spots on him, but it didnt look like ich, he ended up passing, even with treatment



you still never figured out what it was?


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

also the weird part is that my loach eats! Hes also been near the heater a lot lately.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

I am not familiar with that brand that is why I asked where you live. The first spelling you gave did not show up with anything on yahoo search. 

Nox-ich does contain Malachite Green so it will help with Ich. Malachite is the active ingredient for killing ich. Once again though medicate at 1/2 the suggested dosage due to loaches being a scaleless fish.


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

i dont think shes gonna make it. Should i take her out and put her in a bucket for now?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Pull the carbon out of any filters if you have not already done so. This will only suck the meds out of the water. 

Keep her in there. If she dies you will need to continue medicating the tank for the entire length suggested by the manufacturer. This will kill off any of the parasites anywhere in the tank. There is a three stage lifecycle with the Ich parasite.

1. The mature parasites (trophozoites) dig themselves into the fish’s skin, forming visible white pustules, and begin feeding on the tissue and fluids.
2. Each trophont matures, breaks out of its pustule and settles at the bottom of the tank as a cyst coated in protective gelatin. 
3. Inside the cyst the trophont performs a rapid series of cell divisions, generating as many as 300 new cells (tomites). These tomites are released and swim freely for up to 70 hours (3 days) seeking other hosts to parasiticise. Only about 15% actually succeed but this is enough to increase the infestation rapidly if left untreated. 
The life cycle is temperature-dependent, however. It can occur in three to four days at 70 degrees F and up to five weeks at 50 degrees F. At lower temps, the parasite will remain dormant. Its optimum working temperature is 86 degrees F.

you will need to medicate to be sure to kill it through all three stages of the lifecycle.


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## crazy quattro (Mar 22, 2005)

all 3 clown loaches died.    


Why did they only die and not my tetras or barbs? Sometimes having this tank really pisses me off.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Sorry to hear that. Dont get to frustrated.

Loaches are real suseptable to getting Ich. This goes back to the scaleless fish vs fish with scales.


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## lizardbill86 (Apr 12, 2005)

There are a lot of ich medications available, Ich Away worked for me. I'd seperate the sick fish from the healthy and treat them as the medicine suggests, and just hope for the best. A lot of the time fish will be so weakened by Ich that they'll later die of fin rot or shock


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