okay petsmart actually had them! where i live NO ONE carries them so i figured i should buy one while i have the chance, so i did , but the one the guy managed to catch had little bumps on him, so they got me another one, but he was sitting upside down sometimes on the way home.. do they do that sometimes or is he sick? none of them looked super healthy but i figured they just werent too happy in the tank they were in. i want to quarantine him since im not convinced hes healthy, but my quarantine tank has a fish in it already, being treated with maracyn 2. can weather loaches tolerate medication or should i just put him in the 55 gal. and wait a day to see if he perks up? any advice would be greatly appreciated

i put him in the 55 gal. and hes just laying on the bottom upside down

also it looks like hes only breathing out of one gill, like one of them looks like its stuck shut or something is there a way to fix that? or i might be crazy n it couldve been moving very slightly, but i dont think it was lol

im really worried, hes laying upside down with his mouth wide open, breathing really heavily n twitching.. i have no idea whats wrong with him, except it looks like hes beginning to get ich.. should i start treating for that? i dont know it he has if for sure but he does have white dots on his tail, and on one of those whisker things they have

Ok that does not sound good.

Weather Loaches do not travel well

I have used meds with mine, but it's been my experience (3 times unfortunately) that if you ad meds when the loach has already rolled, that the meds just kill it.

Could you add a bit of salt? Just a bit to start. Have you checked your water parameters?

Good luck

Jessica

my water params in my 55 gal. tank are good but i just emptied my 10 gallon quarantine tank so i guess i have to start over with that one.. when you say the loach "rolls" does that mean hes dying? b/c he did that in the bag at the store, and the lady said wait go get her another one hes dead! but right then he thrashed around so she sold him to me anyways. there were a couple in the tank that looked pretty ill but when i asked the employee to catch one for me, they zipped around so much he just caught the first one he could, and i think he got one of the sick ones i wish i could do something for him, it breaks my heart to see him gasping for air

Yes, the rolling over on his back does not sound good. I know a few people that have just have funny loaches that like to lay like that on occasion (for a joke maybe? ;o) ) But it does not sound like that is normal for yours.

Not to scare you, but loaches can be touchy, especially if you get one that is sick. Out of 4, I've only had one that stayed alive. The other three did not last a week, in fact, 2 of them died one within hours of getting home, the other 2 days later.

I only have one now, and I've had him for awhile.

It is really sad that he is gasping, I'm so sorry, and I hope that he pulls through and gets better fast.

If he does die, try not to feel to bad, because they are really touchy, and he sounds like he was not at all well when you bought him.

I was afraid to buy more after my first two died within hours/days, but I am glad that I did. Because they are such funny little fish

(((((Hugs))))) and I hope that your loach is feeling better soon.

Does he have somewhere to hide?

Jessica

ps everyone says that they are extremely hardy. And they are, once they get over that initial stress of coming home (I found the first 2 weeks is the touchy period, after that is smooth sailing).

Good luck

Jessica

oo i didnt know they didnt travel well.. although i did hear they were kind of touchy, but since ive wanted one for soooo long, and every store in town says they rarely ever get them, i couldnt pass him up the employee at petsmart assured me i could bring him back if he died within 2 weeks, and i really want to bring him back tomorrow just because i cant bare to see him fighting so hard to live, but i dont want them to just throw him away, like ive seen a couple employees do with some dying fish. do you think if there were a couple sick loaches in their shipment they could all be really fragile? i sort of want to get another one but im not sure if theyre all sick, since both the ones the employee caught for me looked sick but in different ways

You could always go and look at the other ones, and bring one home if you find a healthy looking one.

They are hard to find here too, so I understand about getting one now.

Good luck

Jessica

I wonder why they do the rolling/gasping. I bought one who did that for a wek then died. Never ate, just layed on its side or back and gasped and sometimes would dart around up-side-down. My other one is great, never had a problem.

I have 4 of them,and I guess i've been lucky cause I haven't had any problems at all.They are the best,but I have been told that they're real touchy on the water readings-have you checked those? I sure hope the little guy makes it for you cause they are hilarious!!! My biggest one sees me open the hood to feed,and he comes flying up to the top and sometimes sticks his head out to see me!

My healthy one is very tame. When ever the hood is lifted she(I called it a female but I really dont know its gender ) jets up to the surface hoping for a treat.

when i woke up he had died, so i returned him, but all the others were gone already i guess ill keep looking for another one, but im so scared now that ill get another fragile one.. and im such a crybaby when it comes to fish dying lol and they have such cute faces i dont want to see another one die

Im sorry for your loss. Hope you can find a healty one. You could try a Mom and Pop type store. So far all the sick ones I have seen are in chain stores.