Sad clowns, sad rothenb1

**rothenb1** · 04-29-2010, 10:27 PM

This is my second time trying to keep clowns.

My first time I had a school of five 2 inchers. After moving them to a larger tank (90gal) I went through a mini-cycle, and did water changes until the cycle was complete. A few days later I saw ich spots. After asking about treatment options on here, I did a 50% water change + gravel vac, turned up the heat to 82F, and treated with quick cure. I did this daily (for how long, I don't remember) but still I watched my loaches die one by one. The other fish were fine.

A month later, after making 100% sure my parameters were perfect and all together the tank was healthy, I purchased two 4 inchers. I decided to go with the larger ones because the tank was much larger than my old one, and I had room. I only purchased two because I didn't want to add too many fish at once, and because the 4 inchers are twice the size and therefore twice the price of the 2 inchers!

A week later I purchased two more. I had planned on buying two more, but money got tight so I decided to put it off until I had some extra change. I figured they'd be fine in a school of four for a month or so.

Everyone was looking very happy, their colors were vibrant and they were swimming together and dong silly loach things. They'd been doing well in the tank for almost a month, and then four days ago I saw the ich spots on one of them (I hadn't added any other fish since the two clowns).

I went right into action, water change + gravel vac, upping the temp, adding meds (this time rid ich-- I was out of quick cure, and I had heard rid ich worked well). I have done this daily (should I do it every 12 hrs?)

The thing is-- none of my other fish have it. There are 2 juvenile severums, a moonlight and pearl gourami, a juvenile redtail shark, and some otos that I never see. These fish are completely clean and seem healthy.

The clowns have been hiding for two days. I poked in their cave a couple times to make sure they were alive, and they swam out then went right back in. They look horrible, like someone rolled them in salt.

I'm just so sad and confused. How could the ich attack them out of no where, and not my other fish? Am I going about treatment the wrong way? I really can't bear to lose these guys, I was so traumatized by the loss of my first school. I actually bought the big tank for the sole reason that I could house juvenile loaches happily for a few years, when I would upgrade once again.

Anyway, after that spiel... is there anything else I can do? Am I doing something wrong? Why did the ich attack the clowns and no one else?

*sigh* Thanks, I really appreciate any help.

**Lady Hobbs** · 04-30-2010, 03:55 AM

Clowns are susceptible to ick because they're crawling around on the bottom where the Ick reproduces. I would use half doses of ick medications with clowns or even the Quick Cure for Senative fish. Full doses can burn them. You need to follow directions on the different medications. Treating the tank every day may be too much and certainly every 12 hours.

Medications deplete the oxygen in the water and so does raising the heat. Therefore, you should not do both of those. With either treatment, add an airstone.

**rothenb1** · 04-30-2010, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by Lady Hobbs

Clowns are susceptible to ick because they're crawling around on the bottom where the Ick reproduces. I would use half doses of ick medications with clowns or even the Quick Cure for Senative fish. Full doses can burn them. You need to follow directions on the different medications. Treating the tank every day may be too much and certainly every 12 hours.

Medications deplete the oxygen in the water and so does raising the heat. Therefore, you should not do both of those. With either treatment, add an airstone.

Thank you for the reply. I've got a bubble wall (like an air stone) that is always on, and it creates a lot of aeration. We've been doing 5 capfulls as opposed to the 9 that the directions say (1 capfull/10gal). Should I still put the heat back to a normal temperature for them even though there's a lot of aeration throughout the tank? (I've also got 2 HOB filters that have 2 waterfalls apiece, so that also creates some aeration).

**rothenb1** · 04-30-2010, 07:53 AM

Sadly, I discovered one of my loaches dead. I only saw three in the usual hiding spot (good news is that one of them has since come out and started swimming around), and didn't see the fourth when I looked around the tank. I found him tucked inside the faux driftwood piece, highly dead.

Thanks to LH for the advice. Anyone else have their two cents?

**Lady Hobbs** · 04-30-2010, 12:01 PM

They may do better by omitting the medication and just raising the heat. Could be the medication is killing them but Ick will also kill them if it gets in their gills. I believe you are supposed to do 25% water changes before re-medicating the tank. At least that's the instructions I've also read.

Ick is not killed when visible on the fish but they are killed when they fall off the fish and fall to the bottom and reproduce. I would also be vacumming the bottom every single day to pick up reproducing Ick.