# HELP with young Kuhli loaches dying :(



## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

Can anyone suggest why my little ******* have passed. They didn't look diseased. The day the 1st one went, (5th) I tested the water.... amonia was under .25, and nitrate was between 5 - 10. They were in a 30 gal tank with 4 neon, 3 endlers, 2 dwarf ram, 1 - 4" fancy catfish, driftwood and several large java fern, running an Eheim pro canister. I had 3 of them and they are all gone  last one today, saw him swimming near the surface, in late morning. It may be somewhat pointless now... but need to hear if I should be looking for problems for my other fins. I re-homed the tank on mar 4th, I stripped down the entire tank, due to undergravel flilter (non functioning / without stacks) bad odor and filthy gravel (thanks to UF) in transit, with reddish/brown algae on everything. I did not clean out the Eheim, hoping it would cycle, and put in some STRESSZYME, and conditioner. I also tried to save a bit of the original water when setting it up. Any comments welcome, thanks.


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

How big is that driftwood, does it provide cover?

Dwarf rams are aggressive, I wouldn't be surprised if the kuhli loaches were picked off and died of stress.


----------



## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

it is about 8" long with Java attatched..... also have a ceramic urn/rimmed pot they hid under. they are german dwarfs, about 2". I wondered if it may have been the catfish (feather finned?) , when he moves from one end of the tank to the other, he is a flash and clumsy.  That could have stressed them I guess, or even run them over. So the parameters seem ok then ? You're telling me that these german dwarfs are aggressive, but when I bought them from Big Al's -Oakville, the guy told me they would be ok in a community tank with neons and guppies??? was I misinformed


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

I feel like if it was the water, it would have killed more than just your kuhlis. I say that because when I first bought my kuhli loaches I threw them in an uncycled tank for a week. That being said, your nitrates is a bit high.

I don't know why the person at Big Al's told you that, any cichlid can be aggressive and territorial, especially to new fish.


----------



## Fishyfishyfishy (Mar 3, 2008)

Could simply be that they were sick. You can never trust fish stores.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Karen, there are a few things you should consider.

1) for a tank that size, a undergravel filter is not enough. Go for a AquaClear (AC 50) filter. Its way better. 

3) in a cycled tank you should never have ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate between 5-10ppm is ok. It should not pass above 20ppm. 

3) all the fishes you buy, especially from a LFS, should be quarantined. I do put them in a quarantine tank for at least 1 month before putting them into the main tank.

All said, its sad that they died. Ah and one more thing. Neons are a schooling fish and should be kept in a school of 6 or more.


----------



## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

George, were you addressing me....( Karen )??? not sure?

There is an Eheim canister filter running this tank... the UGF was non functional.

The tank came with the 4 neons, and as you said, we should quarantine new additions, so they'll have to wait a bit before they get buddies.

I guess the tank hasn't fully cycled yet ( in regards to the ammonia ) or could there be some other contributor - decaying plants? ... Thanks for input.


----------



## Fishyfishyfishy (Mar 3, 2008)

The reason I think the kuhlis are sick to begin with is because they are very very strong. I had 3 ****** loaches living in my canister filter for over half a year and survived (or even longer!). I still have 2 of them till today in my 55g (7 years old).

So I don't think water parameters are the cause. I also kept them in a tub in my basement for over a year. No heater/water change, just a few flakes every week or so. They are very very strong.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Egonsgirl, sorry for the confusion. Their death could be due to a number of reasons, major one is their were sick when bought from LFS.


----------



## Egonsgirl (Feb 28, 2012)

Thanks all!!!!


----------

