Fading markings on Kuhli Loach

[holokai]

Hey Gang,

I've been searching through the forums for a few days, but I can't seem to find an answer to my problem.

I currently have a 5 gallon tank with 4 Kuhli loaches, 7 neons, and a male Betta. It is heavily planted with Anubias Nana, and I use a Whisper Ten filter. I run Carbon all the time to contain the leeching of Tannins from a piece of driftwood.

Lighting is 2 18w 50/50.

I started with three kuhli loaches only in the tank, then added the betta. about 3 months later, I lost one of the kuhlis. He got a bad kink in his body, and just kept getting skinnier, despite ALWAYS eating voraciously, and remaining active.

While that loach was still alive, I noticed that one of the others has gotten fat. He's a pig, I suppose. My guess is that he has taken a liking to my snail population, while the others have not. At the same time, the third loach has remained skinny like when I bought him, and his color has faded .

I tested the water, waited a month, and bought 2 more Kuhlis, to bring me up to the current four. But the one kuhli is still faded, and appears to be getting skinnier. He still eats every time I feed, and he's always right there in the mix with the other three when they find food. He's active and seems healthy, other than size and color.

I feed them TetraMin "The Rich Mix" Tropical Tablets, and I also make sure to put enough TetraMin Tropical Flakes in that some hit the ground for the Kuhlis. They seem to especially love the flakes.

I'm fairly certain I feed enough, because the fat one keeps getting fatter, and the new kuhlis are bulking up as well. I know the faded one is eating, because I watch him like a hawk when I feed.

I know I'm supposed to post water parameters when asking for help, but my kit is currently at home. I will try to post them tomorrow if I can. But I have consistently been getting optimal readings on all parameters.

I'm hoping someone has experience with this and can help my guy out.

Thanks for reading this long post!

- Chris

[mikev]

Hi Chris,

Without more information it is impossible to be certain.

Fading color in kuhlis may indicate
* A temporary condition in a new kuhli which will be corrected in 1-2 months.
* A fatal disease (usually in a new kuhli) which will usually result in quick death.
* A morphing pattern, which is a very interesting phenomena: the pattern will solidify in a distorted way.

In your case, it appears that you had the animal for a while (how long?), and together with being skinny it may mean that it is suffering from some chronic problem. Post the picture of the animal(s) so we can see if it indeed looks unhealthy. It may be also that this is simply a male, which are often much less fat than females, or that it is of a different species that is normally skinnier. I have a couple of kuhli males which are considerably skinnier than the other kuhlis but not unhealthy...been here for a couple of years.

If there is a problem indeed, the cause may be
1. An internal parasite -- this is common with loaches, but asaik has never been reported with kuhli. This is usually treatable.
2. An adverse reaction to a high nitrate environment likely with your level of stocking -- you are really overstocked for a 5g. You really need a bigger tank.
3. Some other disease.

Notice that skinny loaches are common, but yet again

Seeing the photo of the animal in question and the water parameters would allow for better guessing.

hth

[holokai]

Thanks mlkev.

I've had this loach for about 5 months.

I understand that the tank is over stocked. The Betta was not my idea, it was more or less forced on me. Either I took it, or it was gonna get the old flush treatment *sigh*


As it stands though, I have a large number of plants for some natural filtration plus the whisper ten. I do 40% water changes weekly (On the day My boss doesn't work ) and as I stated my parameters have been pristine since the tank finished cycling. I will post the current parameters tomorrow when I get in to work.

I'll try for a shot of the loach too.

Thanks!
- Chris

[mikev]

Uggh, Chris, it is overstocked even not counting the Betta. Many would say that 7 neons alone is too much for a 5g.... And kuhlis need a large tank to stretch their legs or whatever...

Never mind. Let's see the water params and a photo.

[zmo63]

sounds like your kuhli might just be stressed from the cramped quarters. Even if you're able to keep the water parameters stable in such a small tank (a challenge!), kuhlis need a much bigger footprint to function naturally.

I quarantined two of my kuhli's in a very small tank like yours. One seemed normal and the other was quite faded the whole time (they'd been the same color in the store). Once they went into the big tank, the faded one colored right up - though he still greys out from time to time.

If you can't upgrade the tank, I'd really encourage you to rehome them. Even though they may survive in the tank for some time, our goal should always be to let them thrive. Giving a fish ideal conditions is really the only justification I can see for pulling them out of the wild.

ps. thanks for saving the betta! I just gave a coworker a lecture yesterday for killing two bettas in a row. She couldn't figure out why they keep jumping out of her giant martini glass.