kuhlie loach killed in freak accident

[fballguy]

My snail for some reason likes to climb up the front of the glass then let go and fall to the bottom, well this morning I look in the tank, just as the snail does his falling thing again, and he falls right on top of of of my kuhlies. :( I put the kuhlie is QT so he wouldn't be bothered but he died after about an hour.

[sarcare]

scary! my snails like to do the same thing! But I always thought the other fish would be able to get out of the way fast enough--I never thought about the force of the snail falling. I don't know why snails do this--is yours an apple snail--the ones that get to be really big? Mine are mystery snails which don't get *quite* as big--but I bet they could knock out a slow moving fish.

[H3D]

I think moving the kuhli loach did it in.

[fballguy]

Its a blue mystery snail, about as big as a golf ball, a little smaller. I think the kuhlie would have been dead either way, it was breathing very rapidly and could not move.

[jm1212]

wow. that something you dont hear about every day...
usually its the loaches pouncing on the snails!

[webcricket]

Wow, that's too bad. Poor kuhlii. At least he went pretty quickly and didn't suffer over several days. I'm surprised the kuhli didn't get out of the way, but I imagine the force of the snail was enough to do damage.

[Mr SnailZ]

It's odd that the snail landed with enough force to crush your loach. They glide to the bottom of the tank by releasing the air from their lungs (think of a deflating balloon). I've seen snails drop hundreds of times but never hard enough to hurt a fish. Snails don't weigh much either, especially in water. I think you must have just had a freak accident!

[sarcare]

That is what I thought--in fact I'd seen bubbles come up from my snails when they'd floated down. In fact I'd thought of asking someone if that was normal--maybe it isn't--but it would make sense to see bubbles if they are releasing air.

[gagaliya]

i highly doubt it's the snail falling on the loach that killed it.

[fballguy]

Yea normally I see those bubbles, but this time I didn't. He fell a faster than usual when he hit the kuhlie. He didn't actually crush it, he still had normal shape, but the kuhlie was swimming normally before that, and could not move after getting hit. He tried to swim using just hit pectoral fins, but just didn't have the strength.

[F1shkeeper]

My large apple snail does the same thing and sometimes falls slowly releasing air, but moslty falls pretty hard with no bubble release, i imagine the snail could definetly have done some damage, especially to something as small and thin as a kuhlie loach.

[mtiller]

maybe the kuhlie was in shock? i know i'd be kinda scared if i was swimming around and minding my own business when something hits me out of nowhere like that. if that's the case, then moving it prob. worsened the case? was the loach swimming directly over some gravel? maybe the snail made contact hard enough to stun the loach by pushing it down on a piece of gravel? that may give a better reason for the fish to stop moving afterwards. heck, maybe both of those theories combined?

[dorris]

It seems like it was Mr. kuhli's time. Everything happens for a reason as I always say. Figure out a possible reason. Maybe there were too many kuhlis. Or maybe the kuhli had picked on the snail in the past and was deserving the kharma. haha, kuhli kharma. Sorry. This post was pretty pointless. Pretty wierd stuff can happen in your aquarium though. Stuff you just can't predict. It's like when you get 2 pairs of rams in a tank. If you have some time to sit there and watch them each day, the stuff u witness is just amazing. It's like some crazy soupie where there isn't a single peacefull day. I love it. Reminds me of how precious and un-predictable life really is.

Peace to the kuhlie.

[fballguy]

Yes, it was swimming directly on the gravel, but I don't think shock was the only reason it couldn't move. Like I said it was trying to swim using just its pectoral fins, could not move the rest of its body. Its body was not straight either, it was bent in a curve and no matter how the kuhlie moved it would not straighten out. It was upside down too, could not right itself no matter what it did. Maybe moving it worsened it, but the guppies were starting to harass it so I did what I thought was best.

[Mr SnailZ]

Don't sweat it. You did what you thought was best. It sounds like your poor little guy would have passed on no matter what you did. I'm sure it preffered dying in a tank by itself then being picked at my other fish. You did the right thing. Sh*t happens!