AndyTH

Hi, confused poster here.

I ordered some Kuhli loaches from my LFS, which has a good reputation and good conditions etc. so i'm not concerned about their environment for the fish. However, when they had the fish in and they had passed quarantine I went to collect them, and decided on 5. As he netted them up, one of the fish went VERY strange, stopped swimming and started "vibrating" in the water, and fell akimbo to the bottom, apparently dead. All the levels were fine and the fish didn't have any visible signs of disease illness, so the recently deceased quickly became Oscar food, and I brought another 5 Kuhli's home, thinking it was just a "dodgy fish."

Since then, I've had 2 die, both infront of me. I haven't popped up and shocked them, i've observed it from quite a distance, i've just been "lucky" to witness it. They swim along fine and absolutely freak out, thrashing around the tank before landing on their side at the bottom. I've tried moving them to see if it's a Clown Loach-esque trick, and even kept one back in the quarantine tank for a while to see if it was just a behaviour manner, but they're definitely dead. on contacting the LFS they said they've had 3 do the same the past couple of days, and really can't igure out why as all their parameters are fine too. Is there something about this fish where they are prone to sudden death etc. or is there a chance the LFS just ordered in a "bad batch".

It's quite a shame really, as the ones who are still alive are really lively and cheeky, and are already feeding out of my hand and part of the community tank. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Butterfly

Sounds like a sick batch of kuhlis. Given enough hiding/sleeping places they are active, delightful fish.
Carol

04_si

did you do a water test? what were the readings of that test?

Loaches do need good quality water, I know that much. if the water is 0,0, and under 20(max nitrate) then im really at a loss for words. Hopefully someone else can coming along and maybe shed some light on this (Carol maybe haha)

Butterfly

Since the store had problems and the rest of yours are fine leads me to think some of the kuhlis were sick.
04_si you know I love loaches I had to respond.
carol

04_si

Hahahaha, i find it funny you were 2 minutes later than me in the thread. you're following me around again!

AndyTH

No more help with this? I've scoured the internet and have found people with similar "seizure" problems, but no-one can seem to pinpoint a reliable cause.

Thanks,

Andy

Butterfly

Any results with water tests?
I was just reading a post where the poster said she had lost kuhlis also because she was told it had been a bad year for them, They were all sick maybe they were just sick.
Carol

04_si

I've bought 6 kuhlis in the last 3 months and none have died. There can't be a bad year for kuhlis hahaha

Some people and there excuses haha

MissMTS

Sometimes a store can get in a sick batch. The person that Butterfly is referring to bought their Kuhlis years ago, so the fact that yours are healthy doesn't mean that theirs were too.

04_si

oh! my bad!

still doesnt make sense to me.... a bad year for a species of fish...?

MissMTS

There was a virus that hit dwarf gouramis really hard during this last year. Most dwarf gouramis are bread in Singapore and because the virus attacked most of the hatcheries there, we did not have good quality gouramis here. Many members had gouramis that got sick and died right after buying them. These were people all in different parts of the world having the same problem. Now, the virus seems to not be so much of an issue and it is easier to find healthier stock. Something similar could have happened with the kuhlis that year.

04_si

ohhh!!!! I knew that!

Maybe I forgot my brain on the couch last night. Thanks for the clear up

MissMTS

No problem

barrenelly

Hi, one of my kuhlis who died from anchor worm infection died in front of my very eyes in exactly the way AndyTH describes. I bought eleven kuhlis and a week or two later saw the adult worms on them. Anchor worms are external parasites, not actually worms but copepod crustaceans, and the adult females bury their heads in the fishes with their two egg-sacs on the other end showering out eggs everywhere the fish goes. However, the real damage to the fish is done by the larval stage of the parasite as it lives and feeds off the gills of the fish. Five of my kuhlis died in the end, not all had adult worms on them, but all were breathing very laboured for several days before their demise.

When I visited the shop, they had fishes in the same bank of tanks with visible infestation, which they were treating with Sterazin. I treated mine with it, too, although the recommended treatment is Parazin. I am now treating with that, but since using the Sterazin have had no further trouble. None of my other fishes, including my old black-and-silver kuhli and kribs, have so far been affected.

When the shop received this batch of kuhlis there was no way to tell they were infested. Theirs developed the adult form at the same time as mine did. If the fishes are being caught from infested waters it makes sense that a lot of people are seeing the same problems. So it may be nothing to do with water quality, and the fishes may be dying before the adult parasite is seen. Hope this helps.

agabr123

hi barrenelly, this thread is pretty old, i think that AndyTH's problem has been resolved. Please try to check the dates before posting