Bought Khuli Loaches and all died within 2 hour of purchase

[wildroseofky]

I ordered some neon tetras and khuli loaches from my local pet place. She picked them up yesterday and I immediately went to pick them up so she wouldn't have to transfer them into a tank and re catch later to save stress on the fish. She had just started to unload her order when I arrived. She found my fish in their shipping bags and I paid and left. It takes about 15 minutes for me to get home. I open the bags and three of the loaches were dead. The other three looked bad. The tetras were pale but were swimming around. I started the drip acclimation on all the fish. I removed the three dead loaches before starting. I took an hour and half to acclimate then floated the bag for 15 minutes to equalize temp. The tetras did fine. The last three khuli's looked bad. I put them in a separate QT tank from the neons. I had this tank running for a couple of months with material from my established tank. I had gotten khuli's a few months ago and they died within two weeks. THe last three died within a few minutes of going into this tank. I had checked the water before going to pick them up and did a 50% water change. Ammonia, nitrite were 0, nitrate 20. I just do not seem to have any luck with Khuli Loaches. The store is going to exchange or refund my money. She didn't get any more loaches though so if I want an exchange I will have to wait until next week. I really want khuli's but it seems I am going to have to give up on them. Do some tanks just not work for khulies?

 

[dragonfisher33]

that's a thing about fish in general: you NEVER get new fish immediately. wait for all the fish to settle down in the lfs for at least a week before getting them because there's no way to tell whether a fish is disease free or not until they are in the last stage of illness. and you wouldn't want to assume the liability issue from the get-go.

 

[dragonfisher33]

but as always, i would ask what are the parameters? the existing fish in the tank? and how long has the tank been cycled?

 

[Rivercats]

When any fish comes in dead in the shipping bag you know there could be issues. Depending on how long the other loaches were dead the ammonia in that bag could have pretty much did the live loaches in! I hear a lot of people complain about kuhli loaches dying. I seriously doubt its your tank and more likely the stock you've gotten in.

 

[tarpon]

i wouldnt give up on them! try a different shop. your shop could be getting them from a bad breeder, they could have bad genetics or be diseased or malnourished by the time they get to the pet shop. as said id buy some that had been in a shop for a while. my lfs will even quarantine a new shipment for me for a while before i buy them and mark the tank with "nfs"

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Most likely they were just stressed from shipping. I am not sure how hardy they are, the ones I have had have not been to hardy. I ordered some kuhli loaches recently and had them shipped to me. All but 1 of the first order died during shipping, but all of the second order survived. Unfortunately, I accidentally gassed my tank with too much co2 about a week or so after I had them, and all but 1 died.
On a good note, the 1 that survived is still doing great and growing like a weed.

Did you acclimate them at all when you brought them home? Perhaps the stress of shipping and a sudden change of water were just too much for them.

Maybe give it some more time, and try again in a few weeks. Acclimate them slowly when you get them home and give them time to adjust, hopefully you will get a better stronger batch of them next time.

 

[wildroseofky]

I have had my 10 gallon plant and snail only tank setup for around 4 months. I used shells, cycled filter I kept on hold in 29g cycled tank, and plants from my 29g to set it up originally with pool filter sand bottom. I tested PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate before going to pick up fish. PH 7.6, Ammonia/nitrite 0, nitrate 20. I did a 50% pwc before picking up fish. I use Prime water treatment. I drip acclimated them for 1 1/2 hours, temp acclimated for 15 minutes. Three were DOA on arrival and removed from bag before starting drip acclimation. Tetras went into a separate QT 10 g tank with extra cycled filter, plants and decor. I put each fish species in it's own QT tank because I know Khuli's can be delicate. I lost my first batch to tank perimeter swings I believe so I was extra careful this time. This is the only pet store within 50 miles of me. It is that or Walmart which is 35 miles from me. They haven't had khulies in a long time. Petland is an hour and half away from me and the last fish I bought there died because of the long trip I believe. I live in a very rural area.

I took the loaches back and the owner suggested it was my tank that killed them and wanted to test my water. I told her I had already tested it with the API liquid test kit and explained all the steps I had taken to make sure they had a healthy tank to go into. She buys my extras all the time and has seen how healthy my snails and fish are. She is ordering me some more. I may have her hold on to them for a week or so before picking them up. If these die I am going to give up on them. She had some endler's that I might get. She was calling them scissor tailed guppies but they look like photos I have seen of endlers and they did not have scissor tails. They had sword tails.She isn't very knowledgable on fish.

 

[Buu]

Aw don't give up! Definitely wait a few days after they ship to pick them up. I love my Khulis, they were my first fish in the tank and still standing (lol only been up since jan, but they've been through so many rookie mistakes). Also how are you taking them home? Just asking before I suggest a cooler or something and your already doing that!

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

I wouldn't give them up! The only one that has died in three years is one in my 55 gallon it died 3 months ago

 

[bshenanagins]

Yeah def try another shop, that's just a very bad job on the shippers end. Don't blame yourself. Why not try aquabid? Some pretty reputable breeders on there and they do the right thing with their fish.

 

[wildroseofky]

I have thought about ordering on line but our postal service leaves a lot to be desired. I have shipped out snails and the buyers said the packages looked like they had been through a trash compactor. She has ordered me 6 more. I am going to tell her to keep them for a few days to see how they are. I only live 10 to 15 minutes away. I didn't think that I would need a cooler. She picks up the deliveries herself in her car. I cannot help but think that the ruff treatment is doing them in. I wonder if getting some of that stress relief stuff would work. I saw it at walmart and online? Guess it couldn't hurt. The neon tetras I got are all doing great.

 

[bshenanagins]

I have thought about ordering on line but our postal service leaves a lot to be desired. I have shipped out snails and the buyers said the packages looked like they had been through a trash compactor. She has ordered me 6 more. I am going to tell her to keep them for a few days to see how they are. I only live 10 to 15 minutes away. I didn't think that I would need a cooler. She picks up the deliveries herself in her car. I cannot help but think that the ruff treatment is doing them in. I wonder if getting some of that stress relief stuff would work. I saw it at walmart and online? Guess it couldn't hurt. The neon tetras I got are all doing great.

I'm sorry about the PO dilemmas, I guess it's different around the country

 

[wildroseofky]

Well, I was unable to get any more khulies. The place that she gets them from said they were out and wouldn't be getting any more for a long while. I ended up getting some endler guppies. They were so bright and colorful I couldn't resist. I ended up getting 8 in place of the khulies. Two are very tiny babies that got caught in the net and the pet store said to just take them too. Some have sword tails and some have just a kinda of blunt triangular tail. They are still very young and I was told they would color up more as they matured. They seem very happy and healthy. Still need to find something to help stir my sand though.