# Loach wasting away



## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

One of my loaches is wasting away. He's weak (not moving much at all) and his normal fleshy self is starting to look "sucked in." He's not really eating. I haven't changed the food or anything else in the tank for months. This loach has been with us for quite a few months (I think we got him and his friends in March, April at the latest). Nobody else is having any trouble and everything else is fine in the tank. 

The tank is a 60g with wood and sand and rocks and lots of plants. My water parameters are just fine and nobody has any sign of disease (except for my sad loach). We haven't introduced any new fish for quite a while (months) and that was a bristlenose pleco in great health. We only added him after a 30-day medicated quarantine. 

Any ideas? Oh, I alternate between lots of different frozen and dried foods:

frozen krill, glassworms, mixed green stuff I can't remember

dried shrimp pellets, bottom feeder pellets, algae wafers, color flakes, tubifex worms, etc. etc. 

I can provide more information about the food or anything else if it seems relevant! 

Thank you.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

From what I've heard loaches are really prone to worms and other internal parasites. IME internal parasites go along with sunken belly and are one thing that can slip through quarantine and kill fish slowly (like 1 every 2-3 months). Levamisole is often recommended, but can be hard to get. Try a medicated food if the fish is still eating, or something in the water (Prasi-pro, metronidazole) if he isn't.


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## someonefishy (Oct 14, 2010)

What species of loach do you have? Can this affect any species, or is it species-specific? I have Dojo loaches in a coldwater tank which are fat and happy right now, and I sure wouldn't want one of them to be infested that way.

Does anyone know how a loach can become infested with these parasites? An ounce of prevention could go a long way.

-- someonefishy


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

They usually get them by eating them when they come in on infected food.
Prazipro should help, and some food with metronidazole in it.


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Can I find those medicated foods at petsmart? Or is it more of an online thing?


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Question - Can we feed him the medicated food in the main tank or would it be bad for the other fish to eat it? We also have a little fry net room thing that we can put in the tank - we could put Lazarus the loach in there and just keep the medicated food in there? Oh - he is an angelicus botia.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

petsmart usually has a medicated pellet by jungle. Unfortunately, its one of the least appetizing medicated foods and its too large for many fish. You can grind it up, spray it with garlic and hope or buy medicated flake from kensfish or angelsplus online.

Look for SeaChem powdered meds in little plastic tubes. They are overpriced, but if you can find it, get some metronidazole and add it a frozen food the fish likes (thaw, medicate, refreeze). If the fish like frozen brine or bloodworms they are often more likely to eat it than a pellet.

As far as I know "metro" is pretty safe and you can feed it to the whole tank if you have enough. Its a good precaution as parasites do spread to other fish. As always, be careful with uneaten food and don't let it rot in the tank or clog filters,


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

So sad! Lazarus the loach is dead. My store did have the Jungle brand (and only that brand), but when I got home, he was already gone. He was a really cool loach and I'm sad. Should I try to feed the food to the other fish in case they have it too? I can grind it up and spray it with garlic as you suggest.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Parasites are really hard to detect and once in your tank, do spread. You think you are in the clear and then a month later, another fish starts gets skinny. 

Meds are safe for preventive use and should work if the fish will eat them. Read the directions. I think you are supposed to feed it exclusively for a week or two. Parasites aren't always fatal, a lot of fish can live with them a long time; in fact, most wild fish do. But because fish can be "carriers" and not show symptoms, they can slip through quarantine and kill other fish later.


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. We'll treat the whole tank. Will the medicated fish food do anything bad to the plants? I'm guessing no, but I thought I'd ask just in case. Thanks!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A quick search turned up 2 people who used it with no effect on plants. So it should be fine.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

PETA has some really stupid ideas, like feeding cats a vegetarian diet. Most of their "ideas" are just to get publicity (look up SeaKittens) but people who take them seriously can do real harm. IMO we wouldn't need a lot of regulations and "big brother" watching if people would just behave responsibly and plan ahead. Why would anyone with a 10 gallon tank buy a peacock bass? But how do you teach sense?


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Huh? peacock bass? I'm confused.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I think I posted on the wrong thread, sorry. How are the rest of the fish doing?


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

Everyone else still seems fine! I guess that is good news but I'll keep a close eye on them.


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