I need to know if I would be rescuing these loaches...

[Xenos]

One of my local Wal-Marts (ugh!) recently got a shipment of what I'm pretty sure are 4 Kuhli loaches (could be one of the "fake" khuli's though). They're being sold as "assorted tropical" and I'm certain they're going to die unless someone who knows what they're doing picks them up (they're very small, all about 1-1.5 inches)
I have only a 20g-long tropical tank (currently 2 Gourami and a Yellow Lab Cichlid, all juveniles kept at about 79F) and a 1 gallon tank I use occasionaly as a hospital tank.
The problem is that I live in S. Texas where the water is 50% rock and 50% hard-place with an At-Tap PH of about 8.3 (KH and GH are both aroud 280 - 300) R/O water isn't a long-term option for me, and noone I know has a loach-friendly tank (they all raise African Cichlids).

Do you think these loaches could live in my tropical tank? I'm willing to get them their own 10 gallon, as I have some spare filters and stuff, but my house pretty much stays at 79 degrees constantly. Any ideas on how to make my water more hospitable without great cost?

[Tery]

You might try peat moss in the filter. But you would have to treat water ahead for water changes. Driftwood usually lowers the ph a little. Acclimate very slowly. Usually keeping the ph steady is more important that what it actually is. Hope someone else can help you more.

[Xenos]

Ok, I bought the loaches and am keeping them in water that is a little lower in PH than their bag water, (a drop from 8.4 to about 7.9) I bought a few gallons of R/O water and was thinking I could slowly bring the PH down to what they naturally prefer. The water was only about 50 cents a gallon, so doing 30% weekly water changes won't be so bad on the 1g tank their in now

I got a spare 10 gallon tank from a friend and that will be their new home once the cycling is done (ammonia, fine gravel, 20 gallon in-tank filter, and an established sponge filter from my tropical tank that I usually keep "alive" for just such an emergency )

Thanks for the info though! I hope to be a good loach-keeper (yes, these are my first loaches)

[Tery]

Good luck with your loaches. Kuhlies like plenty of hiding places. If they look at all "off", You might want to treat them with the maracyn 1 &2 combination. Most kuhlies are wild caught and can be hard to get started. they may have parasites or disease so automatically treating them is a good idea. Once they acclimate & make it the first couple of weeks they usually are very hardy as long as they don't get too stressed out. A planted tank is great for them, but as long as they have hiding places they should do well. I hope you have access to another tank or two, cause you've just been bitten by the "gotta have another loach" bug.

[Gary Herring]

You might try peat moss in the filter. But you would have to treat water ahead for water changes. Driftwood usually lowers the ph a little. Acclimate very slowly. Usually keeping the ph steady is more important that what it actually is. Hope someone else can help you more.

Neither will make any difference with a KH that high. If you want to soften the water (which is advisable with readings like that), the only option is carry on diluting it with RO.

[Xenos]

Well, it doesn't matter anymore.

I was able to purchase two of the loaches from Wal-mart, and last night they both JUMPED out of the 1 gallon tank. It had a lid and everything, but there's a corner missing for tubes and things to go in, and they must have slithered out of that. I woke up to my cat munching on half a dried-up loach, it was all very disturbing!

Does anyone know why they would just jump out like that?! The water was R/O, with ph, KH, and GH all in "good ranges", the temp was at 75. It just blew my mind! My fiance is calling me a fishkiller and she refuses to pet my cat now.

I'm going to wait until my 10 galloon finishes cycling...and build a very tight lid for it...before I put any more loaches in harm's way. And I thought I would be helping them!

[Tery]

Sorry to hear about your kuhlies. Knock on wood, my loaches haven't ever jumped, so I don't really know why they would. They could even have been playing in the water stream . With your water though, if you want loaches research for the more hard water tolerant varieties and you'll have maybe better luck. I use tap water, and mine goes through a water softner, which everybody says is a no no, but works well for the fish I keep,inclluding clown loaches,yoyos,straitas, several kinds of hilllstreams,schisturi waltoni (?),modesta,& sergeant majors. Not in the same tank.