# Bruised Clown Loach



## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Hello all,

About 3 weeks ago i bought 5 Clown loaches (all about 2"); within 48 hrs one of them died with a very sharp red bruise under his eye. He segregated from the group, breathing very heavily and quickly passed. 

Now, another loach is looking bruised and segregated from the group... his eyes look a bit bulged and his whole mouth area is red. He is breathing a bit rapidly and doesnt swim around actively, but at least moves around a bit for the past 2 days. The remaining 3 clown loaches are very healthy and swim around actively. They all go to sleep at 9:00PM on a couple of Anubias leaves that slightly press against the glass, except for the bruised fella; he sleeps by himself around the back of the tank under some plants. 

I have often seem them quarreling in typical Clown loach style: faded colours, showing eachother off, lip locking, head-butting; before the above one got bruised (cant tell which were the ones doing the fighting), and still now there is some quarrel (a pair at a time). 

Tank is 50 Gal, heavily planted (low light, no CO2), 2x Aquaclear filters (50 + 70)... substrate is aquarium gravel and pool filter sand, and some rocks. Tankmates: 2x 3" Angelfish, 6x Glo Danios, 1x 4" Common Pleco, 1x 2.5" CAE. 

Ammonia/Nitrite 0, pH 8.0, KH 8 dH, GH 14 dH, temp 84F. Don't have a Nitrates tester on my kit... fish and plants look and behave healthily...

HELP! please
Thanks in advance...


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Hi f1ea,

With what you are describing I would be suspicous of a bacterial infection, you may want to treat for that.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

It's dead. 

His head was red from the gills all the way to the tip of the mouth. The other one that died only had a sharp bruise under his eye and died quickly, it had no bruises on his mouth or anywhere else... 

It could be bacterial, because the loaches being recently introduced were obviously under adaptation stress, but it looks more 'violent' and blood red, so i'm not too sure. None of the other fish or loaches exhibit any sort of symptoms... but i will be on the watch to see if anybody else begins to act strange.


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