Are these eels? bichirs? Worms?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

PalePawsPalace

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
0
Location
Canada, Saskatchewan
So I work in a pet store, and even the manager is confused as to where these came from and what they are. One is much darker than the other and they are about three inches long, super skinny. They were living off pellets in store, and I have witnessed one slurp down a bloodworm. There was three in the tank but one died. As you can see there is a stripe all the way down its body, fins behind the head, on its back, and at the tip of the tail... I thought it might be a tire track eel, but apparently not? I have it housed with 9 guppies and 25 guppy fry, 2 dwarf frogs, 2 shrimp, 1 green tiger barb (yes, I know, not a great choice for my shrimp), 3 mystery snails and plenty of pest snails... Nothing is missing or hurt, and these little guys just hide and seem to like burrowing in gravel though I have them on sand. I'd like to know what is in my tank so I can better take care of them, and know what I'm in for if they do end up being something big and mean... any suggestions?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10209094649347658&id=1361463948
 
The image did not show up. Primarily because of Facebook's permission settings. Please isolate (download?) the image and post it here directly or into an album and post that link.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Could it be a kuhli loach? That's what it kinda sounds like. These guys are super easy to keep, the like warmer water and eat pretty much anything you drop in. They get 3-4" long and live for a while in the right conditions.
 
So I work in a pet store, and even the manager is confused as to where these came from and what they are. One is much darker than the other and they are about three inches long, super skinny. They were living off pellets in store, and I have witnessed one slurp down a bloodworm. There was three in the tank but one died. As you can see there is a stripe all the way down its body, fins behind the head, on its back, and at the tip of the tail... I thought it might be a tire track eel, but apparently not? I have it housed with 9 guppies and 25 guppy fry, 2 dwarf frogs, 2 shrimp, 1 green tiger barb (yes, I know, not a great choice for my shrimp), 3 mystery snails and plenty of pest snails... Nothing is missing or hurt, and these little guys just hide and seem to like burrowing in gravel though I have them on sand. I'd like to know what is in my tank so I can better take care of them, and know what I'm in for if they do end up being something big and mean... any suggestions?



https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10209094649347658&id=1361463948


Could you download the image and post it on something like imgur, and just post the copy link from there?


Sent via echolocation
 
Kuhli loaches yes that must be it! Thanks for the replies wow you guys are fast! Even when the video didn't link properly you found out by my bad description! haha. I'm surprised the manager didn't figure that out, but they are extremely small and the gravel at work is dark so it's understandable. They seem happy in their new home, but hang out on opposite ends of the tank. I'll have to do some research on these little loaches to better care for them :D
 
It appears to be a loach, but not so sure about kuhli. The darkened stripe running lengthwise is not typical of that species.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I believe that would be colbitis striata the Japanese striped loach

I don't think so. Too long and thin for that IMO. It definitely looks like one of the cobitiid loaches, same family as kuhli loaches. It might possibly be a very young weather loach as I've seen some with that pattern before... video is a little blurry to be sure though.
 
If you held a gun to my head, I'd say a very young missgurnus fossilis.

Aside from that it looks like it could be a very obscure Niwaella or kuhli loach species.

Edit: Nevermind I got it! Pangio anguillaris! SO it is a kuhli loach of sorts!

Temp in the mid to high 70's, lots of places to hide, soft substrate like sand is strongly preferred. Should be kept in groups of at least 5. Relatively soft water. They'll accept most foods. Make sure to keep your water quality good since this particular species is almost certainly wild-caught. Maximum size of 4 inches but low bioload because of their shape. You're lucky, that's a really rare and neat find!

They should be fine with everything you have except for baby guppies and baby shrimp which they may eat.
 
If you held a gun to my head, I'd say a very young missgurnus fossilis.

Aside from that it looks like it could be a very obscure Niwaella or kuhli loach species.

Edit: Nevermind I got it! Pangio anguillaris! SO it is a kuhli loach of sorts!

Temp in the mid to high 70's, lots of places to hide, soft substrate like sand is strongly preferred. Should be kept in groups of at least 5. Relatively soft water. They'll accept most foods. Make sure to keep your water quality good since this particular species is almost certainly wild-caught. Maximum size of 4 inches but low bioload because of their shape. You're lucky, that's a really rare and neat find!

They should be fine with everything you have except for baby guppies and baby shrimp which they may eat.




Sweeeeet!! These guys look so cute!! Nice find.
 
Back
Top Bottom