Dead Khuli Loach

endilliteracy

Fish Crazy
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I bought a Khuli loach last week and hid right away (normal behavior) I only saw him once or twice after that (usually when I just turned the light on in the morning) But lastnight he was being very active and swimming around and exploring everything! I know they should be kept in large groups but he was the last one at the LPS and they were going to get more in today so I figured I would go down there and get him some friends. But now my poor Kuhli loach is dead. He was behind a rock just laying there with a very dull color, it looked like he didn't even have any stripes. There were no injuries or other signs of illness. Water params are normal amm-0 ni-0 nitrate-7.5

What could have happened to my poor Kuhli Loach? :-( :byebye:
 
Could of been stress, or was all ready ill at the lfs when you bought him, sorry for your loss.
 
I don't know about the US, but the UK have had some very very bad sickly khuli's around, the last few months. I have 4 khulis in my fry tank, 2 of them live on there own, quite happy, the other 2 are together, they chose where they wanted to be, the tank is devided, and they dig under the deviders to move between section, nothing has moved for month so I guess there happy, they have there own tubes to hide in.

I got some Razor Loachs for my adult tank resently, they just like khulis, but grey, and they also seem more brave, only have 2 at the moment plan to get another 2 when I got the money, as there £3 each, and dog food is more inportant at the moment. :lol: :wub:
 
Well when I woke up my water was really cloudy...I am not sure if that had anything to do with my kuhli loach's death. :dunno: I am thinking about getting a plec or some sort of algae eater. They have black plecs with white polka-dots on them but I heard they can get huge! I want them really bad, but I only have a 29 gallon. Any suggestions on what type of algae eater to get? :dunno:

I didn't even know he was dead because he usually hides during the day and I don't see him anyway but today for some strange reason one of my neons kept going behind the rock when I came up to the tank, like he was trying to show me the dead loach. :crazy: I looked at what he was "trying to show me" and there he was. :byebye:
 
Otos are good algae eaters, Lately Khulis have been sick and dying. It's hard to get a healthy batch. I bought 5 back in July or August and they've been doing fine though mostly hiding out. They prefer to be in groups so it's possible stress added to the problem.
 
I have a Gold Nugget Pleco in my tank and I love him dearly -- he's my favorite fish! -- but trust me when I say that getting a pleco like the one you want (or I have) will not make your tank cleaner! They are very, very cool to look at, but very, very dirty to keep up with. I'd bet that my one pleco produces about 90% of the (visible) waste in my 20 gallon tank. In addition to creating a mess (if you get my drift), they also stir up the gravel when they swim, which can make the water cloud up. I also got the pleco thinking that he would help cut down on the algae, but he mostly likes rasping on the wood and eating algae tablets. Talk about a freeloader! (Or maybe an expensive-loader?)

Anyhow, I've heard good things about otos, but haven't kept them myself. Personally, I've been amazed with our Siamese Algae Eater. You have to be very careful when buying one, because other fish are frequently mislabeled as SAEs, but I was amazed at the SAE's ability to clean up the algae in my tank.

I bought my SAE at 2" when I had just had an amazing algae bloom due to new (much stronger) lighting. While he didn't eat the longer algae on the plants, he completely consumed all of the algae from the large pieces of bogwood (the lush green mossy-looking stuff), plus a bunch of the black algae from the plants, heater, etc., in about four days! That aquarium looked like a whole new tank! I can't rave enough about him, and he's definitely a workhorse. Four months later, I haven't had another problem with algae, outside of some episodes of cloudy/green water. By the way, the SAE is now almost 4" long -- he must be keeping up with whatever's trying to grow in there!

Anyhow, I can't recommend this fish enough. Like I said, be sure to get a true SAE -- the black stripe should run the length of his body to the fork in his tail. Other fish sold as SAEs can get aggressive as they age; the SAE is quite peaceful. Mine has fallen in with two swordtails about his size, and now he's just one of the boys.

Here are two websites that give the SAE's distinguishing characteristics:
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html
http://www.petresources.net/fish/article/sae.html

Good luck with whichever fish you choose!
-- Pamela
 
Very nice reply Pamela.....SH

PS...I wanted to get a gold nugget pleco, but, after reading your response, I'll wait for a bigger tank.
 
I don't want to discourage anyone from their plecos -- like I said, I love mine and wouldn't give him up. I just didn't realize what I was getting into! :)

By the way, he's growing fairly slowly, so I think that the 20 gallon will suit him just fine for quite a while. Of course, the trade off is that the tank isn't very heavily stocked. If you want a tank with a lot of fish (rather than just a half dozen or so), I'd hold off on a pleco, too. Good luck!
 
Pamela..thanks...no to worry. You didn't disoucourage..just made me think twice about numbers and overstocking. A gold nugget pleco is on my wish list. SH
 
In my LFS they keep golden nugget plecs - 1 to each tank with only 1 crowntail male betta with it. Thing is, the tanks are about 2" long and 5" high, and the plecs are there every week, so I hope they've got other tanks to keep them in when they get bigger!
 
I went to the LPS and they didn't have any SAE's :no: But I ended up falling in love with a rubber lip plec. He was just sucking away on the glass and was the only one. There was barely any visible algae in my tank so I promised him a feast when I got him home. :lol:
 

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