Does this behaviour mean they are happy ?

[Fishfur]

I got some new kuhli loaches a couple of weeks ago, they were sold as Black Kuhlis, though they are not a true black. No banding, dark colour. But they are certainly pangios.. anyway, they're in a QT with some Celestial danios that are also new.

I see that they spend a lot of time seeming to chase each other, 'round 'n 'round,up and down the front of the tank, looking almost like a ferris wheel or merry go 'round. and they'll keep it up for long periods of time. It looks to me like they're having a fine time .

But since this species is new to me, I just wondered if this behaviour does in fact mean they are happy, or something else. The QT tank is too small for them to stay in, they will be moving to a 30+G tank in another couple of weeks if all goes well, where they'll have much more space. But they are feeding well and I certainly see a lot more of them than I ever do my gold kuhlis or the pangio pangios I have in another 30 G tank. I'm feeding them microworms, fruit fly larvae which they really seem to go for, along with Omega One sinking algae pellets and Omega One sinking shrimp pellets. Have lost only one since they came home, and I noticed it had several large scraped areas on it's body, poor thing. It died a couple of days later and the store replaced it with another, and all have been apparently healthy since.

I hope the chasing and round about behaviour means they're enjoying themselves. I got some video of it.. now all I have to do is persuade my laptop to recognize the camera so it will download the pics.. bit of a problem there, but hopefully I'll get it sorted out soon.

[plaalye]

Common behavior, and you'll get a variety of opinions about it. I've had mine for several years, and when I see this behavior, I know something is wrong and I check all water parameters & the weather for a reason. Pangios are sensitive and can take a while to settle in. Then you may never see them so enjoy it now. Is there substrate in the Q-tank... and hiding places? If so they'll probably settle in about the time you move them and it will start all over again.

[NancyD]

My P.oblongas "danced" often the first few months I had them then usually after water changes & sometimes after feeding. They did it much much more than P. semicinctus. I felt it was a sign of excitement, either good or not, but other than worrying they might jump not a big deal.

[mattyd]

I've got pangios and other kuhli loaches in a very heavily planted tank. Water quality is absolutely perfect, and all the loaches are well fed and active. I forget how many I have, but there would be close to 10 of them. There is always 2-4 of them cruising around the tank and circling around each other. I have a digital temp controller connected to the heaters, so I can turn the temp up or down by 0.1 degrees whenever I want. Whenever I drop or raise the temperature of the water, or do a water change of any size, the fish will cirlce and do loops around the whole tank with more energy and in larger numbers.

You are feeding them well, and that will help to keep them in a good mood. So long as the water is well filtered I would say you are doing a great job with the fish.

[Fishfur]

Well, their new tank is ready, and I have a nice soft substrate for them and there will be plenty of rocks and wood as well as plants to hide in/under, etc.

The substrate in the QT is moonsand.. very fine, very soft. QT also has lots of plants, a big sponge filter, and a piece of wood, so they can hide if they want to. But it is crowded in the QT, so I hope to move them to the new one in the next few days.

Is there a better way to catch them that is less stressful than chasing them with a net ? I figure the less stress the better, and loaches seem susceptible to stress.

A friend is growing me a flightless fruit fry culture so I can continue to feed them larvae, the ones I had were invaders in my microworm cultures and are gone now, but I am a big believer in live foods as much as possible, and frozen ones if I can't get live. So far my worm cultures are doing well, but micro and banana worms are so tiny, takes quite a few of them to make a good meal for larger fish. They're great for the Celestials and fry when I have them.

I guess I'll find out if the pangio's 'dancing' continues in the larger tank.. thanks for the replies.

[NancyD]

I catch them by taking everything out of the tank wait until they calm down & just go slow, very slow. It helps to have a second person in bigger tanks. Good luck, sounds like a nice new tank & really nice food!

[Fishfur]

Sigh, I was afraid it would be something like that...now and then it would be nice to be able to catch whatever it is I have to catch without having to practically tear the tank apart to find the critters. Oh well, be worth it.. I think they will enjoy their new home much more than the QT and perhaps, one day, if I am very, very fortunate, maybe they will breed for me. That would be amazing, though I know it is not especially likely.

I also was fortunate yesterday to find 3 more Pangio Kuhli loaches in a LFS.. someone had traded them in, and the fish room guy, who always calls me 'girl', [which I choose to take as a compliment], remembered I'd been looking for some. This was after having had a really depressing experience with a shipment at another store, where all but one of the dozen loaches I brought home died within a day or two, no matter how I acclimated them, nor how careful I tried to be. This store has a five day replacment policy, but eventually I didn't even want to try to bring home any more, and settled for a refund. I even got a TDS meter to try and match their water the way I do for shrimp, but to no avail. Just seemed to be a bad batch.. perhaps just too badly stressed when they were shipped, or something.

So far the 3 newest ones seem to be doing ok, but I guess time will tell. Eventually they will be in the tank with the Black Kuhlies, which I think are P. Oblonga and couple of others whose ID I don't know yet. If I ever get a pic I'll post it to see if someone can tell me what they are. When I first got them I thought they were some type of young Pangio, but when I got a good close look at their tails, turned out they had a notch in the tail fin, so I don't think they can be Kuhlies. Very similar in looks, but not as long in the body, much narrower stripes, and the notched tail fin. So far as I understand, all Kuhlies have a convex curve to the tail fin, not a notch.