Baby Kuhli Loach

Canyoncarver · Post by **Canyoncarver** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:20 pm

I was cleaning my tank and came across a baby kuhli. It is really tiny and lives in the gravel. I managed to capture it. It was living in the gravel. I am surprised that it wasn't crushed while siphoning the gravel. I don't really want to release it back into the tank because of siphoning and also there are a couple of fish in the tank that would love to eat it. I was wondering if anyone knows the best temperature to keep these at. I have a hillstream tank set up that would be perfect but the water is around 72 degrees. Another possibility is a breeder net that I use for other fish but I don't know what anything this tiny would eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please help the baby Kuhli.

starsplitter7 · Post by **starsplitter7** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:52 pm

Congratulations on your find.

Lucky you.

I can't help with your problem, but one of the experts will be along shortly, I am sure. I would put it in the breeder net for now with in the tank it has been living in. Then there's no acclimation or temp shock. And put something in the net it can hide under like plants.

How big is your baby right now? Length and width? Do you have a picture?

How long have you had the adults? Any idea on the age of the fry? Did you look for more in the substrate or filter?

Canyoncarver · Post by **Canyoncarver** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:55 pm

It is about a quarter of an inch. I have had the adults for a little over a year. I will work on a picture in a little bit. I currently cleaning my two big tanks so it will be a little while.

Canyoncarver · Post by **Canyoncarver** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:36 pm

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd21 ... hli036.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd21 ... hli007.jpg

Wow, it is difficult taking pictures of something that small and moving. I picked a couple that were actually clear. I spotted the little guy two weeks ago and beleive it or not it was a lot smaller than it is now. I placed it in a breeder net in its origonal tank. I don't know what to feed it so I was hoping for some advice. For now I will crush some flakes into a powder. I have some baby bites food for infant fish but I think it is too big for this little guy.

Emma Turner · Post by **Emma Turner** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:16 pm

Congratulations!

Do you know what species the adults are? Have a look at all the Pangio species on our species index if you're unsure: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/species-index

This is by no means a common event, so if you don't mind, more details about the tank and water parameters etc would be great.

With regards to feeding, I would start with a specially formulated powdered baby food such as Tetra's TetraFinBaby and move onto (defrosted) frozen baby brineshrimp (BBS) and cyclops as it grows.

Emma

plaalye · Post by **plaalye** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:11 pm

Hey Canyoncarver, I'm from Missoula too! Been missing it, but not the snow!! Congrats on your babe and good luck keeping it alive. Do you think there may be more?? They're so good at hiding. Go Griz!!

loachmom · Post by **loachmom** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:52 pm

Like Tanya said above---Lucky you!!!
I'm green with envy!

I hope you post all your tank parameters like Emma suggested. I have 10 striped kuhlis in a 30 gallon, and I'd love to find baby kuhlis in my tank some day. Congrats!!
I'll be watching this thread.

Canyoncarver · Post by **Canyoncarver** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:02 pm

I have owned kuhlis for years and I have not seen this before either. I did a species search and they are a perfect match to Pango Oblonga. There are four in the tank were the little one was found. Two are larger than the other two. The larger two have had quite an eventfully past. A year ago I had a twenty gallon with an Tiger Oscar, Bichir, Plecostomus, Tiger Barbs, Jewel Cichlid, Jack Dempsey, 2 Clown loaches, and the Kuhlis. WAY OVER STOCKED!! I bought five other tanks and split the fish up and got some others. The Kuhlis went with the Oscar into a 75 gallon for a while. They would swim right up to that big Oscar and it wouldn't do anything. But the JD grew up and I caught it hunting the kuhlis and didn't trust it so I moved them to a 10 gallon guppy tank. Then they went to a Dwarf Puffer tank. That worked for about a week until they had the puffers absolutely terrified. Then they went into a 46 gallon bow community tank which is were they have been for 3 months. I bought the two little ones 2 months ago, and all of them hang out together all the time.
46 Gallon Bow
Ph- 7.0
Total Alkalinity- 150ppm
Chlorine- 0ppm
Nitrite, Nitrate- very low due to weekly 60-70% water changes.
Artificial plants
Gravel substrate
Lots and lots of little caves.
Bio-wheel filtration
76 degrees
1 Angel, 1 blue gourami, 2 male betas, 1 S. bichir, 2 clown loaches, 1 plecostomus, 1 cory catfish

I have a hard time believing there would only be one baby but I searched the gravel for a while and can't find any more. I guess siphoning the gravel in that tank is going to be quite a process from now on. As for the comment about not liking the snow, I woke up to over an inch of new snow. So much for the motorcycle ride I had planned. We are suppose to get more tonight. I can't wait for summer! Thanx for your help I really hope the little bugger makes it. I will keep you informed if you are interested.

ALX · Post by **ALX** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:31 pm

congrats on the baby!
And good luck.

So you say you have 2 male Bettas. How is that working out? They don't kill each other?

Emma Turner · Post by **Emma Turner** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:05 am

Thank you for posting your water parameters, Canyoncarver.

And definitely keep us up to date with the little one's progress.

Emma

Rychek · Post by **Rychek** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:42 am

Congratulations on the little one! It's always nice to hear of someone having that type of success (even when it's inadvertent). One thing I would like to know though, is how big is the bichir? I ask because I had a small one in a setup quite like yours and as it grew it started attacking my other fish (poor swordtail lost his sword before I removed the bichir). Keep an eye on that thing or you may wake up to find some of your fish missing.

Thanks for keeping us updated!

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:53 pm

Congrats. I dream that I'll have baby kuhli's someday.

zmo63 · Post by **zmo63** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:52 pm

congratulations on your baby - i hope you find more in there!

helen nightingale · Post by **helen nightingale** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:56 pm

well done on the baby, thats really exciting

Canyoncarver · Post by **Canyoncarver** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:40 pm

We have the little one in a breeder net with some gravel. Still alive and is full of energy so I think it is doing well. We have a full grown bichir in a larger tank. When it was little in the 20 gallon I saw it grab one of the tiger barbs and slam it into the glass over and over until it literally broke in half. So I am keeping a close eye on our little bichir and am ready to move the smaller fish to my wifes other community tank at any sign of hostility. As for the betas they get along most of the time. I went into one of our local fish shops and he had a couple of males in a community tank and I asked if he had any problems with them. He told me that if the tank is big enough they don't seem to bother each other. So I dropped the two into the tank. They fought viciously for a couple of minutes to the point were I almost took them out but I think they tired out because they just sat on the bottom gasping for a while. After a couple of days they were getting along. They eat right next to each other so I don't worry about it anymore. One defiantly has a little territory and it will flare up and chase any other fish out of its area. Sometimes I swear the angel fish which is a lot bigger teases it. It is hilarious seeing this huge angel darting away from this little beta. Then the angel will circle around and sneak up on the beta through the plants.
I will try to get better photos of the small fry this weekend on tank cleaning day.

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