Pictures of my khuli loaches!

[mr white]

poor peachy one! he was so fine at the store... I guess he couldn't handle the stress of getting moved around.

[shazam26]

LOL! It's ok!
Are you still getting a horse faced loach?
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ac ... rorhynchus
You should make a post asking about them!

[loachmom]

Hi
Just wanted you all to know that after following this thread, I now have six kuhlis floating in a bag in my QT. You guys made them sound like the perfect additions to my tank. I can't wait to watch them. They are black with yellow stripes.

Thanks

[mr white]

That's excellent! I'm glad we could help! They are great fish, alot of fun to watch and don't take up too much room! You will see why having so many is so great when they do their loachy dance. Also, always at least one of mine is active. So there's always a kuhli in my tank doing something. It really keeps things lively!

edit: I'd also like to say that all mine are black kuhli's, and you are so lucky to have stripey ones!! I wanna get some if the LFS ever gets that kind. Perhaps you can post some pictures, loachmom? Or at least keep us up-to-date on how everything's going with them?

[loachmom]

Hi, thanks for your reply, Right now, they are just hanging low in the QT. I've dropped in a pellet, but they are being a little shy (to be expected after all the stress of netting and transport, I'm sure.) One of them has me a little concerned. He (or she) was really racing around the tank, breathing quick, and trying to get under the gravel -which he couldn't seem to do. I have large, rounded gravel in the QT. Now he has settled down, but he seems reddened around the face some. I'll have to keep an eye on that.
I'm really excited about these little guys. They seem like very gentle little fish. I WILL keep you posted. As for pictures--I'll see what my daughter can do. I'm a little technically challenged!

[mr white]

That's great! In fact, my kuhli's always look a little purple around their cheeks - most do, to the extent of my knowledge. All the kuhli's I've seen have had it. As well, they will try to bury, but I think their small stature means they don't have alot of strength to move the gravel. I have medium, soft edge round gravel. Mine are always attempting to get under it only to be met with failure. They like to sit in the plastic cups of plants and will wriggle under things if they can't get under gravel. They also sit on the suction cups of heaters and gather in the corner of the tank. They often do fly around the tank as well - often swimming along in front against the glass, in the middle from side to side. They are very active. He doesn't sound like he's anything to worry about to me, as my kuhli's seem to behave the same way. And as I've stated, most are a little (or sometimes even quite a bit) purple or red around their cheeks. Hopefully we can get some photos!

[loachmom]

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease a lot! I'll be sure to keep you up to date.

[mr white]

No problem.

[loachmom]

Just an update on the kuhlis. Things have not been going too well. The next morning I noticed small ich spots on most of them (thank goodness they are in the QT.) Then within a few hours, two of them died . I bought some sick fish, unfortunately. Hopefully, the remaining four will live and recover. I've been keeping the lights out, and they have found places to hide. I also placed and overturned saucer in the tank to give them another place to get under. I want to keep stress to a minimum. For ich treatment, I've started increasing the temp. Want to get it up to 87. That worked well for me once before.

[mr white]

fortunately, I've never had to deal with ick. And one of my kuhli's died before as well, but he was very pale, and I thought it was just a color morph thing, but he wasn't very well at all... hopefully things will look up for you soon.

[loachmom]

Would you believe that four out of the six kuhlis died in the first 36 hours!!
I've never had anything like that happen before. I went back to the lfs and found that all but three kuhlis had died there, and two of those were dying while I was there. An employee said that something went wrong with the loaches, and they had lost the kuhlis and most of the weather loaches that had just arrived. Poor things! I felt better that at least it wasn't something that I had done. I took that last remaining kuhli home with me, and he seems to be enjoying his new tank and his two kuhli tank mates.

Thanks for your reply!

[mr white]

oh nooo! so are they giving you any kind of replacements? Poor kuhlis, they're so little! I can't believe nearly the whole shipment died! That's so terrible! I hope the three little guys you have left will stay in tiptop shape. It's too bad your first venture with these guys went so terribly! Alas, one of my first kuhlis died as well. I believe I've mentioned that lighter guy before.

[loachmom]

Yes, they did replace the dead kuhlis. But they only had one healthy one, so I took him and took the rest of the money in plants and a little pleco. The three kuhlis are doing great now. They are eating and venturing out of their hiding place to explore. I think they are going to be OK. I'd like to get three more soon.

[shazam26]

It's too bad you lost so many, but it's fantastic and relieving to hear the rest are doing ok! I bet they had them put in the wrong temps- a lot of pet stores tend to do that That's a breeding ground for ick right there, with the stress the loaches are under. I got a new clown loach today, luckily my pet store takes great care of their fish. ^_^ Happy loach keeping!

[loachmom]

Congrats on the new clown loach! And thanks for your reply.