Poorly Looking Clown Loach

[mini_matt]

hi, one of my clown loach seems to be sick, all other fish in the tank look fine but he is beathing rapidly and seems to not have the energy to move, at first i thought he was stuck as he was hiding behind the filter intake hardly moving, my fish do this anyway but i helped him out of that gap and he just dropped to the bottom and wasn't moving much, he is now in my hospital/fry tank but doesn't look happy, water stats are normal, thanks in advance for any advice

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks severely overstocked.

Can you post your water stats please.

Immediate water change and increase aeration.

 

[mini_matt]

really? what would you sujest to re home? i regularly test for ammonia and nitrite and both are always 0

sadly the clown didnt make it through the night

 

[Newgee]

Wilder is correct,
54 ltr tank is 11.8 imperial gallons, or 14.2 US gallons and the general rule is 1" of fish per 1 Gallon of water

So if you take ALL your fish and measure up...

3 x Dwarf Gourami max size = 3.5 inches = 10.5 inches - (lets average @ not fully grown) = x3 = 7.5 inches
1 x pleco = (what size?? these grow BIG up to 2 feet + (lets say half grown or under) = x1 = 6-12 inches
2 x Swordtails = max size = 3.5 - 5.0 inches each = 7.0 - 10 inches - (lets average @ 4 inches) = x2 = 8 inches
6 x platy's = max size = 2.5 inches (lets average @ 1.5 inches) = x6 = 9 inches
2 x Clown loach = max size = 12 - 16 inches (lets average @ 5-6 inches as they prob still small) its still 10-12 inches
1 x Angel fish max size = 4.5 - 6 inches (again lets average as not fully grown) 3 inches

All this is 43.5 inches of fish using the smallest sizes above given.... these @ the small sizes should be in a tank of 45 Gallons atleast, but will need re-housing into a 90-100 gallon as they get larger

As wilder said your tank is SEVERELY over stocked ditch the big guys and go for smaller fish (guppies, platys,mollies,tetras etc) in that size tank, but do remember guppies/mollies/platys are live bearers and do breed like crazy so you can become overstocked Very quickly.

your tank seems overstocked and the filter is more than likely struggleing to cope with the excess waste etc.
you need to do a water change say 25% use a water dechlorinator and either shorten your stock or move to a larger tank.
A.S.A.P

Hope this helped

Regards
Scott

 

[mini_matt]

i know wilder is always right lol ok so my platys and swordtails are all 1 inch max, gouramis are getting to 2inch length, my angel is growing quick though clown is nearly 2inches and my plec is getting to 3inches
its all being filtered by a tetratec ex600 so thers plenty of filtration for the time being

so all my biger fish need to go? i think the angel will need rehoming soon and 2 of my gouramis?
thanks for the help

 

[WILDER]

Until you sort your stocking out you will just keeping losing fish.

Research the fish before you buy for tank size, adult size.

Good luck.

Good reply newgee.

 

[mini_matt]

thanks for the responces

 

[WILDER]

Sorry we have to be honest.

Good Luck.

 

[Newgee]

Hi mini_matt

I would defo look at getting rid of the larger of your fish ..the pleco ,clown loach and angel fish. and even the gourami's.
Angel fish grow quite quick and pleco's give off alot of waste even when they are quite small.
Also:
I would half the platy's & keep 1 swordtail, ...i would phone around some LFS and ask them would they swap your fish for something.
Say like 4 guppy's (3 females & 1 male).
But you could keep the platys & swordtails and leave the guppy's.
Im just trying to add colour for you with the guppy's.

Either way u need to get your stock to around 12 inches of fish. or get a larger fish tank and ditch just some of the bigger ones.
At the stocking levels your tank is right now to be fair, you will keep loosing fish, and as wilder said we are only trying to be honest and help you out.

If you need anymore help just post it.

Regards
scott