# Bizarre Loach Deaths



## GDFish234 (Mar 27, 2009)

Something real strange just happened in my tank. I bought 4 polka dot botias (Botia Kubotai) just about a week ago and today everyone of them died, at around the same time and, what i believe, the same way. Only the 4 loaches died, but all the other fish in my tank seem normal. Each loach was covered in this mucus that made their whole body look cloudy and when I scooped their corspes out in a net, the mucus stuck to the net as well as to the side of my tank. The way how only the 4 loaches died the same way and at around the same time just freaked me out. What kind of disease is this, how do I treat it, and are my other fish at risk of getting it.
:fish-bones:


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## underdog5004 (Feb 26, 2009)

Sounds like a body fungus to me. You could treat with melafix/pimafix, or if you prefer chemical medications, Erithromyicin.


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## GDFish234 (Mar 27, 2009)

The disease spreads!!! One tetra and clown pl*co died the same death as the loaches, and my dwarf gourami is starting to grow the disease on him. I think it may be ich now because they now look more like white granules growing on the fish and similar looking clusters are depositing on my piece of slate rock. Is this really ich and is there anything I treat my fish with besides dangerous chemicals? NEED IMMEDIATE REPLIES PLEASE AND THANKYOU!


P.S.
In the event all my fish don't make it, can I just wait and starve the disease before adding new fish? If so, how long should I wait? If not, what would be another solution?


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## zzpat (Apr 8, 2009)

GDFish234 said:


> The disease spreads!!! One tetra and clown pl*co died the same death as the loaches, and my dwarf gourami is starting to grow the disease on him. I think it may be ich now because they now look more like white granules growing on the fish and similar looking clusters are depositing on my piece of slate rock. Is this really ich and is there anything I treat my fish with besides dangerous chemicals? NEED IMMEDIATE REPLIES PLEASE AND THANKYOU!
> 
> 
> P.S.
> In the event all my fish don't make it, can I just wait and starve the disease before adding new fish? If so, how long should I wait? If not, what would be another solution?


It sounds like your entire tank is infected so get some Quick Cure, it's cheap and it works. Pull out your carbon filter (keep it in the aquarium so you don't loose the bacteria) add a few drops of this stuff and you'll see results within hours. May have to be repeated two or three days in very bad cases. Either way, don't cross contaminate your net or anything else with other tanks. What you use in that tank will be contaminated.

Cut the normal dosage in half for tanks with tetras (one drop for every two gallons).


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## GDFish234 (Mar 27, 2009)

Will my tank, and the items within it, still be contaminated after/if the disease is cured?


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## zzpat (Apr 8, 2009)

Quick Cure will move to the bottom of your tank (in most cases) where it will stay until it's removed by siphoning so it should keep on working long after your fish are better. The short answer is your tank will remain ok for awhile...that is, until the same situation is reintroduced (ie: new fish that are carrying something or an irregular cleaning schedule that allows the problem to take off again).

If you still have fish dying tomorrow (this stuff should stop die-off until you figure out what you have) then it's a different ball game. If there is still some die off after 24-hours, you'll need to do some dramatic water changes, 50% in two days if necessary, which is way over what most people would recommend (but you'll have nothing to lose).

One final note, be sure you wash your hands with soap and water every time your hands get wet from the tank. 

Good luck.


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Just for future reference here, there is a way to treat ich with no chemicals at all being used.

Slowly, like one degree every other hour or so raise the temperature until it is at 83 degrees Fahrenheit in the tank and LEAVE IT THERE for a full 14 days. Do not do water changes with cooler water, make sure that the water you put into the tank does not cool the tank down as the ich parasite will leave the body of the fish it is infesting at that temperature and stay off as long as it is that warm. Since it cannot survive without a host fish and 14 days is its life cycle it will die off in that period of time and not be able to reproduce during that cycle. the tank should be cleared without the use of any chemicals and the fish should be fine if caught in time. The trick to watch for signs of infection on your fish or keep the tank temperatures at recommended levels as ich is a cool water disease and will generally not ever attack fish that are kept in warm waters. Keeping a tank at a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit is about ideal for most tropical fish and I have never had any fish kept in this temperature range show any infestation. If you bring new fish into the tank they really should be kept quarantined for a period of 14 to 30 days before putting them in the tank with your existing fish. This keeps a possible sick fish from being put in with a tank of healthy fish and causing a disaster.

Rose


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## zzpat (Apr 8, 2009)

The problem comes after the ick falls from the fish into the rocks..where it reproduces. That part of the cycle is very hard to nearly impossible to kill so you have to wait until it's trying to find a host again, then hit it hard with chemicals. Using heat is far better because you can increase your heat for a long period of time and catch the cycles when it can be killed (there are two cycles it can be killed, two it can't).

However, in this case, when fish are rapidly dying, I think heat wouldn't be enough. Agreed? 

IMO, hit with chemicals to stop fish from dying, then raise the heat, add salt and wait it out. You didn't mention anything about adding salt...do you add salt?


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

No the parasite dies if it not hosted ON the body of a fish. So at that temperature it leaves a fish's body. If it is not living on the fish it dies if it is not on the fish for a whole of a lifecycle. I have done this a few times and moderated a forum and directed others to do this many times and never had it fail as long as the directions are followed and the water is not cooled down below 83 degrees during the 14 day time period. The ich parasite does not return to the fish and the fish that are not too seriously infected before the treatment began do not die. If they are too seriously infected before the treatment starts for this to help then there is little chance that even Quick Cure would help them as they would die before it would act. I do know that Quick Cure is very rapid but there are some fish that it is hard on. 

The best course of action, IMHO, is still to do the least amount of adding chemicals. The real help in preventing this type of disease is to do just two things though:

1 Keep the water at a steady temperature in your tank at a recommended range for your fish. Tropical fish require warm water to remain healthy and fluctuations are dangerous. This is why in some areas where the temperature gets warm during the day and people say "we do not need heaters" I still say " yes you do" because nighttime temps fall and the water will cool off and the fish can contract cool water diseases during that time. If you see the water temperature stable at a 78 to 80 degree temperature they are protected.

2 Always quarantine new fish that you buy in a quarantine tank for at least 14 to 30 days before introducing them into an established tank. This will keep you from introducing diseases that may come in from the pet shops into a healthy and functioning tank. I have seen more than one beautiful tank full of expensive and healthy fish destroyed this way by one moments lack of discipline. I know we all want our new fish in the tank to admire NOW but it is sometimes very costly.

Rose


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## GDFish234 (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks alot for all your help and advice everybody! I know I didn't use a quarantine tank the first time (didn't have room), but I sure learned my lesson. However, I am beginning to think the disease wasn't ich. The fish that I said have died were the only ones who did, even the "infected" gourami showed no signs of the disease the next day, and I didn't even get the QuickCure yet. Its been a while since my last fish death but still nothing happened. Either the conditions in my tank somehow stopped the disease or it just went dormant. Anyway, I'll remember your instructions if my tank ever does get ich, but for now I'll just keep vigilant and try and find out what really killed the loaches.


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