Clown loach with something sticking out from side of his head

[Gill Passman]

Hi All,
Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions at
to what (if anything) I can do.

Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the side
of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid - around
1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself doesn't
seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His colour
is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't right
and I'm worried he might get an infection.

Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful display
of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't having
any of it.

I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
health.

Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.

Gill

[Gill Passman]

"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
> Hi All,
> Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions at
> to what (if anything) I can do.
>
> Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
> have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the
side
> of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid - around
> 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself
doesn't
> seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His colour
> is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't right
> and I'm worried he might get an infection.
>
> Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful
display
> of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
> anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
> companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't
having
> any of it.
>
> I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
> health.
>
> Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
>
> Gill
>
>
Update - whatever it was has gone now. Hope it doesn't cause any long-term
damage. Still have no idea what it was....

[Kevin R]

"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> .. .
>> Hi All,
>> Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions
>> at
>> to what (if anything) I can do.
>>
>> Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
>> have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the
> side
>> of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid - around
>> 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself
> doesn't
>> seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His
>> colour
>> is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't right
>> and I'm worried he might get an infection.
>>
>> Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful
> display
>> of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
>> anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
>> companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't
> having
>> any of it.
>>
>> I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
>> health.
>>
>> Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
>>
>> Gill
>>
>>
> Update - whatever it was has gone now. Hope it doesn't cause any long-term
> damage. Still have no idea what it was....
>
They have spines below the eye not sure how long but you don't want to pick
them up
Kevin

[Gill Passman]

"Kevin R" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> .. .
> >
> > "Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
> > .. .
> >> Hi All,
> >> Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions
> >> at
> >> to what (if anything) I can do.
> >>
> >> Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems
to
> >> have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the
> > side
> >> of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid -
around
> >> 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself
> > doesn't
> >> seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His
> >> colour
> >> is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't
right
> >> and I'm worried he might get an infection.
> >>
> >> Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful
> > display
> >> of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
> >> anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their
bigger
> >> companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't
> > having
> >> any of it.
> >>
> >> I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of
ill
> >> health.
> >>
> >> Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
> >>
> >> Gill
> >>
> >>
> > Update - whatever it was has gone now. Hope it doesn't cause any
long-term
> > damage. Still have no idea what it was....
> >
> They have spines below the eye not sure how long but you don't want to
pick
> them up
> Kevin
>
>
I never knew that - thanks for the info - a big relief. It's gone now so I
guess he has retracted it.

:-)

gill

[Reg]

Gill Passman wrote:
> Hi All,
> Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions at
> to what (if anything) I can do.
>
> Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
> have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the side
> of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid - around
> 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself doesn't
> seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His colour
> is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't right
> and I'm worried he might get an infection.
>
> Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful display
> of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
> anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
> companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't having
> any of it.
>
> I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
> health.
>
> Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
>
> Gill
>
>



That would be normal for (I think) most of the botias. I've seen it
rarely on my zebra loaches. Okay just once. Does it look kinda like this:
http://www.loaches.com/audio_video/spine_flash.html

[Gill Passman]

"Reg" > wrote in message
news:%hkWd.577407$Xk.441841@pd7tw3no...
> Gill Passman wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions
at
> > to what (if anything) I can do.
> >
> > Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
> > have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the
side
> > of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid -
around
> > 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself
doesn't
> > seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His
colour
> > is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't
right
> > and I'm worried he might get an infection.
> >
> > Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful
display
> > of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
> > anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
> > companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't
having
> > any of it.
> >
> > I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
> > health.
> >
> > Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
> >
> > Gill
> >
> >
>
>
>
> That would be normal for (I think) most of the botias. I've seen it
> rarely on my zebra loaches. Okay just once. Does it look kinda like
this:
> http://www.loaches.com/audio_video/spine_flash.html

Yep, that is actually it. Thanks :-)

[Fishman >]

"Gill Passman" <gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk> wrote in message
.. .
> Hi All,
> Wonder if any of you can shed any light on this or make any suggestions at
> to what (if anything) I can do.
>
> Got up this morning to discover one of my smaller Clown Loaches seems to
> have sprouted another whisker. There is something sticking out from the
> side
> of his face just below his eye. It's white and looks quite rigid - around
> 1/2 cm long and curved. Almost looks like plastic. The fish itself
> doesn't
> seem to be bothered by it and is behaving and feeding normally. His colour
> is good and there is no sign of "greying". But obviously this isn't right
> and I'm worried he might get an infection.
>
> Last night my four smaller Clown Loaches were putting on a beautiful
> display
> of "synchronised swimming" and all seemed well and there was no sign of
> anything abnormal on any of them. They were trying to force their bigger
> companions to join in but the big ones had "gone to bed" and weren't
> having
> any of it.
>
> I've had this Clown since October and he has never shown any sign of ill
> health.
>
> Any help/suggestions would be great. I don't want to lose him.
>
> Gill
>
>

The eye spines are used mainly for defence and retract when not in use.

Important Note:
Always net a Botia family fish on it's own, never with other fish.
Why - because when caught the spines will come out and may damage any other
fish in the net.