Help! My Weather Loach Is Very Poorly

[shereelouise1984]

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Tank size: 260 (very large)

tank temp: 26

Fish Symptoms: My weather loach which I have had for about a year and a half is Bloated, cannot mantain balance when still, unable to stay on the bottom without jamming himself under an ornament, if he tries to lay on the bottom his tail goes up in the air.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 25 percent every week

Tank inhabitants: 2 x Angels, 2 x Parrot fish, 1 x Rope fish, 2 x Silver dollars, 1 x shark and a few other smaller fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi shereelouise,

It sounds like your weather loach is constipated or has bloat of some kind. You could try not feeding it for a few days and then giving it some lightly cooked, shelled pea.

Or you could try a short bath in epsom salt, although loach don't tend to tolerate salt well; you'd need a teaspoon or so in a gallon of water and leave the fish in there for only 5 or 10 minutes.

Just to help us rule out other things; are any of the other fish showing any symptoms at all? Do you have any test results for ammonia, nitrite or nitrate? If you don't have your own test kits, could you find a fish shop locally that could test your water for you?