Khuli Loach survival rate

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jibboo

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Messages
342
Location
Pennsylvania
I was wondering if anyone here had any good information on keeping Khuli Loaches. I've tried twice now and both times, I've gotten a khuli, they die within the first 3 days. I've had multiple lfs workers tell me that they are hard to keep, but I wondered if anyone else has experienced this and if y'all had any good suggestions for keeping them alive.

Also, am I missing a link or something, I am unable to modify my profile.

And lastly, please check out my gallery, I stuck some pics of my tank and tank inhabitants in there.

peace,
nate
 
Also, am I missing a link or something, I am unable to modify my profile.
Go to the home page, on the right side, it says, "welcome jibboo", you can update your profile with one of the links below the welcome.

I've had multiple lfs workers tell me that they are hard to keep
The problem is with the shipping. I love my khulis and have had three of them for almost two years, the rest (about 10) for a few months. It is hard to find them, since they do not do well in shipping. There is a member on AA that has had their khuli for 10 years.
 
i agree about the shipping. i bought 3 kuhlis about a year ago.....one died about 3 months later, the 2nd died about 4 months after that. the third is doing fine. i think kuhlis are a lot like otos---if they actually survive the transition into your tank, then they've got a fighting chance of living a long and happy life. but it's that first couple of days that are so critical. my kuhlis that died faded dramatically before dying, but didn't show any other signs of illness. still haven't been able to find out what the deal was with that. : ( but since i knew they were more fragile during transition, i gave them about 2 1/2 hours to get used to the tank water before releasing them. also did this with the otos, and still have all of them (got same time as the kuhlis).

but, it may just be that for some reason your tank is not kuhli-friendly. FWIW, i have never, ever been able to keep neons. been trying off-and-on for 15 years, and never had even one survive longer than a week. bleh. so i have finally sworn off 'em. beautiful fish, but not for me.

can also vouch for how hard it is to find kuhlis----out of the 4 FS here, only one ever carries them, they've been out of stock since i bought mine nearly a year ago! of course, they keep trying to sell me zipper loaches...."They're just a paler version of kuhlis", but i'm not having that! nimnulls. but, i check back at least once a week---gotta get some buds for my lone kuhli! he enjoys hanging out with the dojos, but it's just not the same.

but....what were their symptoms before dying? how long did you acclimatize them to the new tank? any meds being used in the tank at the time, or just previous (the malachite green in ich meds can be toxic)? temp/pH? they can adapt to pretty much any temp/pH in tropical FW ranges, but (IMO) need more time be acclimatlized to higher temps &/or pH.
 
thanks menagerie ... I woulda thought I could find an edit profile link when I'm in my profile ... oh well ... what you said worked.

OK, I got a 55 gallon freshwater. PH=7.4 nitrite=0 nitrate=40 temp=76f The water is sort of soft and everything is well within the safe parameters.

fish = 1 redtail shark, 3 yo-yo loaches, 5 botia (rostrata & angelicus), 1 gold-nugget pleco, 1 rubber nose pleco, 3 gold guaramis, 2 platys, 1 dward neon rainbow, 1 sucker loach

The tank has plenty of plants (java fern, amazon sword, cabomba, vals, myrio, ludwigia) and hiding places (driftwood, rocks, fake/hollow tree stump) ... so I don't think it has to do with the other fish stressing the khuli out, since they largely ignored him when I put him in with the sucker loach and 2 small botia angelicus.

As for his actions ... he initially swam around a bit ... which was different than the last 2 khulis I put in ... they initially went under the first rock they found (fortunately for me, in the front of the tank where I could see them) ... but this khuli kinda looked around a little and mostly sat on the bottom of the tank. About 2 hours later he freaked out and started darting around the tank and swimming in tight circles ... which he then shot up to the top of the tank, out of the water and I assume he hit my glass canopy because he landed in my floating fry tank (which has platy fry in there). Then he stopped and sat still while I gently hand lifted him out of the fry tank. Then he went back to sitting on the bottom of the tank ... apparently acting normal (whatever that means for a khuli). But, when I checked on everyone the next morning, he was dead in the back of the tank under a rock cave.

So, that's as much as I know and I guess I won't mess with khulis anymore ... I'll just add them to my list of neons and shark cats ... both of which I've had zero luck with as well.
 
if you want to see the khuli ... I did manage to get some pics of him before the next morning ... there's 2 of them in my gallery.
 
yeah, i saw the pics--looked healthy to me. my kuhli acts like that (the last one) everytime i do a gravel vac--HATES having anything done in the tank! then he goes and does his hermit-in-the-cave thing again till the next time i clean the tank. one thing you might try--if you really want kuhlis (sounds like you have a nice loach theme going there) is to have at least 3 kuhlis---they aren't schooling fish, but they seem to need others of their species around in order to thrive. personally, i'm surprised my little guy has lasted this long, since his buds died, but he has sort of "bonded" with the dojos, and lays around with/on/under them in the caves. the kuhlis may have simply been stressed by not having any other kuhlis in the tank to swim & associate with---they are a very "touchy-feelie" type of fish amongst their own species, much like the dojos (although the dojos will swim around by themselves, i think kuhlis tend to swim in writhing packs). if you have enough space & $$, i'd even go with 6 kuhlis, and give them plenty of time to become acclimated to the tank water before releasing them into the tank (maybe float them 2 hours, adding a half-cup of tank water to the bag every 10-15 minutes---that way, they get used to the new water conditions more slowly, and you will have a much better idea if it's the tank water itself that is causing problems, or not, too). BTW----like the tanks! i have zilch luck with plants, so always kinda envy someone with great vegetation. : )
 
oh, if you do try a group of kuhlis, and things work out, don't get freaked if you see what looks like a balloon of skin floating around your tank every once in a while. kuhlis shed their skin as they grow, kinda like snakes. just scoop it out with your net & get rid of it. seems to me my guy(s) have shed about once a month. you'll know the time is getting close, because their "skin" starts getting a cloudy look around their belly---guess it's starting to loosen at that point. anyway, a few days later, you'll probably see a skin sheathe floating around. is very creepy the first time it happens, but once you relize what's going on, it makes you happy, cos it means your kuhli is healthy & growing. don't know if all varieties of kuhlis do this or not, but mine certainly do.

anyway, if you don't have it, check out Loaches Online at: www.loaches.com

very good jump point, lots of info on (i think) all species of loaches and boetia.

anyway, good luck!

fireclown
 
I have had 2 Khuli Loaches for over 12 years.

The female is almost always pregnant - very fat and can see the green colour of the eggs. Never actaully seen and eggs/babies though.

They are lovely fish.
 
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