Please, help my kuhli loach :( UPDATE & more

[chrisinha]

Hi there!

I'm new to the forums. One of my kuhlis is not doing so well

When I went to feed the fish today I noticed that he stayed in his cave and wouldn't look for the food. Then I put some food in front of him and nothing, he didn't look interested

So, I decided to improvise a small hospital tank (my actual hospital tank is holding a goldfish right now that, of course, wasn't in the same tank as my kulhi) and move him in there. It's just a 17.9 liter plastic container with a little cave and an air stone.

When I caught him I noticed he had like a colorless patch on his back, as if the scales had come off but it's a scaless fish, so, I don;'t understand what it is, but it looks like someone scrubbed him off and some of his brown coloration has come off... I hope you can picture what I'm saying, I don't know how I can explain this better

Any ideas on how I can treat it? I haven't started him on anything because I've never treated scaless fish and am not sure what kiind of meds I can use

Please, help!

The water params in the main tank were ammonia 0, nitrites 0, and pH 7

Thanks

Chris

[barbara]

i don't keep kuhlis so bear that in mind.

the goldfish and kuhli in the same situation...well, it's not going to be good for one of them right? tank temperature for one thing and the amount of waste buildup for another....just something to consider. i don't know your situation at all and so am speaking only from general notions of compatibility and so on.

the spot on the back...is it still there? has it changed in any way? are there any other spots appearing? it could be as simple as an injury or as serious as flexibacter. is there any erosion of the caudal fin? mouth? is it still not eating? if new to the aquarium perhaps it will take more time than the others to adapt. i've heard kuhlis are hard to keep alive when new.....can't remember just why: perhaps they come in with illness due to extreme stress of transport and so on or something else. cybermeez might be able to help as she's the resident kuhli person extraordinaire.

[Wendie]

What are the other fish in the tank? The temperature? Are there more kuhlis? If he was in with the goldfish they might have thought he was food and went after him. How long have you had him?

[chrisinha]

I said that it was NOT in the same tank of the goldfish!! The only reason I mention the goldfish was because he is in the regular hospital tank, so that's why I had to improvise and put the sick khuli in a plastic container. The goldfish problem is something else, it is constipated, it doesnt have anything to do with the khuli. I DO NOT mix goldfish and tropicals!! Please READ what I'm writing.

Yes, the spot is still there since I moved him in the plastic container last night, opened this topic and went to sleep.

His fins are fine, but as I said yesterday, he does not seem interested in food.

He's not a new khuli. I've had him for a year and, yes, I have other khulis in the main tank.

Thanks.

[CKfish]

Stick with clean, healthy water and see if the kuhli's condition improves. You could medicate, but if it's just a superficial wound it should heal by itself.

Regarding the goldfish, try feeding it a couple shelled peas. That usually get's things 'moving'

[barbara]

i agree with ckfish on all points. it may simply be an injury if you don't see other things happening. the not eating i guess is a concern but i've found that clean water can turn things around. meds i try to use as little as possible as they can cause more problems than they resolve. not always of course but unless you see any progression of the patch and no other symptoms other than not eating, if it was mine i'd wait.

i guess my only question is the one someone else already asked about temperature of the water in that situation you set up for the kuhli.

and course, my apologies for misunderstanding your explanation about the goldfish and hospital tank (you were quite clear now that i reread)...i did READ your post : ) but also MISread and MISunderstood what you were saying....as i often say speed kills (communication)...i guess i was too speedy this morning.

[chrisinha]

CKfish,

Thanks for your input
The thing with the khuli that is my most concern is the fact he doesn't want to eat, so I'm wondering if there's something "internal" going on.

Thanks about the goldfish advice as well. Deshelled green peas are part of his regular diet, but he's a floater no matter what, so every once in a while I have to move him into the hospital tank to get him back on track again Right now I'm fasting him, but I'll start a green pea only diet in a couple of days.

Thanks!

Chris

[chrisinha]

i guess my only question is the one someone else already asked about temperature of the water in that situation you set up for the kuhli.

