Butters76

My Khuli loaches must have breed. I went to check on my tank just now and saw some strange movement in the gravel below a plant. looked closer and it was a tiny Khuli loach. Very thin and about 2cm long. I have 3 loaches all about 5-7cm and alot thicker than this little guy I spotted today, so It couldn't have been any of them.

I thought breeding these cool little guys was next to impossible by accident in a community tank, but apparently they have.

But now I'm worried, could there be 50 more baby loaches under my huge piece of driftwood, its about 1 meter long and 11-13cm wide, so plenty of hiding space for them.

How many eggs does these loaches lay and how many usually hatch?

Butters76

I have 3 grown Khuli loaches, but today I saw a new one, a tiny little loach, very thin and about 2 cm long, so mine must have breed by accident. But I'm worried, I have a huge piece of driftwood, about 100cm x 13cm. Could there be like 50 more of them under there now?

Aldric

wow congrats

Butters76

Thanks, the pieces are falling into place now.

Some time ago I found lots of orange and black halfeaten fry in the tank, but I always thought they were swordtails since 2 of my 3 swordtails are orange and black. + livebreeders breed like rabbits.

But now I think they were Kuhli's, coz the least eaten had stripes like Kuhli loaches. But I never thought they would breed in my community tank, so I was sure it had to have been swordtail fry.

But after some research online I see my water values are perfect for them. pH 6.5 , GH6 , temp somewhere between 25 and 28 , my heaters and thermometer can't agree. both heaters set at 25, thermo shows 28.

I haven't dared to remove the huge piece of driftwood to do a headcount, but I think most of them were eaten.

how many eggs do Kuhli loaches lay and how high % of eggs hatch?

Butterfly

Could be but thats a good safe place for them
Try to get pics of it.
Carol

Shawnie

Butters I have moved your post out of maddilynne's post as her lil fella has passed and asking questions about yours fits in this thread you already started

acidpope

They may be more brave after lights out. If you have a camera with night filming options, or maybe a red light, you may see if you have any more surprises that pop out of the substrate. Could also leave a camcorder or webcam running at your tank and see if anything pops out when you're not near the tank. Congrats.

Butterfly

Loaches breed in home aquaria more by accident than by intention
Have you seen this
http://www.loaches.com/articles/bree...uhli%20loaches
carol

Butters76

Yeah , I saw that. But thats not the same loaches I have. I have the "normal" Kuhli, the tiger colored.

I have talked to a friend and will borrow a digital camera from him to take some pics. I tried to take some with my phone, but they turned out terrible.

Have not seen the little one since yesterday, when he was out for two short trips before going back under the driftwood. If there are many of them I probably should have seen more action?

But thing is I live north of the artic circle so we have sunlight 24H a day now, It's almost as bright at 3am as at noon. So I guess they mostly stay "home". I barly see the grownups now.

But I'm having serios trouble keeping the water temp down. water keeps 29oC even without the heaters now, coz its extremely warm not. all windows are open, but no wind outside so temp won't fall inside. And my Cory fish should have 22-24oC. They lie on the bottom like they are drunk atm. They are not swimming around eating like they should.

Should I gently pour some cold water in the tank? I have read you should not put cold water in the tank as it could shock the fish. water should be as close to tank temp as possible.

jdhef

Taking the cover off your tank and setting a fan to blow across the surface of the water should help cool the tank down, as will floating bottles of frozen water in the tank.

Butters76

I'll go buy a fan tomorrow. I acctually managed to break my top glass cover when I had it off. Arrgh. But I took the messures and a friend of mine have equipment at work to make me new top covers. Hurray. Problem is I threw the old one away before I messured how thick it was.

He made me a 3mm thick one that works great for my 17.5 gallon (63L) , I told him to go 5mm on the 60 gallon plate. Is that glass thickness ok for a 104x39 cm top plate?

Butterfly

I knew you had the striped Kuhlis but breeding, feeding, and other parameters should be about the same and I just thought it was cool
That thickness on the glass should be fine.
Since warmer water holds less oxygen I think I would do an extra water change when it gets that warm. Lowering the water temps by adding cooler water would probably make the Corys spawn ( ) but depending on how much cooler it might stress or even chill the other fish. A fan blowing across the top of the water and more aereation will help lower the water temp. Keeping the lights off as much as possible will help.
Carol

Butters76

Thanks for good tips. The lights are now half a meter above the tank after I broke the top plate, so I don't think they heat the tank much. I use 2x 30 W spots now.

But will keep the lights off on hot days when I get the new plate and put the aquarium lights just over the plate again.

Edit: I did a 25% waterchange yesterday, I do that once a week. Should I do it twice or even three times a week when it is this hot?