Killer loaches?

[Crocodylus]

A couple of weeks ago i bought some small Neons (12 of them) and 2 small khuli loaches to go into a Community tank that has mostly corys and loaches (and no, I never quarantine ) when i set them free i think i saw one of my small skunk loaches go after the neons and both kuhlis, but it didnt catch them. The next day the kuhlis where no where to be seen (maybe they are hiding in some corner or under some of the driftwood :huh: ) and 2 of the small neons had bite marks on them. Long story short, now im down to 2 small neons from that batch and 0 seen kuhlis. Does someone know if Loaches are predatory fish? i know that BIG fish will eat small fish but in all my years of keeping fish this is the first time something like this has happened. Any advise you can give?

TIA ....

Croc!

 

[jm1212]

skunk loaches have been known to be a bit aggressive.

kuhlis are very good hiders. check around in your decor, and even in your filter, which brings me to the point, did you cover the intake of your filter? some kuhlis will swim up the filter intakes.

 

[wataugachicken]

i've also read that the skunks get aggressive, and it just gets worse as they age. plus they would have eaten any neons that died naturally

 

[H3D]

What size aquarium are we talking about?

 

[Crocodylus]

Thanks for the replies

jm1212: No need to cover the filter intake, the slits are too narrow for anything but small particles to get sucked up, plus I saw one of the little guys today, so maybe the other is also

wataugachicken: you need to keep them in schools of 3+ to get them to take their Aggressiveness on each other HA! i have 4 of them with 2 Clowns, plus the neons where very alive i can assure you.

H3D: 75 Gallon, looking to go up to a 100G-125G if i can find them cheap and the wood flooring can hold them

It might be a mystery as to what really happened to them. All in all i have 10 neons swimming around contently

 

[jm1212]

Thanks for the replies

jm1212: No need to cover the filter intake, the slits are too narrow for anything but small particles to get sucked up, plus I saw one of the little guys today, so maybe the other is also

wataugachicken: you need to keep them in schools of 3+ to get them to take their Aggressiveness on each other HA! i have 4 of them with 2 Clowns, plus the neons where very alive i can assure you.

H3D: 75 Gallon, looking to go up to a 100G-125G if i can find them cheap and the wood flooring can hold them

It might be a mystery as to what really happened to them. All in all i have 10 neons swimming around contently

they say the same thing about tiger barbs but those little fish are still nippy (even if you have 12 )

you are going to need more than 3 to keep the aggression wthin their group, preferably 6 or more.

 

[H3D]

I am not sure adding more will reduce their aggression. IMO it would be best to house them in their own aquarium.

 

[DojoQueen]

Not sure about them being killer loaches, but I do know kuhlis are awesome hiders and you usually only see them at dark night time if you take a close look.