Loach with hole in the head

HI All

I have a quick question regarding my Weather/Dojo Loach. He has not shown any signs of illness for a year, but today I noticed he was on the floor, upside down at the back of the tank, nestling in the sand. I know he was fine last night when I saw him. I picked him up and he wriggled around, but with no real gusto. I then noticed it looked like a gash on the side of his head. He is now just laying on his front doing nothing, moving his head from side to side every now and then.

Is there anything I can do? I don't have a quarantine tank so that's not an option. Water has been tested and is perfect

Thanks in advance

Greg

 

Sorry to hear about your loach.
Hole in the head is caused by poor water quality over a long period of time. If you do regular water changes and keep the tank clean there is little chance that he is dealing with Hole in the head.
He might've gotten injured by another fish or got hung up on something in the tank. Do a water change for good measure. Fresh water really helps with the healing process.
In the next few days, watch for signs of infection. Redness, swelling, and white fungus are some of the common symptoms he would exhibit.
Keep us updated and let us know if anything changes

 

Thanks Sadie

My water quality in consistently good. I did a 30 ish percent change when I noticed it this evening, about 2 hours ago. I have just this second tested, and all is good.

I'll try and get a pic but it's hard as he seeems to be very aware of the gash and lays that side of his head against the sand.

I have 2 other weather loaches in there and they all love swimming around together. I have a very peaceful tank with Mollies, Platys, Swords, Rainbows of varying variety All peaceful) frogs and a bolivian ram. I would find it hard to believe a fish would have had a go at it, so I can only assume it caught itself on something.

Regarding treatment, I don't want to add any medication to the water really, and salt is a no-no as my frogs could all die.

Are water changes the only way? And is there really hope that he will be ok?

 

You're Welcome. It sounds like you take great care in maintaining your tank. That's why I find it hard to believe that you could have a case of hole in the head. A pic would make diagnosing a little easier.

In terms of treatment- keep a close eye on him. He might slowly perk back up, fish are tough little creatures. Watch for the symptoms of infection. If medication becomes necessary we can cross that bridge when we get to it

 

Fingers crossed then! Thanks very much for your help[. I'll get a pic up as soon as poss!

 

My pleasure Sounds good!

 

Just below the eye.....

sorry, I know the pic isn't the best, but you can just see a dark mark below the eye.....

 

Yeah that looks like an injury to me, not Hole in the Head. Keep us updated on his condition and if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask.

 

Thanks for that. He keeps shuffling his head to move himself on his side - then on his back for a bit.

I have a box I bought but never used to put a pregnant Molly in. Is it worth putting him in there overnight to protect him or would he have a fit and get stressed out? I can't imagine he can get much more stressed, and he isn't moving at all apart from his head

 

Welcome to FishLore!
Dojo loaches as well as some other loaches have a thorn under their eye( technically called a suboccular spine). It's usually used for self defense. He may have caught it on something. Extremely clean water and well vacuumed substrate will help him heal faster than anything I know of.

Even though your water tests good a couple of extra water changes will replenish minerals and make him feel better. Keep us posted on how he's doing.
Carol

 

Thanks Carol

Is it normal for them to be so inactive following injury? I'm really worried that he is only moving his head about. I did hand feed him a bit if food earlier which he hoovered up, so his appetite is still there....

 

Thanks Carol

Is it normal for them to be so inactive following injury? I'm really worried that he is only moving his head about. I did hand feed him a bit if food earlier which he hoovered up, so his appetite is still there....

If it hurts I would he like any animal would try to move as little as possible. If he's eating that's terrific.

Since they tend to stick their heads into things including the substrate it needs to be kept clean.

Mine take days when they are maniacs and other days when they laze around so just keep an eye on him.

carol

 

Ok, I will do thanks.

Is there anything I can do to protect him while he's poorly?

 

Just keep an eye on him keep us posted please!
Carol

 

Thanks for your help, all. I have to get to bed (midnight here and have to be up in 5 hours). I'll come back on tomorrow night, so if any further info is suggested by anyone, I thank you in advance, and will get back to you tomorrow.

Night all

 

Good Night!

 

HI all. Hope all's well

Just a quick update on Buddy, my loach - No real progress really. Still eats (when I can find him) but just lays on his back, twitching from time to time. I really am fearing the worst for him now.

 

If he's eating there's hope. Keep his water extremely clean. They also need some water movement.
carol

 

TOTBL, how big is your loach right now? I ask because it may be worth keeping him in the breeder box if he's still teeny, but if he's larger than maybe 3" or 4", it'd probably be more stressful for him than anything else. Keeping him in there would enable you to keep him out of possibly dirty substrate (although if you can put some clean sand in there, it'd make him a ton more comfortable), and make sure he gets a good meal.

