Loaches Online Forum

I recently got six Botia kubotai and have had them in quarantine for two weeks so far. Five out of the six seem completely healthy to me. The sixth one, however, has been acting very strangely since the first day I got it. Basically, it alternates between swimming in insane circles around the tank very fast and often upside down, and lying on its side breathing heavily. I would have expected a fish acting like this to have died after a few days, but this has been going on for two weeks now. One other thing I'll mention, though it may not be relevant, is that this one has noticeably darker coloration than the others.

None of the other five fish has been exhibiting any of this behavior. At this point, I'm looking to get the five normal kubotais out of quarantine before too much longer, but I am a bit hesitant. Since none of them have shown any unusual symptoms, I'm ready to believe that whatever is wrong with the one is not a contagious disease, but I'd like some other opinions. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Thanks.

Quite a few Loaches do this circling thing. I am not sure what it means. More often the Loaches that have been in a particular tank for a while pick out a certain time of day (often as night is falling) and dance like this. I have seen Kuhlies, Yoyos, Dojos and Clowns dancing. My Kubs might make a circle or two, but not as much nor as long lasting as yours is doing.

Are you sure it is a Kubotai? Some of the pics I've seen of rostrata and histrionica are difficult to tell apart. Are there hiding places for it?
I'd probably give them 2 more weeks in the Q tank. The ich on my last purchase didn't show up for almost 3 weeks.

okay the usual ?s
water quality
how long has this tank been going j
blahblahblah...
we need info
lots of it.

Don't really think I need to answer the usual questions, since all but one of the fish are doing fine. However, for the record: ammonia is zero, pH is 7, water changes at least weekly. The tank has been going two weeks, as I mentioned, and was set up with a sponge filter that had been steeping in my main tank for months.

To answer the previous poster, I'm pretty sure they're all kubotais, since they were purchased as a group from a knowledgeable seller on Aquabid and I feel confident in my ability to identify them as well, but I guess anything is possible.

I guess I will keep them all in QT for another two weeks. If nothing happens with this loach either way at the end of that time, I'm going to be at a loss for what to do with it.

Hello jgolieb,

I recently had a rasbora acting strangely in QT. It was swimming erratically and upside down. It seemed stressed with its inability to swim normally. It showed no signs of the usual diseases, and its tank mates were fine.

This went on for over a week, and I was considering euthanizing it. As a last resort, I added carbon to the filter, and the fish started to improve. Within days, it was swimming normally. That was about a month ago, and today the fish is just fine.
Not sure if the carbon had anything to do with it, or not. Just thought I'd share my experience. Hope your fish improves.