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October 12th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Got a gift card
...for my birthday to WalMart  Guess what their fish of the month is  ? Skunk Loaches. Guess what I got  9- 3/4 inch skunk loaches. they are so cute. They were only $1.84 each so I took all they had. They pretty much have to be kept in a species tank maybe a few fast swimming dither fish. Their not really mean just rambunctious. They have to check everybody out and love to play chase.
The ones I had before got to about 5 -6 inches in three years. that's as big as they get. I lost the old ones a couple of years ago when the heater got turned up (I think the cat did it) and they got too warm and so they died. They were called the brat pack.
Here's a pic of the new babies(I do mean babies too!)
carol | 
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Awwwwwwwwwww congrats on the babies! And Happy Birthday! | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| wow they actually look like fishies that are cute!!!! congrats!@
i get the ibbie jeebies with loaches LOL | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Awww I want some | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Very awesome fish. Also happy (belated)birthday. | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly  |  those are cute buggers!!!! and yes the snakey things are what does it ...im so happy for you!!! | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Carol those are adorable!!. I've never even seen them before. I'm happy for you. Looks like your going to have another brat pack!. | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Congrats Carol! I've never seen that kind. They're super cute, for sure.
I like the snakey/wormy ones too  | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Congrats and Happy Birthday........... | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy Congrats Carol! I've never seen that kind. They're super cute, for sure.
I like the snakey/wormy ones too | I must confess ... I've never met a loach I didn't like You don't see these often at all. They act like three year olds hyped on sugar
Carol | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Those are absolutely adorable! I can't wait to see more pics as they grow, if you don't mind. =)
Walmart often gets some interesting fish, and they never seem to know what they are. 9_9 | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e Those are absolutely adorable! I can't wait to see more pics as they grow, if you don't mind. =)
Walmart often gets some interesting fish, and they never seem to know what they are. 9_9 | I love taking pics of my fish, of course I take 100 to get one good one LOL We weren't even there to look for fish but I couldn't resist looking and there they were
Carol | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly They act like three year olds hyped on sugar
Carol | Congrats on the new loaches, and happy B-day too.
Do they call them skunk loaches because they're little stinkers? Who are their unsuspecting tankmates going to be? They actually do get a bit of color when they mature, but their disposition remains the same. | |
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October 13th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hello Carol. Beautiful! I know you must be thrilled. I've never seen these before.
Ken | 
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October 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Aww! Congrats! | |
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October 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! and congrat on the newbies!!!!......never saw them b4 | |
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October 13th, 2009
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| Todd- They call them Skunk Loaches (Botia Morleti) because they have a black stripe down their back like a skunk
Tank mates have to be really fast so they will probably get some danios for friends they will annoy slow fish and stress them out.
Thanks for the Birthday wishes everyone
Carol | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| Lost all of them :(
Well they are all gone  they were really thin and really tiny(1/2 to 3/4 inch) Never could get them to eat. That should have been my first clue something was wrong because loaches eat even when their sick usually
I am so sad I started finding them one or two at a time Tuesday. Started with the smallest first which is logical to indicate starvation.
Many fish that are caught in the wild are fasted for shipping and the bacteria in their stomach that helps digest food dies so they never start back to eat or can't digest what they do eat. I know this and know better than to buy such small fish but I couldn't resist.
All water parameters checked out good( ammonia-0, Nitrites-0, Nitrates barely visible), cycled quarantine tank that runs all the time, frequent water changes, lots of floating plants  
Carol | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| I know some species of Panaque need the symbiotic bacteria in their gut, but never heard that about loaches. I've seen clown loaches that size a few times that seem to have the same problem. For some reason the larger they are the better their chances of survival. I learned that years ago trying to get a group of clown loaches that lived more than a week or so. It's also better to buy fish that have been at the shop for some time than new arrivals. You may not get the fish before they're sold, but at least you know they're doing alright before you take them home. Sometimes soaking their food in garlic juice will help, sometimes nothing does. | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'm sorry to hear you lost them all.
I will keep a look out for some for you up here, i saw some 4" ones in a pet shop around here, i will grab some for you next time and ship them down to you
Anna | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| Todd just about any fish caught in the wild(very few loaches are bred in captivity) have this problem unfortunately.
I soaked shrimp pellets,Omega one flakes, and freeze dried bloodworms in garlic with no luck.
Anna- That is so sweet I guess I'm just not used to having problems with loaches but they were just so sweet.
Carol
Last edited by Butterfly; October 17th, 2009 at 11:57 AM.
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Oh, is that octoliptis are so hard to keep alive sometimes? | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouramiguy17 Oh, is that octoliptis are so hard to keep alive sometimes? | sorry I don't understand 
Carol | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Sry I forgot how to spell their name, the tiny 1-2 inch catfish that looks somewhat like a CAE | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouramiguy17 Sry I forgot how to spell their name, the tiny 1-2 inch catfish that looks somewhat like a cae | I understand now Otocinclus (Otos)
Yes that is exactly the reason many of them don't survive.
Carol | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'm so sorry you lost them, Carol =( It's such a shame that they are treated that way during transport. I wish fish were only available for shipping in small amounts at a time, so people could watch over them better. | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e I'm so sorry you lost them, Carol =( It's such a shame that they are treated that way during transport. I wish fish were only available for shipping in small amounts at a time, so people could watch over them better. | Thanks
They are fasted before shipping to keep them from pooing in their container and to keep ammonia down so there is a reason for doing this but small and tiny specimen don't have a chance.
Carol | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| ^Ah. That does make sense. I thought they were fasted too long during shipping (but it does take a day to ship them, probably).
Will you be looking for more Skunk Loaches? | |
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October 17th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Je55*e ^Ah. That does make sense. I thought they were fasted too long during shipping (but it does take a day to ship them, probably).
Will you be looking for more Skunk Loaches? | If they are caught wild they go through several different hands before they wind up at the pet store so no telling what the little fellas had been through.
I will definitely keep my eyes open for more skunk loaches. I'm always on the look out for loaches I don't have
Carol | |
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