I just bought a pair of kuhlie loaches, they seemed to be breathing hard in their bag (traffic is insain, took me about 45 minutes to get home) so i rushed them into the tank. i only let the bag float for about 10 minutes. I put them in my 5.5 gal tank that has a betta and 15 or so 3 day old molly fry. i do a 15% water change about every 3-4 days. When i put my kuhlies in the tank the swam about sporaticaly and then would just kinda sink to the bottom, often landing on their sides or totally upside down. its been a couple hours and one seems to be doing a little better hiding in the clay pot i have in the tank. the other one seems to be struggling a little more. its been about 3 hours and they are both still breathing very heavily. is there anything i can do for them? what could the problem be? I did a water change about 30 minutes after putting them in. how can i help these little guys?
New kuhlis not looking good, help please
- Thread starter jtman
- Start date
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You may have done a water change after they got there, but what are the water parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrates/pH)? And any idea what the diff in temp and pH was from the lfs bag and your tank? It may be pH shock if they weren't slowly acclimated.
By the way fish can do fine in a bag for 2 hours or so, epsecially a pair of khulie loaches. No need to rush in the future. Khulies are well known to be very shy and sensitive fish and they could just be really stressed out right now. Do water changes everyday for the next while as th increased fish bioload for a 5 gallon is a bit much. And leave the lights off for a couple of days, that will help with the stress.
Do you have a sinking tablet food for them. They are bottom feeders and need a sinking tablet and not just flakes.
Do you have a sinking tablet food for them. They are bottom feeders and need a sinking tablet and not just flakes.
Yes i have sinking algea wafers and i put a towel over the tank to keep out the light (the tank is on my desk right next to me) one of them seems to have improved quite a bit. he is now hidden quite well, but the other one just seems to kind of sit in the middle hardly moving except for his labored breathing. i hope hes ok....
update: now one is very well hidden, i dont want to disturb him so ill just let him hide. the other one is floating at the top, he wiggles a bit every now and then and he is still breathing really hard. i dont know what to do 
Wow, that doesn't sound too good. Does your LFS have a return policy for sick fish? Most healthy fish should be able to to handle the trip home and addition to the tank. There are some exceptions but it sounds like this guy might not have been in the best of health to begin with. If he was labouring to breathe just in the bag after 45 minutes then I would think he might be sick.
Do you have a filter on this tank? If not then perhaps there is a lack of oxygen that the betta can deal with and since fry are so small not a problem for them. Perhaps increasing the surface agitation will help to get more oxygen in the water.
Do you have a filter on this tank? If not then perhaps there is a lack of oxygen that the betta can deal with and since fry are so small not a problem for them. Perhaps increasing the surface agitation will help to get more oxygen in the water.
i have a 10g power filter on the tank, i dont remember what brand. they are both still alive today, but they still look the same. they have a 10 day return policy. if they arent looking better by tomorrow i think i will return them. thanks for your help everyone
update: well, one of them died about a week ago and i returned both of them. when i got back they had the normally colored ones with the stripes. i got 2 and they immediately were doing great. i went and picked up 3 more a few days later and all 5 of them are doing great in my tank. i should have my 29g set up by this weeks end with a nice sandy substrate for them to play in with lots more room than my current 10g. My only concern is it might take me weeks to catch all 5 of those guys, they are wicked fast!
