kuhli loaches dying...

T

the_dougie

Why call it tunaFISH??
Oct 17, 2004
236
0
0
Toronto area, Canada
About 4 days ago i found kuhli loaches at my LFS, which i love, so i bought three, and put them in my 20G tank. the next morning, one died, and another one the day after that. theres one left and hes showing the same symptoms as the other two -lying on its side, or completely upside down, moving mainly when provoked by my net. aside from that they look perfectly normal. The tank they were in already had quite a few dead ones, but i thought i could save them...anybody know what I can do?
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-13
pH roughly 7.7 and softwater.
tank companions -2 ADFs
 
How were they introduced to your tank?
 
They sat around in their bag for a good hour, and then i untied the bag and let them loose....
i didnt know a problem could arise from releasing them the wrong way :o
 
I'd suspect that this isn't your fault. If there are several dead fish in a tank--don't buy. Wait at least a week--if there are survivors that look healthy and are active, then buy. Many fish do not ship well, or experience serious trauma during shipping, and won't survive. Let the LFS take the cost.

In terms of introducing them--no reason to have them sit in the bag for an hour--toxins will just build up and oxygen is used up. I open the bag as soon as I get home, and add one cup of water from my tank. I repeat this every 10 minutes until I've doubled the volume of water in the bag, pour out half, and repeat. This gives the fish a) a chance to get used to my water conditions--go slower if you know your water is very different from the LFS and b) dilutes the toxins that built up during transport, reducing the fishes exposure.
 
OrionGirl said:
I'd suspect that this isn't your fault. If there are several dead fish in a tank--don't buy. Wait at least a week--if there are survivors that look healthy and are active, then buy. Many fish do not ship well, or experience serious trauma during shipping, and won't survive. Let the LFS take the cost.

In terms of introducing them--no reason to have them sit in the bag for an hour--toxins will just build up and oxygen is used up. I open the bag as soon as I get home, and add one cup of water from my tank. I repeat this every 10 minutes until I've doubled the volume of water in the bag, pour out half, and repeat. This gives the fish a) a chance to get used to my water conditions--go slower if you know your water is very different from the LFS and b) dilutes the toxins that built up during transport, reducing the fishes exposure.
Click to expand...

Half that is into a bucket, not the tank.
 
The reason to float the bag before adding tank water is to equalize the temperature slowly. That said, In my area its been almost impossible to get healthy kulies for some time. Most of the fish stores around haven't been getting them because they die. If you can find some healthy looking ones, acclimate them slowly, quarentine them (whatever it is they've got can & will kill every loach you have), and treat them with maracyn 1 & 2). Lower light levels will be less stressful for them. good luck.
 
Kuhli in plant

You guys wanna here my acclimation kuhli loach story?...I went out and bought a potted plant. Took the plant out of the bag and put it in my tank. I then went to dump the water from the bag into my sink....once this was done...I was about to throw away my bag until low and behold in the corner of the bag was a small kuhli loach...stuck...without water!!!!!!........In a panic I ran back to my tank and just dropped him in...so far he's survived the acclimation and the Oscar every now and then......Ive been looking to get him some friends but no LFS's around my way have them.....The place where I bought the plant didnt even know they had them in the plants..They wouldnt know what a Kuhli Loach was if one hit them smack in the face.
 
Floating in a closed bag doesn't do much. The temp isn't a big deal as long as it's within 5-10 degrees, and unless lights are turned off, the bag will actually get much warmer than the tank water. And, of course, the longer the fish is in the same water, the more waste builds up--not good!
 
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