Our Clown Loaches might have Ich

"Elaine T" wrote in message
...
Glengoyne wrote:
Well I searched around this group, and found several different
options
for treating the loaches for Ich. I ended up getting copper safe. I
used it at about half strength. I also added a bit of aquarium salt.
I'll see how that goes. I didn't look all that hard for feedback on
Maracide, but did find a good number of recomendations for copper
safe.

I also had a epiphany as to how the loaches ended up with Ich. Just
last night we added a new fish. When I went to the LFS today to
purchase meds, I checked up and down their tanks. There were infected
fish everywhere. I went to the gal who sold me the fish yesterday,
and
told her about my Ich outbreak, and pointed out that it obviously came
from their tank. She pretty much blew me off, saying there must have
been something else wrong with my loaches if they got the Ich, because
"Ich are almost always present after all, and only stressed fish will
be affected". I said that as long as they were going to continue to
sell fish to people, that they should at least warn them that it was
full of parasites. I said it loud enough that the people waiting in
line to buy fish heard it. I then asked if they would at least cover
the cost of the meds I had to buy. They wouldn't.


Unfortunately, it's caveat emptor in all fish stores. It's important
to look at all the tanks sharing a common filtration system in a fish
store before making your purchase. Better stores run their water
through UV before it is distributed to individual tanks, lowering your
risk considerably, but not all do this.

The places where I buy fish are happy to tell me which tanks are on
which systems and whether tanks with sick fish are off-system. If in
doubt, I rarely buy.

As for treating clown loaches, copper safe is supposed to be good if
your water is hard. Copper is more toxic in soft water. Another good
option is any medicine with pure formalin and no malachite green.
Personally, I use Quick Cure at 1/2 strength on clown and yoyo loaches
but am reluctant to recommmend it because other people in this NG have
had problems using malachite green on loaches.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Quick Cure on Clown loaches.. I've used this, results were adequate.
Overall, Quick Cure was my favourite in the store (I'd get it in a 1
gallon jug).

copper & alkalinity, interesting, thanks

pure formalin, I've bought formaldehyde (formalin might be a trade
name). It's available from your local drug store on special order (but
they will ask what you are buying it for ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk