Clown loaches have seen a dramatic spike in their popularity in recent months with more and more people reaching out and asking questions about keeping clown loaches in their aquariums.
One thing that so many people constantly have problems with is treating a clown loach with ich and we have noticed huge spikes in the number of people reaching out for ways to treat ich on a clown loach recently.
Ich can be harder to treat in a clown loach due to the lack of scales on the species making ich treatments containing formalin, malachite green or copper unsuitable for treating ich on a clown loach.
The best option for most people will be to increase the water temperature in their tank to around 86-88 degrees if possible to increase the life cycle of the ich parasite to flush it out of your tank as quickly as possible.
Some people do also try to use garlic infused fish food products due to garlic being one of the best natural anti-parasitics available but this has a very low success rate with clown loaches.
We have seen some people trying to treat ich with various types of mineral or chemical bath too but we really wouldn’t recommend you even attempt those treatments as they are high risk.
Why Do My Clown Loaches Have White Spots?
The majority of the white spots that form on clown loaches are due to the ich parasite taking hold of the fish.
Due to a lack of scales on a clown loach, ich can be difficult to treat and it can end up proving fatal if it is left to develop for an extended period of time so you do have to take action quickly.
Although it is rarer than ich, if the white spot that is forming on your clown loach has a fuzzy appearance to it then it could be due to a fungal infection but the difference between fungual white spots and ich white spots is usually obvious.
If the white spots on your clown loach is due to a fungal breakout on the fish then you are usually able to treat it quickly and easily with any of the reputable fungal treatments on the market with minimal issues.
In very rare situations, trauma or injury to a clown loach from one of its tank mates can cause a white spot to form on the fish.
This will look very different to ich or fungus and you will often be able to see the signs of the trauma that is causing the issue on your clown loach too.
In most cases, this will heal in time without you having to do anything but if the white spot starts to turn black then this could be a sign of necrosis setting in and can prove fatal so it will need treating.
Are Clown Loaches Prone To Ich?
Clown loaches can be slightly more prone to ich than some other fish but there are definitely other fish species out there that are far more prone to having problems with parasites.
Although the susceptibility of clown loaches to ich is slightly above average, they shouldent be having any consistent problems with ich breakouts in a properly maintained tank.
We hate to be the ones to tell people this, especially people who are new to the fish keeping hobby but if your clown loaches are consistently getting ich then there is something wrong with your setup that needs to be corrected.
Don’t take this personally, it can be a common mistake and it is usually due to the gravel or substrate in an aquarium not being cleaned correctly after an ich breakout in the tank.
If you are having problems with your clown loaches getting ich over and over again then we would highly recommend that you just remove all of the substrate from your tank and remove it.
Ich breakouts can be easier to treat in a bare bottom tank anyway and it should be enough to prevent the ich from being able to live in the substrate only to come back a month or two later and cause problems again.
How Do You Get Rid Of Ich On Clown Loaches?
The safest and often easiest way to treat ich on a clown loach is to increase the water temperature of your aquarium to around the 86-88 degree mark.
This will increase the life cycle of most ich strains and get the parasite out of your aquarium as fast as possible while causing minimal problems with the rest of your aquarium.
The problem is that turning your water up to 86-88 degrees may be too warm for all of the inhabitants of your aquarium to handle.
Depending on the specific type of ich in your tank, you may be able to treat the ich on your clown loach by increasing your water temperature up to around 82 degrees but the effectiveness really isn’t that good until you get over 86 degrees.
If possible, remove all of the substrate from your aquarium too and thoroughly clean it or replace it completely if possible.
Remove rocks and other decorations too if you are having problems with ich constantly coming back into your aquarium and infecting your clown loaches too.
Most people will recommend that you do some sort of partial water change while running your aquarium at a higher water chance as this may help to get rid of the ich quicker but the effectiveness of water changes is up for debate.
Do You Have To Quarantine A Clown Loach With Ich?
Many people within the fish keeping community will quarantine a clown loach or any other species of fish that shows the signs of an ich breakout but this is not as effective as many people think.
If one fish in your aquarium already has an ich breakout then there is a high chance that the ich parasite is already elsewhere in the tank and the full tank needs treatment anyway.
Still, arguments can be made for the validity of quarantining a fish with ich in a separate tank for treatment to use stronger ich treatments on it while you use a weaker ich treatment in your primary tank.
The problem with this is that clown loaches usually do very badly with commercial ich treatments and the majority of people should be using the water temperature method anyway that will deal with the ich in your full tank.
If you do have some fish in your tank that are not able to be in water of around 86-88 to treat the ich breakout then you can look to put them in a separate tank and use a commercial ich treatment on them as you treat your clown loach in your main tank and use the water temperature ich treatment.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over how you are able to treat a clown loach ich breakout quickly to an end. We know that clown loaches can be a tricky species to deal with when they end up having problems with ich but in most situations, even a beginner to the fish keeping hobby should easily be able to treat an ich breakout on their clown loach without there being any long term or serious problems with the fish.
