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Okay, first question: I have yet to see my Kuhli Loach eat. I sat in my brother's room watching the tank after I fed them bloodwroms. He swam by the worms and sniffed them a few times, but he didn't eat anything. I've had him for like 2 weeks now, so he'd be either dead or looking worse for wear if he hadn't eaten this whole time right?

Second question: One of my wrestling halfbeaks I suspect has parasites. He's eating and everything, but his stomach looks caved in. Should I treat the tank with salt for a few weeks?

I'm aware they're shoalers (I would never buy a fish I haven't researched ahead of time), he was the last one and I'm waiting for the next shipment to get him some friends. The tank he's in is in my brother's room though, and my brother is never home so the room is always dark and quiet. It's the least stressful room in the house. His body is very full looking so it seems like he's been eating it's just that he sniffed at them and swam away so it worried me. But for all I know it's because I was watching him.

For the other fish, I'm going to ask my supervisor at the aquarium about other methods before I even think of using meds. Medicating a fish should always be the last thing you try. Since nothing new has been added to that tank for the past 8 months, there's gotta be something else that was wrong with him to make him susceptible to whatever parasites he may or may not have. To just medicate him when I don't know exactly what's wrong (something fishkeepers do all too often) is the worst thing I could do.

I would also not be particularly worried. If he still looks good by this point he must be eating dropped food or something, otherwise you should notice some slimming and sluggishness by now. I also had an instance once with some corys that seemed to eat very little for a few weeks. Upon a closer look there were little white worms in my substrate which must have come in with some plants. Needless to say, I didn't have worms in the tank for very long . . . 3nodding


Does the fish as a whole look thin, or is it a severly sunken stomach only? If mostly the stomach looks sunken, but the rest of him does appear a little gaunt as well, it can on a rare occasion be piscine tuberculosis. It is not easily treatable, is extremely difficult to diagnose (and it can only be tested for certain after death of the fish,) is highly contagious, and the prognosis is not often good. There are some meds, and I believe it is also suggested that baby vitamins can be added to the water to help prevent physical deformities of the ailing fish. Another big problem with this disease is that it is transmittable to humans (though not easily,) so if you even suspect the fish has this, be very careful with how you handle him and the water from the tank. Check out this link for more info.

While I fully agree with you regarding unnecessary medication (I prefer my tanks au naturale myself) sometimes getting the "jump" on a disease can literally make the difference between life and death for the little fellas. I understand your trepidation towards dosing, particularly when considering the stress levels involved with moving to a quarantine tank, possible injury, etc. So perhaps a gentle treatment would be the way to go for you until you gain a more certain diagnosis? For example, I have used Kordon's Rid-Fungus recently for a couple issues within a new tank, and it works very well without any apparent stress on the fish like some other meds. I actually mentioned this stuff in my first post, so I apologize for sounding like I'm advertising today or something! xp It uses ingredients from herbs (I believe it contains toxins from plants which most occupants have naturally high resistances to) rather than heavy metals or harsh chemicals, and it doesn't kill everything but the fish. The biological filter is unaffected, as well as inverts and plants, so you can dose in his original tank, no need to move him. It only kills external single-celled parasites and infections, but if the suspected internal parasite has a life-cycle with a fre-swimming larvae form, you're covered. It can also help prevent further complications and infections due to stress. I also believe there are some water conditioners containing fairly passive antibacterials. Using a regimen such as this, if it doesn't cure the fish, may help keep him alive and prevent secondary infections until you find out what is affecting him.


It does help with the uptake of oxygen, and supposedly the shedding of mucus from the gills. Also, while fish are sick they may have osmoregulatory difficulties, and cannot retain enough salt or properly shed water in their waste. Extra salt can help them uptake more, and generally make things a little easier on the stressed fish.

Vanilla, while salt does kill parasites, it only does so because they are simple organisms and do not have organs to remove excess salt from their bodies. Fish, however, do. So if the parasite is internal, the fish's internal salt levels stay about the same. Salt is only effective for external parasites. So, Feldspar is correct in that the salt will not help kill whatever infection your fish may have if it is internal, but it can help in other ways and prevent undue stress.

I didn't say you were. Look, based on the info you gave, I came to the most likely conclusion and suggested a course of action. Obviously it's not okay to toss meds in a tank at the slightest hint of trouble and you should explore every avenue first. I myself use them very rarely, because yeah, as we've established, they're not something you use lightly, but I HAVE used them and I'm not exactly talking out of my arse here. Again, if your fish DOES end up having parasites, meds are essentially your only option.

You don't need to have parasites floating around in your tank for a fish to suddenly come down with them. Many fish already have parasites, but it takes an outside stressor for them to actually make the fish sick, and that could be any number of things.

Obese fish are very, VERY rare, although after a big feeding they may have bulging bellies. When you feed your other halfbeaks, look for the belly bulge to determine where their stomach is to see if that's where your suspect fish is skinny.