That's OK Barbara, I'm quite of a quick reader myself and it happens to me all the time

Well, I just came from a petstore and bought a thermometer to put in the plastic container. I am too worried about the temp in that tank. I don't know if it helps, but I live in Southern California, and I'm from a tropical country, so I *need* to keep my house pretty warm, the temp inside my house is always 78 - 80F

Thanks!

Chris

[barbara]

with a good indoor temperature like that the tank should be fine...although that's just a guess. i'm curious to know what you find when you measure the water temperature though...as i've thought of having to run an aquarium without a heater and am wondering if room temperature translates to tank temperature equally or not....of course big tanks and small situations would probably operate differently but still....

[chrisinha]

Well, the thermometer reads 71F, probably because it's a small container since my 65 gallon goldfish tank's temp readings are 76F and I don't run any heater in that tank.

I also have a skunk loach living in a 5 gallon tank by himself (sorry, but he is pretty aggressive and to put him in a 5 gallon tank was the only solution I've got after he bullied and killed all his tankmates) in which I don't have a heater either and temp is always 78F

Plus, I have the air-conditioning on today because it's been quite hot, but my thermostat is set up to 78F, like I said this is pretty much the temp all year long around my house.



Chris

[barbara]

thanks for the temperature information. interesting. glad to hear that larger tanks can maintain a fairly warm situation. the fish i'm considering for this tank are my s. petricolas who seem to live just fine at even 74-75F...in fact they breed at that temperature. over 78F they seem to slow down...being from L. Tanganyika originally although all these are F1s or possibly even not that close to wild so i'd think that 78F would be their optimum but it doesn't appear that way.

again, thanks for the temperature information. something for me to think about. : )

[chrisinha]

Hey guys!

Im back!

First I'd like to give you an update on the kuhli mentioned above. She's fine I've decided to treat her with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 (5 days treatment) and she's pulled through pretty well. She's been back in the main tank for a while and doing great! Thanks for your help

The second reason is because unfortunately I have another kuhli that is not doing so well I've noticed he was kinda skinny compared to my other kuhlis (even to the one that was sick before), but now he's SO skinny that you can actually see the backbone

He's already in a hospital tank... what is it? internal parasite? how?? I havent introduced any new fish, plant, nothing!! And I've had them for a year!!

If not, what could it be? how to treat it?? He doesnt seem to be eating either

Thanks!

[barbara]

i think that sometimes it takes a long while for this type of thing to be noticed. it could be internal perasite or a complex referred to as skinny "disease". you might search the archives for this term or there's an acronym for it that i can't bring up in my memory...CWD i think as it is a wasting away type of syndrome. as i recall chronic wasting disease (CWD)...again if i recall correctly.

levamisole is often the med of choice on this and there are numerous posts on that and its use as well. just search for levasole (a brand name) or levamisole and you'll find all kinds of information. also the archives or section on the old site (if that's still available) has a long article devoted to this condition and treatment with this med.

glad your other kuhli is well.
b

[chrisinha]

Hey Barbara

Thanks for replying! I took a look at some of the threads about skinny disease on the old boards. I called my vet this morning and he said they don't carry Levamisole. I've looked online at Petco's and Petsmart's website and it looks like they don't carry this stuff either. How can I get my hands on this med ASAP? I dont know any farm store around where I live.

Now, there's this other med called Pipzine, they say it's safe for loaches and it's a broad spectrum anti-internal parasites. Any experience with it that you can share?

Thanks

[barbara]

i have pipzine or some similar drug. i can't say that it does work. it didn't in my situation but perhaps i misdiagnosed (probably). i have some levasole and also some praziquantel...the latter i ordered through the internet. it is difficult to dissolve but is said to be effective for some internal worms. i used it a few times as per instructions...not seeing any evidence of worms discharged or fish badly affected by the drug either.

did you try a search (google) for levasole? i think there are some internet sites that provide it. mine was from a true value hardware store. i'm not sure they still carry it as i got mine a couple of years ago but perhaps they can special order...that usually takes one week or less, ime (ordering other things that is).