Black Kuhli Loaches glass surfing/ dancing on glass

like the title says glass surfing/ dancing is this okay ? I know if fish do it its a bad sign and am not sure is this regular behavior?

 

My group will do it from time to time, sometimes in multiple places on the walls of the tank. I had a pair QTing in a 10gal at one point that did it for at least 8 hours straight.

 

good so its normal? they dident do it at first but now they haven't seemed to stop

 

yeah it seems like its a natural act anyways. Mine have calmed down since but occasionally one will come out and make a pass along the top of the water and then go back to hiding lol.

 

good its kinda fun to watch they are doing figure 8ts on the glass

 

there awesome fish aren't they! I have at least 12 in my 75 I will eventually get some more so I can always see one or two lol. If you give them some larger caves they will spend more time hiding but when the lights are out they come out and play. It is a good sign that they are comfortable in the tank.

 

a group of four in a 40 gal is okay, no?

 

I would get more. I have a 55 gallon and 8-12 was recommended to me, so assuming your stocking elsewhere in the tank isn't too much, then I think you should up it to six or so.

 

"Glass surfing" usually means healthy loaches unless they seem to be desperately trying to escape.

Mine tend to do it after water changes.

 

mine do it every night around 11 pm

 

I added a piece of terra cotta pot to my tank and now one of my kuhlI poached keep swimming around like crazy. Mostly up and down the silicone of the tank. Is this something to be concerned about or just a reaction to the change in environment?

 

yes, that is not normal behavior for a kuhli

I doubt the terra cotta pot is the source. coincidence. It sounds more like a nitrogen waste issue causing the fish distress. loaches are scaless, so they are sensitive to nitrite and it probably burning his gills. check your water. if I were you I would do a water change.

 

Ok. I moved some sand while trying to remove pest snails. Could that be the problem?

 

I think it might be a more systemic problem. what is your water quality in terms of NH3, NO2-, NO3- , and pH?

 

I haven't been able to test in a few days cause my daughter knocked over my test tubes and broke them. Last check it was at 0 0 10

 

Kuhlis love to glass surf. It's normal unless water parameters are off. He might of got excited over you adding something new.

 

I would not necessarily say they love to glass surf. it is a panic response. the kuhli's are like canaries in my fish tank, they are the only reason my discus and angels are still alive. I had a unexpected nitrite spike a week after I was forced to an emergency water change (75%), by noticing the kuhlis' aberrant behavior I was able to do a second emergency waterchange (75%).

under normal circumstances I almost forget I have a handful of kuhlI loaches. spying one is a treat because they should be elusive. but if they are glass surfing and going bananas, I would be very concerned, and go for my aquarium maintenance equipment and test kit immediately and keep a close eye.

 

I would not necessarily say they love to glass surf. it is a panic response. the kuhli's are like canaries in my fish tank, they are the only reason my discus and angels are still alive. I had a unexpected nitrite spike a week after I was forced to an emergency water change (75%), by noticing the kuhlis' aberrant behavior I was able to do a second emergency waterchange (75%).

under normal circumstances I almost forget I have a handful of kuhlI loaches. spying one is a treat because they should be elusive. but if they are glass surfing and going bananas, I would be very concerned, and go for my aquarium maintenance equipment and test kit immediately and keep a close eye.

Thanks for the info.
I rarely see mine, and when I do they usually act erratic, swimming super fast, glass surfing and going in circles. I thought it was normal, but will be monitoring params when this happens again.
Thanks

 

Well whatever it was causing the glass surfing they have calmed down although 2 of the 3 are constantly out and trying to tunnel. Mostly through plant roots.

 

I would not necessarily say they love to glass surf. it is a panic response. the kuhli's are like canaries in my fish tank, they are the only reason my discus and angels are still alive. I had a unexpected nitrite spike a week after I was forced to an emergency water change (75%), by noticing the kuhlis' aberrant behavior I was able to do a second emergency waterchange (75%).

under normal circumstances I almost forget I have a handful of kuhlI loaches. spying one is a treat because they should be elusive. but if they are glass surfing and going bananas, I would be very concerned, and go for my aquarium maintenance equipment and test kit immediately and keep a close eye.

Mine do love to glass surf and are always out and about in the day. I see them all the time. I have a kuhlI loach only tank and in the nightime they glass surf together, up and down, for hours on end. However, the type of glass surfing I am talking about is slow and calm, not zippy-fast.

 

Mine do love to glass surf and are always out and about in the day. I see them all the time. I have a kuhlI loach only tank and in the nightime they glass surf together, up and down, for hours on end. However, the type of glass surfing I am talking about is slow and calm, not zippy-fast.

And your water Parameters are reading zero for nitrogen compounds consistently?

 

And your water Parameters are reading zero for nitrogen compounds consistently?

Yes. Ask anyone that keeps a decent amount of kuhlis; they love to do the loachie dance. Black kuhlis more so than stripes ones.

 

I have about 8 kuhli. I almost never see them since they have lots of deep caves and hollows. Only time I ever seen them in numbers is when there is a stressor involved

 

I have about 8 kuhli. I almost never see them since they have lots of deep caves and hollows. Only time I ever seen them in numbers is when there is a stressor involved

Mine have lots of hiding places. I guess they just don't feel threatened since it's only them.

Didn't mean to hijack, OP.

 

That's fine. It's an interesting conversation. My tank has several hiding spaces. That's probably why the kuhlis are out so often. They can dart into a hiding spot easily.

 

That's fine. It's an interesting conversation. My tank has several hiding spaces. That's probably why the kuhlis are out so often. They can dart into a hiding spot easily.

Yeah, the more hiding spots they have, the more comfortable they feel as they know they have somewhere to dart off to if they go out in the open.

 

I fed the tank a couple pieces of blanched zucchinI and they started playing tag around one of the pieces.