Kuhli loaches "in season"?

[chkltcow]

I stopped by a LFS yesterday, and while I was looking around I noticed a sticker for kuhli loaches.... but none in the tank. I asked the owner about it, and she said that "kuhlis aren't in season now.. it'll probably be a few months before we get any."

Any clue what she means, or when they will be readily available? I'm looking to add a couple to my 55g.

 

[OrionGirl]

Almost all kuhli loaches sold are wild caught fish. Since it's more reasonable to capture emerging fry and leave the adults alone, there really is a season for them. I've seen a few around, but not many. Some places still offer them--pretty sure the online stores have them.

 

[chkltcow]

Any clue when "in season" is gonna be? I'm not too fond of ordering live animals from the internet, so I'll just wait until the LFS has some in stock.

 

[OrionGirl]

No, I don't know--my kuhli loaches breed like rabbits, year round, but I'm sure that's not natural for them. At a guess, I would say early spring...But it will depend on where they are from.

 

[chefkeith]

From what I've heard, Kuhli loaches don't do well when shipped during the mid-summer months. It's just too hot outside for them right now.

 

[Aquatick]

Seasonal can mean two things... Either they aren't breeding this time of year or the country from which they are caught in the wild will close their borders to shipping out native species in order to protect the various species. If temperature is a concern most if not all shippers/farms will ship them with ice packs to keep them cool enough to survive the transit. At any rate, it's hard to determine when they will be back in stores because of the different variables. I'm sure you will see them in stores soon though.

 

[chkltcow]

Well apparently she lied or was mistaken or something. I went by the store today to see if my plants had come in yet (they hadn't) and started looking at all the tanks. I saw what looked like a worm in one tank, and looked closer. As I moved up, a little flash of yellow and black scooted under a rock... then another went burrowing just behind him. I asked the guy that was working there and he said they had come in yesterday. So... now I have two Kuhli's that I wasn't really expecting. My wife already dislikes them because "they look like snakes" and they already have done their "gonna hide until we get used to things" thing. I put them in, turned my back, and I couldn't find them anymore.

How long you think it'll take them to break out of their shyness?

 

[anonapersona]

How long you think it'll take them to break out of their shyness?

Nearly forever -- they are always shy.

I have 5, it's been months since I've seen them all out at the same time to count them. I may see one or two during a week, for a minute maybe.

 

[chkltcow]

Well it's been almost 2 weeks since I added them, and they're getting out a bit more. I know where they are at any given time.... one of either two places. First is a PVC pipe, they hide under the edge of it and come out to pick up food occasionally. I try to make sure I drop the pellets down there so they'll stay there peeking out. The other is under a rock back near the heater. My clown loaches have recently decided they want to take up residence there, though. The silly things haven't figured out that the PVC pipe is in there to make a cave for them, though.... so they just look at it on their way to that little tiny rock. *shrug*

I keep checking at that pet store to see if they have more kuhlis by chance. I'd like to have more than 2 to see if they'll come out a bit more often.

 

[OrionGirl]

You will see them a lot more if you can get a few more. I can always find at least 3 or 4 in the tanks with them. I think 5-6 is a good size grouping. Keep to one type--while the solids will mix with the stripes, they aren't as social in a mixed group.