Kuhli loach and water hardness...

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Fishstix3000

Beware the Caerbannog Rabbit!
Nov 23, 2008
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I brought home six kuhli loaches from my lfs. They all died within two days, with all of my water parameters at the right levels.
pH 7.4
temp 79 deg
no nitrites
no nitrates
high alkalinity
high hardness

So the only thing I can think of that would do that is that they prefer medium hardness, and my water is very hard. Does that sound likely?

When I took them back to the lfs, they said the whole batch that came in with mine had died in the same time period, so it could NOT be my fault, but if it is I want to know what went wrong before I bring home more.

I also have several mystery snails. I know they prefer hard water, and having calcium pills dropped in. Would this be a problem for kuhlis?

Thanks for any input!
 
Often times local fish stores will get in sickly/weak stock, so it very well could have been the supplier's fault. I have 3 kuhli loaches in water that is high in pH and alkalinity and they seem just fine. You didn't mention the size of your aquarium or how long it's been established. These things would help determine how stable your aquarium is to support a new group of fish.
 
Kuhlis are often stressed by shipping, many shops don't even order them any more. That said very slow acclimation is more important with exteme water conditions & sensitive fish.
I try to wait 2 weeks to buy kuhlis to make sure they've acclimated from the supplier. Less of an issue store to home than supplier to store.
Sorry for your losses.
 
Sorry for the partial info! My tank is 29 gallons. It has been established for about 6 months. It has a lot of plants, mostly the easy to grow kind. The nitrate level is a very pale pink on the test strip 0-20, not completely white, so there is some. Sorry about the misinformation.
 
Unfortunately, my lfs gets kuhlis weekly, and runs out of them weekly. I had to come the day after they arrived to be sure to get any. I haven't been able to find any other fish stores/pet stores around here that has them at all. So I can't wait to see if they are going to make it. I'll talk to them and see if they can save some for me for a week so that I can pick them up at a certain time. That would give them time to die off if that is what they are going to do. But I don't know if they will be down with that, if they have people coming in who want to buy them right away.

Thanks!
 
Is it really a case of them all selling within a week or do some get sold and the rest die? I just have a feeling there's a bigger issue than your tank.
 
Yeah, it took a while for me to get mine (twice), even a few days would be better. Maybe you could offer to pay to reserve live fish for a week? Mom & Pop more art to do this than any chain.

If that isn't an option, drip acclimate them VERY slowly over several hours.

Better luck next time, they're nice fish.
 
Damodred, you are so right. I didn't even consider that they all died off and that is why there were none left. Why would they keep stocking them? I'll try to get them to reserve a bunch for me and see what happens. Thanks!!
 
IME, the key to their survival after bringing them home was in the acclimation process. As fishorama mentioned, keep it slow. I'm sure others out here have had better success but for me, I took over 2hrs to acclimate and haven't lost a one (that is when I can find them around here). I lost my last ones due to a total tank collapse and have been waiting for the LFS to get them back in. Weekly calls still yield nothing. Be glad yours at least gets them. ;o)

But yes, to sum up, take the acclimation really slow.
 
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