Ever feel like quitting?

[auxout]

I have the worst luck with fish, after tonight I feel like just giving up the hobby. My kuhli loach is just gone he looked to be losing a little color but nothing serious now somebody ate him I guess, even his bones he's totally gone. Looked around he didn't jump out. Maybe he died first, that'd be a little better I guess in a way. He had been in the tank for months I just don't get it. Before that I had 2 angels die, and now it seems like my newer fish won't grow for nothing. I try to take care of the tanks best I can water changes, feeding, test ph, ammonia. But it seems like its not the water that kills them or lack of food, if anything I overfeed. They just start spontaneously killing each other. Why do I always get the peaceful community fish that freaking EAT each other? What the hek.

[VoodooChild]

Don't quit my friend. We've all been there. After you get over this initial hump and you have confidence in yourself then you'll learn to blame the LFS, whose fault it always is! I doubt someone ate the kulhi. They have sharp pectoral fins and if someone did eat him they'd either try and spit him out or they'd be floating to because he would've gotten lodged in their throats. Sometimes fish just ship poorly and you're just hitting a streak. In a city nearby, the water is just bad. I don't know what it is and I've tested for everything in my friend's tank and my girlfriend's tank. The water is just terrible. Can't explain it. Only the hardiest of fish will work. Maybe you should by have of the tank's gallons in filtered water, R.O. or spring, it doesn't matter here, and seeing how you do then. Just don't give up. And remember, since I have given you all of these words of advice and have provided hope for the future, if you do give up, you know who to send your equipment too!:D Just kidding. Just keep trying, it'll work out. Search around for the kulhi. They can hide anywhere. And angels are sensitive anyways, so don't take that too hard. Good luck!

[ChEeRs_BiG_EaRs]

na man, u shoudlnt quit hey,
ok, heres my story, my first ever tank was a 100g, and i put in, after the cycle, glowlight tetras, they died, cardinal tetras, tehy died, gourami's, they died (but i still ahve two opalines from when i started) 3 clown loaches, 2 died, 2 tandanus, one died. man, we all lose fish hey, and this was at the start, man, that tandanus i lost was as long as the one i have today when it started, they were both about 2 cm or a bit less than an inch, now, the one that survived, is about a foot and a half n i luv him to bits, as dopy as he is :P.
but yeah dude, trust me, its a great hobby, dont give it up eh, it gets a lot better, trust me
good luk
BiG EaRs

[auxout]

I don't quite believe it myself but he showed up again. I can't figure out where he could've have been! It's a small tank(15high) with an eclipse system no way he could've gotten in the filter. Currently there is no place for him to hide either. I have white mid-sized gravel in the tank. Can they burrow? Because other than burrowing an inch deep or so there is no place he could've gone. I mean I turned the tank upsidedown looking for him. Weird.... maybe he went out for a beer... lol oh well I feel a little better. But I still need some miracle-gro for the other fish. My water is a-ok well water & water softner, it's just I get these peaceful fish that eat each other, I had a batch of 10 swordtail babies do the same thing.

Thanks for the words of encouragment and it is good to know other people have problems too.

[Dr.Guppy]

If you dont reach a hitch in your fishkeeping then you must be doing something wrong in my opinion. We all have problems to over come and that - it is a part of the hobby - the fun part! I mean, if there wasnt problems met, then what would be the point of these forums? It is a learning experiance - where is the excitement in having the same tank maintance routine day in, day out, nothing changing, always the same? Just this morning I had two of my Tiger barbs having a brawl - head on fighting. Fins all spread out, attacking each other none stop. I watched them for ten minutes doing this before deciding they wernt gonna stop, and so I separated them. They are now together again and doing fine.

[odessa]

Yes Kuhli loaches can and do burrow under the gravel Mine do this all the time. Also I agree completely with what Voodoo Child (MY favorite Hendrix song) stated about the lfs. When I buy form some of the larger chain stores that sart with a P. I have about a 50% survival rate, If I buy from my favorite local store I have about a 99% survival rate. Some of the best fish I own came from my local aquarium clubs auctions Held for fund raisers You might want to check to see if you have a club in your area.

[wetmanNY]

auxout, some thoughts based on hints from you:

I've had kuhlis back in the undergravel filter era that disappeared. I stopped mourning and regretting, but when I took down the tank, they were living fat and happy under the filter plate!

So, you say "there is no place he could have gone." Your first job is to set up a Loach Motel: a flat rock propped up so that there's just three-quarters of an inch slit for kuhli loaches to squeeze under. You'll just see his whiskers except in the evening. Or a chunk of coconut shell. How to prep the coconut is at www.skepticalaquarist.com in the Aquascaping folder under "Wood."

Second, you mention one kuhli loach. There should be five. They're uneasy all alone.

You say your water is a-okay: well water and softener. Ten-to-one your softener is sodium chloride brine. Switch to potassium chloride for the sake of the fish and your local environment. Your Culligan Man or whoever will explain.

So your wellwater is very hard. Do you take that into account in your fishkeeping practice?

Last, I'll bet you add a fish or two every couple of weeks, and don't quarantine them for a month first...

Everybody has problems. Avoiding them by foresight is easier than fixing them.

[TomFromStLouis]

I had a kuhli once that I did not see for months. I figured his nemesis the pleco did him in. When I went to take down the tank to give to a friend, I did not find him until I had nothing but an inch of very dirty water over the gravel. He finally showed himself when the water went away!

As Wetman says, whenever something goes wrong, you ought to figure out WHAT went wrong so you can learn and not make that mistake again. And of course even perfect fishkeepers lose one now and then.

[BBN]

Yes. I've had them bury themselves for months only to come up twice as big!:)

[Heady]

LOL, yeah they "disappear" a lot! Sometimes I wonder if it's a good idea to gravel-vac a tank with Kuhlies in it.....

[somefinnfishy]

yes he could have been in the hood,Mine would shoot up the output swim through the biowheel section and under the filter pad.Crazy little buggers.At least they dont jump like rope fish.:D

[cdawson]

Originally posted by auxout
I have the worst luck with fish, after tonight I feel like just giving up the hobby. My kuhli loach is just gone he looked to be losing a little color but nothing serious now somebody ate him I guess, even his bones he's totally gone. Looked around he didn't jump out. Maybe he died first, that'd be a little better I

I've got a kuhli loach and we thought he was dead for like 4 months before we saw him burying himself in the substrate. They love burrowing if theres only one or two because they are community fish. It's on a post earlier, try searching for it. Especially if you have sand they like burrowing.