clown loach losing weight

[Trouty]

hi all havnt been online in a while but iam having an issue with 1 of my clown loach.
i have a shoal of 15 in an 8ft tank, maintaned weekly with atleast 50%water change and gravel vac. water checked this morning ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20-40ppm, these are very regular as i can never get my nitrates lower. iv had my clowns for years last ones i bought approx 2years ago.
over the last month or so 1 has lost weight so much hes looking ill, he used to be quite fat. yesterday i noticed he was on his own always, didnt eat, and his spines under there eye he keeps polkin them out regular. breathing rapid. has anybody any ideas y thus could be.

[Drifty]

The eye spikes means it excited or threatened... as for not eating most likely parasite/worm related would treat for that...

[Trouty]

thanks for the reply. its not excited or threatend it sittin behind the inflow pipe twitching its spikes every now an then. its not the smallest loach either about 4n half inches atleast so not getting bullied. as for worms or parasite iv had the fish for aprox 3year so could it have pick up worms in my tank if so how. also could you reomend a particular med, and would it be ok to treat whole tank as id find it hard to catch him for a hospital tank.

[Drifty]

What do you have in the tank will determent how to treat the whole tank if can...
Tank size... Any water parameters... Tank tempter... type of filter.

[plankton]

Can you pop up a pic?
It sounds a bit like when one of mine got HITH, so look for marks along the lateral line and treat accordingly if there are any. I used Waterlife Octozin.
You feed a good variety of food don't you, so it shouldn't be a problem really.
Maybe it is internal problems if there's no visible problems.
Also - you haven't noticed any green blobs about (I'm just wondering whether it's a female that's spawned) although they probably wouldn't last long with 15 of them in an 8' tank.

[Trouty]

thanks Ian. cant get a good pic at the mo hes right behind the inlet. but as far as i can tell he looks fine no marks that i can see. the black on the fish is really dark black today tho, also he twitching his spikes often. iv just fed cucumber and he not even interested, which is strange.
not noticed any green blobs either ha ha.
in the time iam righting this he been out an about 3 times but cant get pic as he scuttles off to quick.oh an he not 4 an half inches smaller more like 3an half. i remember wen i bought it tho it was very small i only bought it because of the strange markings on it otherwise i wouldnt have bought such a small loach.

[Trouty]

[Trouty]

[Ric]

S/he does look a little sunken, indeed. Also, those white/pale patches at the base of the fins - are those normal for this fish? They certainly make him/her look poorly overall.
Unfortunately, I don't know what might be wrong. As the others mentioned, worms? Internal parasites? Do you feed live snails - could one have got stuck inside? Could s/he have swallowed a piece of gravel?...

[Trouty]

i would say the fish looks (in appearance ) normal apart from how skinny it looks. behaviour wise tho he/she looks depressed breathin heavy/rapid gills eye spikes showing 3/4 times per minute, which is not normal. s/he not eating but not interested in the food. they do eat some live snails as they breed in my filter and wen i clean it i alwsys throw 20 or so in tank. personaly i wouldnt have thought a snail would cause an issue although i never considered it. iam beginning to think it has to be internal maybe worm/parasite.so my question is how to treat/which treatment to use? and can i treat whole tank cos id find it hard to catch him without removing all rocks/wood? at a push i could hospital tank. any sugestions.