Loaches Online Forum

Never did figure out what was killing them. Now I am only seeing three of the original six actively coming up for food.

Water conditions were good when tested
Ideal nitrites and no ammonia levels

I've been putting off replacing any of the dead ones because the cause of what's killing them is still a mystery.

And your location is?

Welcome to LOL Playfulloach!

Please post some more information on your tank for we to better help you, ok?

20 gal
Ph 7.4 and hard water
Tankmate: one female betta
Plants: Creeping Jenny and sword plant

It'll all be in past tense since the tank sprung a leak and I had to tear it down quickly. I know for sure I have three loaches left because I had to catch them and move into another tank.
I left my gravel in a bucket with water just in case any were hiding and so far I found no more.

It was hard to catch loaches squirming into my plants not wanting to be caught while having to worry about water pouring out of the bottom and spaying my electric outlet. I figured killing one of my loaches by being sloppy would make a stressful even worse, glad they are all alive two days later.

Not sure why my location is needed because I've nothing to sell.

I'm assuming the missing loaches diasappeared, and that you didn't find any remains? If so, I've dealt with a lot of loach disappearances over the years, and it has always been a mystery to me. My best guess is that these loaches some how got into the undergravel filter, died there, and eventually turned to mulch (to prevent any recognition). I so far haven't had a single disappearance my tank with sand substrate, as opposed to gravel (not to mention the awful epidemics I've had, but I found all the bodies in both cases).

That's my best guess. I'm assuming they also didn't jump out of the tank, else you would have seen them on the floor. Do you have a cat or other small animal in the house? If they jumped out, a cat or small animal might have picked up the body and either eaten it or moved it elsewhere.

Playfulloach wrote: Not sure why my location is needed because I've nothing to sell.

We always like to encourage our members to give a rough idea of where they live, as this can help immensely when recommending suitable treatments and other products, which differ around the world. Just a country would do if you don't want to be too specific.

Emma

Ok...a few typos/missed words in my last post.

I'm southern VT, USA.

No other animals besides three mice in a tank. How high do loaches jump?.
My tank is covered with a sheet of plexiglass.

I have only found one of the dead loaches. Only signs of illness were gasping for breath and keeling over dead a few minutes later.
The first two died the first week I got them and I'm guessing the third died while I on vacation for a week.

Never quite sure since just because they don't come out to eat or while I'm checking doesn't mean they are not hiding.
This is not too surprising that dead loaches could vanish in my tank considering the tank was heavily planted and loaches are scavengers who I assume would eat a dead loach.

I feel it was a huge mistake to put the group of new loaches into a heavily planted tank so I could not keep track of them well in case they got sick or died.

Hi Playfulloach,

When you say heavily planted, do you mean really heavily planted? If so, do you run some means of oxygenation (air pump etc) for the fish overnight?

Emma

That would probably explain the rapid breathing.

loaches don't scavenge all that much. correct me if I'm wrong.
I've found dead fish in the tank before and it was untouched.

When I first bought my b. histrionica, one went missing for a few days but it came back. I thought it was dead. It's one of their weird quirks.

I finally figured out it was hiding in my HOB filter. I buried a pvc pipe for it to go into so it wouldn't jump & swim into the filter.

Playfulloach,

the reason I've asked for the location was to see if it may have something to do with the water. A very long shot, but no intention to violate your privacy .

mistergreen wrote:
When I first bought my b. histrionica, one went missing for a few days but it came back. I thought it was dead. It's one of their weird quirks.

I finally figured out it was hiding in my HOB filter. I buried a pvc pipe for it to go into so it wouldn't jump & swim into the filter.

Now this is interesting. Hillstreams and Plecos in HOB I understand but how can a botia get there?

One of the funniest episodes here involved a disappearing L.Thermalis.... in the morning there were 5, in the afternoon there were 4, no place to hide (qtank), no body, no way to jump out....
Found him inside an internal filter, he somehow squeezed himself in through a 2mm hole...

mikev wrote: Now this is interesting. Hillstreams and Plecos in HOB I understand but how can a botia get there?

It swam upstream like a salmon!
I caught him in the act. I wish a had a camera at that moment.
And it made a loud crashing sound when it hit the inside of the filter. This guy is huge for a b. histrionica too. I should take a picture of him sometimes.

Haha I had a yoyo that would swim upstream intot he little aquaclear filter that we had on the 15 gallon (this was at our little fish store). I looked all over for the fish, and I finally looked straight back at the filter and saw a little yoyo shadow swimming around in that filter!

Emma Turner wrote:Hi Playfulloach,

When you say heavily planted, do you mean really heavily planted? If so, do you run some means of oxygenation (air pump etc) for the fish overnight?

Emma

Yes, it was. when I picked fish, I figured kuhli loaches would enjoy a tank like that and it did seem like they did, since I saw them active at all times of the day. Very different from a kuhli loach in an old family tank who was hardly ever seen. I had a small filter running.

Playfulloach:

I had something quite awful happen a few years ago when my air pump got disconnected while I was away. Three days with no air pump, one dead loach and one very close. If you don't have an active air pump with a good air stone to really diffuse the oxygen into the water, I would suggest getting one right away.