BlaiseinLondon
New Member
I've had a bit of a scare!
I have a 90 litre tank and a 30 litre. The small tank houses 1 male plakat koi betta and 3 khuli loaches. The story with the loaches is that my LFS suggested getting them to keep the substrate turned over, saying that they wouldn't trouble my betta (which has been entirely correct). I've had them for a number of months (they were tiny when I introduced them to the tank) and have barely seen them since, as they tuck themselves away.
Yesterday I did my usual weekly water check in both tanks (APi master kit). All was fine in the 90 litre but my 30 litre had a huge ammonia spike! (2.0!) I always condition my water, have great filtration and definitely don't overfeed, so I was mystified. Anyway, I carried out a 50% water change.
Today I checked the ammonia again - still 0.25-0.50. It occurred to me that 1 or more of the loaches might have died, creating the spike. So I removed their usual hiding places and found all 3 of them, alive and well and............... HUGE! I think perhaps the amount they've grown has caused too much of a bioload in my 30 litre, so I embarked upon the obvious solution - move them to the 90 litre!
Has anyone ever tried to catch kuhli loaches??!! I tried the old trick of trapping them in a dark tunnel but they were having none of it! To my immense relief I finally managed to net each one of them and they are now looking pretty happy in their new home. It took ages though, so I really hope I haven't over-stressed them.
I've done another 30% change in the 30 litre so I hope that fixes the ammonia too.
I have a 90 litre tank and a 30 litre. The small tank houses 1 male plakat koi betta and 3 khuli loaches. The story with the loaches is that my LFS suggested getting them to keep the substrate turned over, saying that they wouldn't trouble my betta (which has been entirely correct). I've had them for a number of months (they were tiny when I introduced them to the tank) and have barely seen them since, as they tuck themselves away.
Yesterday I did my usual weekly water check in both tanks (APi master kit). All was fine in the 90 litre but my 30 litre had a huge ammonia spike! (2.0!) I always condition my water, have great filtration and definitely don't overfeed, so I was mystified. Anyway, I carried out a 50% water change.
Today I checked the ammonia again - still 0.25-0.50. It occurred to me that 1 or more of the loaches might have died, creating the spike. So I removed their usual hiding places and found all 3 of them, alive and well and............... HUGE! I think perhaps the amount they've grown has caused too much of a bioload in my 30 litre, so I embarked upon the obvious solution - move them to the 90 litre!
Has anyone ever tried to catch kuhli loaches??!! I tried the old trick of trapping them in a dark tunnel but they were having none of it! To my immense relief I finally managed to net each one of them and they are now looking pretty happy in their new home. It took ages though, so I really hope I haven't over-stressed them.
I've done another 30% change in the 30 litre so I hope that fixes the ammonia too.
