Kuhli loach with potential wasting disease/parasite

[Lizzietheloach]

I have 15 kuhli loaches in a 32 gallon planted tank. Most of them hang out all day and sift sand, lie in piles, or explore, but 4-5 of them hide regularly. Yesterday evening I saw that one of my newer loaches is very skinny. He came out during feeding time, but it didn't look like he was actually eating, just sifting sand next to the food and the other loaches who were eating. I test my parameters regularly, and they are all normal today - 0 ammonia and nitrites, low nitrates, 77-78° F, stable pH and hardness. Is this a parasite? Should I treat the tank with something? I do not have a hospital tank, so I was thinking of treating the entire tank with ParaCleanse 2 or 3 times after watching Cory's video on that medicine. I don't have a picture of this loach, because he's one of the few hiding ones and he was only out for a little while, but just imagine the skinniest little slip of a thing, so skinny you could almost see right through him from the side. I didn't see any other visible issues. I got him about a month and 1/2 ago with a group of small, young loaches. They are mostly still small, but definitely not skinny like this one.

I'm feeling sensitive about my loaches because we lost one a couple weeks ago when it went into what looked like shock for no apparent reason. We euthanized it after it didn't get better because we didn't want it to suffer. I can't help but to wonder if this is a similar problem, but I don't remember that one being as thin. The ParaCleanse arrives tomorrow. 

If I do dose the tank with ParaCleanse, how many times should I do so? I have a Fluval Flex, so I have active carbon and biomax. Should I remove both or just the carbon? How do I store the carbon while I'm medicating? What can I do to keep my cycle from crashing? 

Sorry for the all the questions. This will be my first time medicating a tank, and I'm nervous, but I really care about my loaches and want to help them.

Thanks so much.

 

Edit to add that the whole tank has kuhli loaches, zebra danios, and amano shrimp

Edited August 11 by Lizzietheloach

[Colu]

 it's possible the smaller one is getting out completed for food what are you feeding and how often what other fish do you have in the tank any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy flashing spitting food out sunken belly white stringy poop loss of appetite @Lizzietheloach

[Lizzietheloach]

On 8/11/2024 at 5:56 PM, Colu said:

 it's possible the smaller one is getting out completed for food what are you feeding and how often what other fish do you have in the tank any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy flashing spitting food out sunken belly white stringy poop loss of appetite @Lizzietheloach

I wondered about that too, but his mouth was right next to two different foods, shrimp pellets and bug bites, and he just sifted sand instead of eating. I didn't notice any rapid breathing, but the loach that died a few weeks ago had very rapid breathing and and flaring gills. I haven't seen any stringy white poop, and I can't tell if his belly is sunken because he just looks skinny from head to tail. The other new loaches are still small and slender, but not like this. My older loaches are super thick. What would you do here? I really appreciate your reply. Thank you. 

[Lizzietheloach]

On 8/11/2024 at 5:56 PM, Colu said:

 it's possible the smaller one is getting out completed for food what are you feeding and how often what other fish do you have in the tank any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy flashing spitting food out sunken belly white stringy poop loss of appetite @Lizzietheloach

Sorry, I realized I hadn't answered all of your questions. I feed them a variety of foods - frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, shrimp pellets, bug bites, etc. - once per day pretty heavily with a fast day once or twice a week. I have 10 zebra danios and 7 amano shrimp with them. None of the loaches hang out near the surface. I haven't noticed him spitting out any food, but he hides a lot and I didn't even see him try to eat yesterday, even though there was food right in front of him, which concerned me. Most of my loaches hang out in the open, but he's a big hider which is why I didn't notice how thin he was until yesterday. 

[Colu]

On 8/12/2024 at 12:45 AM, Lizzietheloach said:

Sorry, I realized I hadn't answered all of your questions. I feed them a variety of foods - frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, shrimp pellets, bug bites, etc. - once per day pretty heavily with a fast day once or twice a week. I have 10 zebra danios and 7 amano shrimp with them. None of the loaches hang out near the surface. I haven't noticed him spitting out any food, but he hides a lot and I didn't even see him try to eat yesterday, even though there was food right in front of him, which concerned me. Most of my loaches hang out in the open, but he's a big hider which is why I didn't notice how thin he was until yesterday. 

I would feed daily for the next couple of weeks and treat with paracleanse once every two weeks for three  full courses of treatment so you would treat on week 1 week 3 week 5 paracleanse is shrimp and snail safe 

On 8/12/2024 at 12:45 AM, Lizzietheloach said:

Sorry, I realized I hadn't answered all of your questions. I feed them a variety of foods - frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, shrimp pellets, bug bites, etc. - once per day pretty heavily with a fast day once or twice a week. I have 10 zebra danios and 7 amano shrimp with them. None of the loaches hang out near the surface. I haven't noticed him spitting out any food, but he hides a lot and I didn't even see him try to eat yesterday, even though there was food right in front of him, which concerned me. Most of my loaches hang out in the open, but he's a big hider which is why I didn't notice how thin he was until yesterday. 

I would feed daily for the next couple of weeks and treat with paracleanse once every two weeks for three  full courses of treatment so you would treat on week 1 week 3 week 5 paracleanse is shrimp and snail safe 

[Lizzietheloach]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:45 PM, Colu said:

I would feed daily for the next couple of weeks and treat with paracleanse once every two weeks for three  full courses of treatment so you would treat on week 1 week 3 week 5 paracleanse is shrimp and snail safe 

I would feed daily for the next couple of weeks and treat with paracleanse once every two weeks for three  full courses of treatment so you would treat on week 1 week 3 week 5 paracleanse is shrimp and snail safe 

I will do that. Thank you again for responding. I feel more confident about what to do. Do I need to store my active carbon wet, or can I just let it dry out while it's out of the tank? Is there anything else I need to remove before medicating, like the foam blocks or the biomax? I assume the medication is going to affect my cycle, so I'll be testing a lot.  

[Colu]

On 8/12/2024 at 3:48 AM, Lizzietheloach said:

I will do that. Thank you again for responding. I feel more confident about what to do. Do I need to store my active carbon wet, or can I just let it dry out while it's out of the tank? Is there anything else I need to remove before medicating, like the foam blocks or the biomax? I assume the medication is going to affect my cycle, so I'll be testing a lot.  

Just remove your active carbon leave it to dry you can leave your normal filter pads and biomax media in the filter  paracleanse is less likely to harm your cycle