Kuhli Loaches Keep Dying Suddenly
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2015 1:02 am
Hello, everyone.
I am losing kuhli loaches left and right, and I don't know why.
One died out of the blue, with no prior symptoms of sickness or stress. A few weeks later I went and bought another to replace the other. It died the next day and the folks at the LFS informed me they had a bad batch that suffered KUSS (I picked it up the day after they shipped in).
A few weeks later, a friend of mine who works at the LFS informed me of an unusual kuhli. A Pangio shelfordii! I went and got it. He was fine. Then another, one of my older kuhlis (quite sure it was P. semicincta) died as sudden as the first. No prior signs of sickness or stress, just dropped dead. The next day, another one of my older ones. I checked and rechecked stats, all was ok. No ammonia, no nitrite, moderate nitrate. I run Purigen. No other fish in the tank exhibited stress or sickness, and no other fish besides kuhlis have died. I performed a small water change after every death. No harsh chemicals are used around the tank (air freshners, window cleaner, etc). A week later I went and got two more kuhlis, a P. kuhli sumatranus and a P. anguillaris. Everything seemed perfectly fine. All well adjusted.
Except this morning, the shelfordii was dead. I'm devastated. He was such a small juvenile. I feel terrible. Checked stats, all good. 0ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~40ppm nitrate. No other fish are stressed/sick. All other kuhlis accounted for and outwardly healthy.
I cannot figure out why my kuhlis are dying. A friend suggested they may be victims of fish herpes or a similar virus that lays dormant until the immune system is weakened.
Stats:
20g tall, planted with sand substrate. 78 degrees Farenheit, weekly water changes of 50%+. EI liquid dosing daily with Excel. Tanks been running for almost three years now. Stocking: Six kuhli loaches, four cardinals (letting them age out, not buying more), a honey gourami, a nerite snail, an assassin snail, two amano shrimp, and three harlequin rasboras (not planned, letting age out, not buying more. father's coworker dumped them on us when I was away)
Any and all advice greatly appreciated. I just want my little noodle babies to stop dying :c
(Edit: before anyone says something about my stocking, yes it's a bit of a mess. I was away at college for one semester and my parents kinda globbed it up. I am currently saving up for a 55g expansion and all the critters in the 20g are going in it.But that's for a different thread!)
I am losing kuhli loaches left and right, and I don't know why.
One died out of the blue, with no prior symptoms of sickness or stress. A few weeks later I went and bought another to replace the other. It died the next day and the folks at the LFS informed me they had a bad batch that suffered KUSS (I picked it up the day after they shipped in).
A few weeks later, a friend of mine who works at the LFS informed me of an unusual kuhli. A Pangio shelfordii! I went and got it. He was fine. Then another, one of my older kuhlis (quite sure it was P. semicincta) died as sudden as the first. No prior signs of sickness or stress, just dropped dead. The next day, another one of my older ones. I checked and rechecked stats, all was ok. No ammonia, no nitrite, moderate nitrate. I run Purigen. No other fish in the tank exhibited stress or sickness, and no other fish besides kuhlis have died. I performed a small water change after every death. No harsh chemicals are used around the tank (air freshners, window cleaner, etc). A week later I went and got two more kuhlis, a P. kuhli sumatranus and a P. anguillaris. Everything seemed perfectly fine. All well adjusted.
Except this morning, the shelfordii was dead. I'm devastated. He was such a small juvenile. I feel terrible. Checked stats, all good. 0ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~40ppm nitrate. No other fish are stressed/sick. All other kuhlis accounted for and outwardly healthy.
I cannot figure out why my kuhlis are dying. A friend suggested they may be victims of fish herpes or a similar virus that lays dormant until the immune system is weakened.
Stats:
20g tall, planted with sand substrate. 78 degrees Farenheit, weekly water changes of 50%+. EI liquid dosing daily with Excel. Tanks been running for almost three years now. Stocking: Six kuhli loaches, four cardinals (letting them age out, not buying more), a honey gourami, a nerite snail, an assassin snail, two amano shrimp, and three harlequin rasboras (not planned, letting age out, not buying more. father's coworker dumped them on us when I was away)
Any and all advice greatly appreciated. I just want my little noodle babies to stop dying :c
(Edit: before anyone says something about my stocking, yes it's a bit of a mess. I was away at college for one semester and my parents kinda globbed it up. I am currently saving up for a 55g expansion and all the critters in the 20g are going in it.But that's for a different thread!)