Loaches Online Forum

Hey everyone I finally got some Kubotais!

These fish are lovely. Here are some pics. I will post more pics as I learn how to use the camera better.

Can I start with a few questions?

FLASHING?
Is this where the Loach swims and does a quick roll onto the gravel?

What does this indicate?

I have seen this a couple of times but not frequently so I am not sure weather or not to be concerned.

KUBOTAI NOT EATING?

I have four 1.5" - 2.0" Kubotai. The smallest does not socialize much and does not eat much. I feed blood worms and Hikari micro waffers. It hides a lot and apears to breath quickly. Should I be concerned?

FIGHTING?

The alpha Loach spent a fair bit of time the other afternoon sparing with the number two loach. They were doing the circle chase thing a few times.
The number three Kub also wanted to do a few rounds with alpha too. Number two and three were taking turns to spar with alpha.
I am not sure why they bothered, the alpha is clearly the boss.
This went on for about three quarters of an hour. I had to add a few more rocks and caves as well as a water change.
Is fighting natural for these loaches? Do I need to take any precautions?

Thanks for reading. I will try to make this topic as entertaining as possible.

This is exciting because I just setup my QT tank for a quartet of kubotai loaches I have picked out. Gonna go into town tomorrow to pick 'em up.

Scratching like that usually means ich or some other irritant inside the gills. Use a test to check ammonia and nitrate, then slowly raise the temp up to 80F. Increase the aeration because hot water cannot hold as much dissolved oxygen.

I wouldn't worry about the sparring they are just getting to know each other.

fish flash no and then...hey if your itchy...
but if they do it alot that is another story.
how long has this tank been setup etc...
personally I'd rather error on the side of caution when adding new fish and underfeed.

Hi,
Since he is breathing quickly, I would think ich or some other gill parasite.

When I bought my 5, one was breathing quickly and was lethargic. I upped the temp. above 86 degrees ( actually it was 90 degrees), lowered the water level, and left it this way for about 2 weeks. They are all fine to this day.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... ht=kubotai

Congrats on the lovely fish!

Thanks for the replys.

My little Kub died last night.

Its dissapointing to loose a Kub but I guess its out of its misery and the others are OK.

This was my first casualty in this set up.

I couldn't see any sign of disease or abnormality. I think/hope it was just stressed. Maybe new conditions or transport shock.

My water apears to be OK. I will work on reducing Nitrates.

Ammonia & Nitrite - 0.0

pH - 6.9

KH - 40mg/L

GH - 20mg/L

Nitrate - 20 - 40 mg/L

So sorry your kubotai didn't make it.