animegirlalways

For a little over a year I had only a single Black Khuli Loach, named Whiskers, that I had bought at a local PetSmart. A few months ago I discovered a small petstore that only sold fish not far from me and was excited to find they had Stripped Khuli Loaches and decided to get Whiskers a friend, whom I called Stripes. He was active, eating, and (to my delight) always out where I could see him, unlike Whiskers who hides in the ruins unless I am feeding frozen bloodworms or its dark (in which case I can't really see him anyway). I was also happy to notice that Whiskers was comming out sometimes during the day after I added Stripes. Yesterday though I saw that Stripes looked fat, a lot more of him looked flesh colored, and he wasn't very active. I was already planning to clean the tank, so while doing so I took a look at Whiskers and found he looked normal. I hoped it was just a case of him overeating, but found him upside down and dead behind a plant this morning. I don't want Whiskers to be alone anymore, but the store is currently sold out and I hope to avoid it happening again.

Time

Poor Stripes. Sorry for your loss. I think you made a mistake and made me think whiskers died.

Tony G.

Hello Mandy, i havent welcomed you sooo...
Welcome to Fishlore!

Sorry you lost Stripes.
How new was he when he died? He could have been carrying some parasites that made him bloat and die.
It is not your fault. So dont punish yourself for it, it happens.

animegirlalways

Thankfully Whiskers, my first Khuli Loach, is alive/healthy. Stripes unfortunately died of unknown causes suddenly.

animegirlalways

I had him for a few months. Up until yesterday he was slime and active.

Time

Did you check your water parameters? Maybe it wasn't used to the conditions in your tank.

Tony G.

hmm... sometimes the parasites take a while to react... Ive never had any parasites so im not much help there... Do you know what your readings were? there could have been spike...

animegirlalways

The parameters are fine. I've had the tank set up for over a year, so it is fully cycled as well. I make sure to add some Nutrafin Cycle whenever I clean the tank or do a partial water change too. What really confuses me is that Stripes was fine for months and Whiskers is fine.

Tony G.

So i see you have a 5 gallon. Not sure if you can house them there, but something so small can go through mini cycles in a year. Just had that happen with my 10g that was only set up for about 10 months, so that could have caused your little guy to pass.
Also, we strongly suggest to NOT use cycling additives( in this case CYCLE) Its the wrong kind of bacteria that takes the ammonia the fish produce causing your tank to never cycle. Dont add it
Let your tank take its course. If you want your tank to cycel well, then we only suggest you add TetraSafeStart
Its the only beneficial bacteria that WILL cycle your tank, and leave it cycled.
CYCLE requires to dose evry now and then( which is not nessesary with a cycled tank) and with TSS you dont have to add anything...

animegirlalways

Is there something that anyone would recommend to prevent it from happening again when I get another (when the petstore get more in)? MelaFix or PimaFix? Should I be worried that Whiskers may have gotten what Stripes had, but is just not showing yet?

Tony G.

You could quarantine your next fish to prevent any disease they could have...
not sure about the parasites though, you shuold wait to see what other members have to say. There is no need to medicate untill you are certain they have the illness.

animegirlalways

How long would I have to quarantine a Khuli Loach, since it took months for anything to show or happen?

Tony G.

i would quarantine for 3-4 weeks... thats just me though...

animegirlalways

Does PimaFix help with parasites or only fungul problems?
Is there anyway Stripes could have given it to Whiskers? If yes, is there anything I can do to make sure Whiskers will be okay? I am worried that if I wait till there are physical signs he will die within a day like Stripes did.
In addition to quarantining for a few weeks should I add parasite medication to make sure before adding a new Khuli Loach?

animegirlalways

Status update: Well, I am happy to report that Whiskers is still active and eating, so it most likely was a mini cycle. The fishstore got some Stripped Khuli Loaches in, so I am going to try giving Whiskers a friend one more time. I did a partial water change and checked the parameters (0 ammonia, 0 nirite, 0 nitrate) before adding him. I did discover my pH is a little high, so I got Seachem Neutral Regulator, which I will be using from now on starting with next water change, to ensure it is 7.0 and to condition the new water. Was unable to find the TetraSafeStart, but was told that with my parameters and weekly partial water changes it should be fine.

Butterfly

It's really not necessary to add pH adjustor. most fish (kuhlis included) will easily acclimate to the normal ph of your tap water. Ph adjustors tend to make the pH fluctuate ans it will let it rise closer to mormal when it's time to add more.
How long has your tank been set up? i notice that your parameteras are 0 across the board. a completely cycled tank has some Nitrates.
Carol

animegirlalways

The tank has been set up for over a year now, whiskers being the first fish I ever added to it after cycling!
I will return the Seachem Neutral Regulator then and continue to use AmQuel+.
There may be between 0-20ppm (mg/L) Nitrates, I could not find a liquid test like the one I use for Ammonia and was having a little trouble reading the 5 in 1 strip test. The strip test was what made me worry about the pH (that maybe that played a part in Stripes death), but it was somewhat hard to match the colors on a couple of them.
-ph = 8.0 or 8.5
-Total alkalinity = 300ppm
-Total Hardness = 150ppm
-nitrite = 0ppm
-Nitrate = a little darker than 0 PPM, but lighter than 20ppm