Richard

My first Dojo Loach, one of the golden colored ones which're pretty rare in my LFS, was fine last night.. but when I checked him this morning, he had what looked like a pretty nasty bruise on his back right behind his dorsal fin and one slightly bigger below on his tummy! His tankmates are a Khulie Loach and several young platties and Swordtails(older than fry but not quite mature yet).. I'd noticed recently the fish would be going after the sinking food for the Loaches in addition to any of their flakes that had fallen, and there'd sometimes be moments when the two Loaches would be harrassed by the fish while trying to feed.. I have since shifted the fish to another tank since they're being distributed to a few friends and an LFS over the next coupla days.. is it possible though that they bit the loach while stealing his food?. and more importantly, is there a medication available that can help heal cuts and bruises on scaleless fish?. I have moved him to a 5 gal. quarantine tank and will proceed to do twice weekly waterchanges, but it'd be nice if there was some kind of medication available to help speed up the healing process.

It's a shame really, because his companion Dojo along with 3 Yoyos I bought a week and some ago, have completed their quarantine, and have just been placed in his tank.. while he now has to move to a different tank to be healed.

bmxer193

I would say you did the right thing by putting the fish in another tank But this could also have stressed the fish more so if i were you i would add some stress coat. I dont know much about Loaches so i cant help you there sorry.

Butterfly

I really doubt that they would be able to do that to him. Dojo loaches love to bury themselves, could he have maybe scraped himself? Is the skin broken?
Personally I would do every other day 25-50% water changes until he is all healed up. Fresh, clean, highly oxygenated water seems to do more for loaches healing than anything I know of.
Carol

COBettaCouple

If you can find a Kordon product called "Fish Protector" or can get some VitaChem, those both could help him heal faster.

Richard

Thanks guys, I'll make a run later to my LFS to get the meds.. since I'm dealing with a Loach, I know I'll have to be extra careful with the dosage of whichever one I get.. that plus the waterchanges and a few whispered prayers will hopefully do the trick.. wish me luck.

Butterfly

Richard any cuts or just bruising? Loaches of all kinds like to squeeze into the smallest spaces they can. make sure whatever meds you buy is recommended for scaleless fish
Carol

bmxer193

good luck!

Richard

After several days of water-changes every 48hrs. and precise amounts of medication for possible external parasites, we finally lost him on Monday last.. what we thought were bruises, turned into ulcers that got progressively worse to the point where Buzz swears she saw air bubbles coming out of the worst of the three lesions.

I won't kid you, we've lost fish before, but this particular loss hit hard.. not only was he a Golden Dojo, pretty rare in our LFS, but he had a kinda puppydog face that reminded me of 'Salty' the seal show that came out around the time of 'Flipper', 'Lassie' and 'Gentle Ben'.. guess in this hobby, you win some and you lose some, but some losses really get to you more than others.. thank God the other Dojos are healthy and doing quite well with their Yoyo and Khulie tankmates.. and so the day to day maintenance to keep all our fish healthy and happy continues.. once again, thanks a million for your advice.

Kevin

sorry to hear about your dojo...you did what you could, it sounds like in progressed really quickly...its so tough to treat the diseases that that quickly

COBettaCouple

we're sorry you lost him.. he was loved and it's hardest losing those special ones.

Butterfly

So sorry you lost him, it's hardest losing the ones we get attached to.
Carol