Kuhli loach with faded color

I was treating ich recently with heat, tank was up at 89-90. When I increased the heat my kuhlI loaches vanished (I have 3) I was worried they died, but I also know they are good hiders and was praying it was the heat keeping them incognito. Well I dropped the temp to 86 and voila, 2 kuhlI loaches appeared before me. I missed them too! I noticed 1 was faded though, is this a stress response from ich or high heat, or just something normal ? I hope he gets his color back.






This is my other loach for camera comparison



No sign of my 3rd loachey either. I hope I see him soon.

 

Stress indeed, if you are in poor luck the first sign of an internal problem, keep an eye on it to see if it goes away.
FYI, turning up your temperature to 90 is a bad idea. 85F should suffice for killing ich with heat alone, if it isn't then you have a heat-resistant strain and are probably better off treating with salt or meds rather than turning the temperature up even more. Few fish will fare well with 90F for a week or more.

 

Stress indeed, if you are in poor luck the first sign of an internal problem, keep an eye on it to see if it goes away.
FYI, turning up your temperature to 90 is a bad idea. 85F should suffice for killing ich with heat alone, if it isn't then you have a heat-resistant strain and are probably better off treating with salt or meds rather than turning the temperature up even more. Few fish will fare well with 90F for a week or more.

Most of the information actually says 89.5 or higher for ich to die. This is my first time having ich so I read online and asked on here, aswell as searched youtube. The problem with ich is everyone and their mother has an opinion and they're all so varying. Since the loaches are scaless the general consensus was heat treatment. Other than these guys hiding everyone else did fine with the high temps. All eating and acting normal and it did work. I had nox ich and tried that first but could only half dose and it didnt do anything. As of now ich is gone. Perhaps with the lower temp he will recover.

 

Most of the information actually says 89.5 or higher for ich to die. This is my first time having ich so I read online and asked on here, aswell as searched youtube. The problem with ich is everyone and their mother has an opinion and they're all so varying. Since the loaches are scaless the general consensus was heat treatment. Other than these guys hiding everyone else did fine with the high temps. All eating and acting normal and it did work. I had nox ich and tried that first but could only half dose and it didnt do anything. As of now ich is gone. Perhaps with the lower temp he will recover.

This is my first time hearing someone recommend 87+, honestly. On this forum the consensus is 86F from what I've read, again unless ich is heat-resistant but then I think other options would be encouraged instead (and from my personal experience, 85F works just as well without medication or salt to eradicate it). I do understand there is a lot of info out there! Unfortunately this will be true of many topics concerning the hobby. Sometimes you just have to try and see what works best for you.
So regardless of all that - good to hear your other fish are fine and that it worked! Hope the little guy will come around too!

 

This is my first time hearing someone recommend 87+, honestly. On this forum the consensus is 86F from what I've read, again unless ich is heat-resistant but then I think other options would be encouraged instead (and from my personal experience, 85F works just as well without medication or salt to eradicate it). I do understand there is a lot of info out there! Unfortunately this will be true of many topics concerning the hobby. Sometimes you just have to try and see what works best for you.
So regardless of all that - good to hear your other fish are fine and that it worked! Hope the little guy will come around too!

I had it at 86 when I used the nox ich and then read I should be using one or the other. Mind you, there spots kept doubling. I stopped the nox ich and put up the heat more. Once the heat hit 89 all the spots fell off and none returned. Maybe mine was more heat resistant.