First kuhli loach!

[kcartwright856]

Thanks to abcdefghi, I now have 6 more kuhli loaches! I went to pick them up tonight!

They look great and acclimated wonderfully. I had a hiccup with my quarantine tank plans, but the tanks where I got these guys were nothing short of pristine, so I decided to just go ahead and put them in the main tank. (Don't hurt me!)

Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated! I should probably start a tank thread.

 

[H2Ogal]

Glad to hear about the new batch. Looking forward to picture.

PM me the vendor info if they ship, pls!

 

[abcdefghi]

PM me the vendor info if they ship, pls!

PM sent, they do ship

 

[H2Ogal]

Thanks much.

 

[kcartwright856]

Haha, this lady's info is really getting around!

 

[abcdefghi]

Haha, this lady's info is really getting around!

Yep, I would just post her info in the thread, but I don't know if that's against the rules (not to mention it would open up her email to spam). She was actually selling on Aquabid (if I remember rightly had something like 65+ positive feedback on there), but I emailed direct as I wanted more than was in the auction.

I am trying to figure out now if I should switch my substrate or not, I am using Turface, which is very light and (in my opinion) not sharp. But, I have read that kuhli's prefer sand, while I am not opposed to switching. I would prefer not to if I did not have to do so. Here are a few pictures of the tank they will be going in:



The stuff floating on the water is food, typically the ram and angels colors are brighter, but they don't particularly care for me pointing a camera at them.

 

[kcartwright856]

I don't think you'd have to switch, personally, if you feel as though the grains aren't sharp. That's the most important thing. Run it through your fingers and maybe on the back of your hand. Look at the grains under a magnifying glass, if you have one. If it's not sharp, I say leave it.

I use pool filter sand and I love it. The grains are almost perfectly round, and it only takes a few weeks for it to look quite natural in the tank. I'm not certain why sand has such a terrible reputation in tank cleaning discussions. I find it so much easier to clean than gravel.

 

[kcartwright856]

Everyone is doing really well here on my end, I think! I have trouble doing headcounts because they are all generally pretty spread out and some of them prefer a hiding hole that can only be viewed from the back of the tank.

They are starting to become more secure and comfortable enough to explore. At least half of them have discovered the corner that I place their food in, so hopefully they'll be trained to that spot soon.

The only concern so far is that last night, I saw that one loach had a piece of bloodworm stuck in its mouth. I'm guessing that he bit off more than he could chew? Once every few minutes, he'd do a quick trash in an attempt to get it out (I assume?), but I watched him closely and he didn't seem to have any trouble breathing. Poor thing, though, I had to laugh... two of the other kuhlis saw that he had yummies, and were trying to get at it! Hopefully he managed to get it either down or out overnight.

 

[abcdefghi]

Mine finally arrived on Friday, I was getting a little worried as they had shown as left PA around 2am on the 4th and then no activity whatsoever all day on the 5th, despite USPS showing expected delivery as the 5th. We then had frost overnight on the 5th, Friday morning though eventually showed them in VA at 12:20am on the 6th, and eventually delivered around mid afternoon.

All 15 survived the trip, 1 was not looking so good, so I kept him in a net for the rest of the day. By the evening though he had perked up and was swimming around the net so I let him out. Been unable to do an accurate headcount as they are so hard to see through all the plants. I do see them out and about though, and eating. It's crazy how small they are compared to my existing 2, but the color on the new ones is great. Really bright orange/gold through the stripes.

 

[kcartwright856]

15?! I am so jealous! These are definitely my favorite fish so far, EVER!

I'm so glad they made it to you okay. How is the one little guy doing? I'm confident he'll do just fine. Their stock was very healthy!

Mine that I got from her are actually almost an inch bigger than that first one that I got from Petco. That little guy (Though I am thinking it may be a girl.) is only 2 inches long! And you are so right about the colors. I just love looking at them. They are gorgeous!

I keep making videos of mine. I think I'm addicted. :help:


[video=youtube;WFB1ui-glp0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFB1ui-glp0[/video]