Problems with Weather Loach

Bebo stunnah

Looks like my last weather loach has made a turn for the worst, he was the the first one I had found in my filter at the back of the tank, and then the other one did the same but had a completely different outcome. That was about 2 weeks ago so I was thinkin of getting 2 more mates for him/her on the monday(today) when the shop opened but noticed something wrong with it on Sunday. It looks as though his back is scratched, theres what looks like skin coming off it bits, and starting this morning he seems to be a bit bloated as well! Does anyone know what could be wrong? I tested the tank last monday and the Ammonia=0, Nitrites=0 and the Nitrates were less than 0.02, I did a water change of about 15% on Thursday. Could it be possible he swallowed a stone, but they seem too large for him to consume, or could he have caught something? all the other fish in the tank seem fine, they're goldies, white cloud and beaufortia leveretti.

fungun

hard to see from that pic, id sit tight and do nothing for a day or two if they are the water stats. Could it just be scratching from being caught in a tight spot? Some of my fish get big cuts from smacking into things when they dart away after being frightened.

Bebo stunnah

I seen him yesterday with the barbels in his mouth for most of the day. He was still goin when I left for work at 1 this morning but came home just there and he was on his side. He had what looked like a red mark, like a bruise on his side, I also found a minnow dead next to him too! the minnow were acting strange yesterday, they were all swimming quite low in the tank last night, but they're back at mid level now, peculiar...

Ill post a pic later

fungun

hmm, my standard approach to multiple fish acting peculiar with standard water parameters ok is to remove current carbon filter, put in a new one and chuck in some polyfilter also.

Bebo stunnah

If you have a look above the pectoral fins in both pictures, you can see a red mark, more so inthe 2nd pic! Thats what was leaning me towards tb, you can also see his skin peeling away. The pic of the white cloud shows bigger than usual eys and it was slightly bloated, probably normal after a fish dies?

I only replaced the old activated carbon a few days before the last water change, i did take out the polyfilter must put it back in...

Silverfish

What size is the tank? How often do you do water changes, and how much?

Do you have test results for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

Bebo stunnah

As mentioned in the 1st post the results are:
Ammonia= 0
Nitrite= 0
Nitrates <0.02, assuming 0.01
The tank is a Boyu 128L tank

Last water change was last week, it was in or around 20/15% that was the first proper sized one since I moved into my flat in January, had no problems until these 2 died, all the other fish are acting normal still!

Silverfish

Really, if you have goldies, you should be doing a water change of 25% weekly, the nitrates seem a bit low for the stock you have, are you using strips or liquid tests?

Bebo stunnah

I have the Hagen master test kit, but now that you mentioned the date, (I forgot to look at it!) is actually out of date by a few months, but I know the ammonia and nitrite tests still work from results on the tankt the goldfish were in before. Any suggestions where I could pick up another master kit for a reasonable price? that one cost me about €65 in Connacht Gold

Silverfish

The API Freshwater master test kit is about 40 quid or so, that's the best one, lasts a long time too.

Your nitrate results look really odd to me, nitrate results are usually in increments of 5 or 10 parts per million, .02 ppm wouldn't even register, and in a tank with goldies / loaches, that's just not possible.

Sure try the API test kit, it's sold in most places and try get the master kit, don't be swindled into buying the separate ammonia / nitrate / nitrite kits!

Bebo stunnah

ya, i mixed them up, i was using the ammonia measurements... only noticed it myself when I opened the box this afternoon, I tested it again, it showed up as 20mg/l although I wouldnt trust it.

Ill have a lookfor that one this week so! and sadly its not a goldie/loach tank anymore, its a goldie/minnow one

might have to look online though, as Sligo's a bit rubbish for aquarium stuff