If there's any way you can separate him, even in a plastic tub with a filter, I'd suggest melafix as it's worked wonders for me in my dojo rescues with flesh wounds (it's gentle on their scaleless skin, unlike some harsher antibiotics which can be very stressful for them), but I'm not sure it's a good idea with all your other fish (I don't have a lot of experience with the other types of fish in your tank, and I wouldn't want to advise something I wasn't sure of).

Keeping fingers crossed for you and your fish!

 

HI Wizecrackerz.

Sorry, not been on here for a while - Work is keeping me a bit busy at the mo!

I'd say he is between 5 & 6 inches at the mo. Although he still hasn't come out of hiding yet, so I don't know if he is alive or dead. He's got previous when it comes to hiding - he went missing for 3 months before just after I bought him. So fingers crossed he's ok. I have about 25 plants (most of which big and bushy) giving the little guy plenty of chances to hide if he wants to hide (which looked like he was trying to do when I first noticed the problem)

 

Welcome to FishLore!
Dojo loaches as well as some other loaches have a thorn under their eye( technically called a suboccular spine).

I thought that was specific to botias - I'm pretty sure dojos don't have the switch blades. I've never seen the dojos or the kuhlis flash them.

 

if they have the spikes, they've never used them on me.

and it might be worth shuffling things around a bit, to see if you can spook him out, although if he's 5", you would have noticed an NH3 spike if he died and his body was decaying. seriously no sign of him? i'd be worried.

 

There would only be an ammonia spike if the filtration wasn't able to pick up the slack. A good filtration system will handle it.

From experience, you may want to have the siphon ready. dojo loaches break down VERY quickly. If the fish is dead, it will likely not be in one piece and will foul up the water.

Having read your last post, OP, I would not worry about it. If the fish is alive it will resurface. If it died, at this point there wouldnt be anything left.

 

Just keep an eye out for him, if hes eating hes good. Dojos do not have the eye thorn, that's mostly botia. It sounds like he took off like a rocket and damaged himself, happens all the time with these guys.

 

I agree, it's likely just an injury from a piece of decor.

 

I thought that was specific to botias - I'm pretty sure dojos don't have the switch blades. I've never seen the dojos or the kuhlis flash them.

I've always thought that also but when my Dojos get really excited there is some thing under their eye that looks like my clowns did

 

Thanks all.

Defo no sign of him. I generally ruffle the plants etc around whenever I hand feed my Congo frogs a bit of froven bloodworm, and at least once a week I gently move a bamboo stick through the thicker levels of sand to remove any built up trapped air etc. The other 2 loaches always move, but Buddy is nowhere to be seen. But it's a 55 gallon (UKg) heavily planted tank, with 2 large bits of wood, and a bit of wood with plants on, and a couple of rocks, so there's plenty for him to hide in/under if he wanted to hide.

On the flip-side, if he has sadly died, I'm pretty sure my 5 Amano's, 2 Rock Shrimp and Bamboo shrimp would have polished him off by now. Watching those guys go at dead fish in no time at all is astonishing!

 

Well if he doesn't turn up in a month or so you can probably safley add another dojo to keep the group strong.

 

Hi. I was thinking about doing that anyway! I liked having 3 (2 normal and an albino). I now only have (that I can see) the albino, Larry and the fattest brown loach ever (aptly named "Beast"). I do like having a few though so if I get another, and Buddy turns up again at a later date, then having 4 is fine with me!

 

haha, it will be more than fine with them

 

IME golds(they arnt actually albino) are smaller then browns in general. So add what you wish I like the golds best!

 

IME golds(they arnt actually albino) are smaller then browns in general. So add what you wish I like the golds best!

i'm so glad to hear that i'm not the only one who's experienced this; my goldens are 2x as old as my wild types, but only 2/3 the size!

 

My golds are small too. My largest is maybe 8 inches.

 

Ive actually had one as a rescue in my 29 for a few months, amazingly enough he was 5years old and 6.5 inchs long, and had appearntly stopped growing a year back. Got him from a neighbor who was tearing down a 60gal.

 

Hi

Sorry, force of habit calling them albino... They were labelled as Albino Weather Loaches in my LFS so that's what I called them until I found out they are actually Golden Weather Loaches (or Dojo... depending on which side of teh pond you are from I think!!).

I totally agree that they are smaller. He/She (is there an easy way of telling the sex on them) is much more elegant it the way they move to the browns. I can't get enough of them though!

 

They are one of my favorites. If I recall correctly, you can sex them by their pectoral fins. One is narrow and pointed and the other is wider and rounded.

Hhaha, I have two of my favorites in my avatar pic.

 

I didn't notice the little fella at the bottom of your avatar!! Excuse the ignorance, but what is the other fish? I want to say it's a goldfish of some kind, but I've never seen a fish like that before

 

It's a goldfish - I had and have never seen one like it. In person it looks like an albino, with black eyes. It was in the LFS show tank, and I made the owner an offer he couldn't refuse

 

Haha!! You did well! It's a gorgeous fish

 

Post me a pic of their pectorials and dorsals and I can sex em for ya!