Loaches Online Forum

No chemicals over here. We have a mosquito awareness program. Instead of spraying, we're constantly reminded to do our part and keep a lookout for little larvae and all that. I have everyone collect them in a jar and feed them to my fish. They absolutely wipe them all out every feeding time.

Rocco, I forget that you're in the tropics! You probably have better access to a wider variety of plant matter. Way up here in Canada, you can't just go and pick the leaves at the side of the river because nothing approaches loach habitat.

Glad to hear they are not poisoning the mozzies in your area. Personally, I'd rather deal with the pests than the poison.

Rocco wrote:No chemicals over here. We have a mosquito awareness program. Instead of spraying, we're constantly reminded to do our part and keep a lookout for little larvae and all that. I have everyone collect them in a jar and feed them to my fish. They absolutely wipe them all out every feeding time.

Ditto that.

Then ditto my response.

Hey Blue, funky finding a fellow Filipino here.

Do you live in or near the Makati area?

Over here, the plant is called talisay

pronounced tah-lee-sai

A possible big caveat here.
Yesterday afternoon I placed a filter media bag of Almond leaves into one of the HOB filters on my kuhli and Cherry Barb tank. Now I know there's nothing wrong with the leaves because I've used them from this bag of leaves lots of times without any problems.

This morning I get up and the water went quite yellow/brown. I found two kuhlis dead, all the others were subdued looking and even the rosy Barbs looked "wrong".

Realizing that something was way wrong I didn't even bother checking Ph or anything else but just quickly did a 50% water-change and pulled the bag of leaves out of the filter.

Murphy's Law of fish deaths dictated that quite naturally the two that died were the most prescious of the 10. The gravid female and the gorgeous stripey guy
I'm so pissed off. I normally don't mess around with my local water but as I've used Almond leaves before and the fish genuinely look perkier and seem to gain some benefit from them i thought that in this tank it might possibly help with my wish to have the kuhlis breed.

We know that kuhlis are sensitive to Tea-Tree oil extract so now I'm wondering if something in the Almond leaves affects them too. As I said, I never checked any water parameters as it looked as though time was of the essence. The two dead fish looked totally perfect. Like they died seconds ago, so I thought I must act quickly.

It's possible that I OD'd the amount or something.....possibly the Ph dipped? Anyhow, right now all the kuhlis are swimming around again and the Cherries look happier.

Not a good start to my day

Martin.

I'm sorry to hear that Martin. I'd be pissed off too.

No indian almond leaves for my khulis when I get them.

Sorry to hear that Martin

I have put the IAL's in with my Pangio's and they all seem to be fine, In fact if anything I would say that the Pangio oblonga are a little bit more active than usual

Might older leaves go through a faster breakdown thus more rapid water acidification process?

Martin, how were the leaves stored?
How old were they?

A
ps: I liked those fish. Great in photos. Sorry to hear.

They've been stored dry in a sealed plastic bag. I popped into The Menagerie today with my tale of woe and Harold says it's weird because they quite often get shipped with Almond leaves these days because of the positive properties.

Good news is all the others are doing fine.

martin.

With kuhlis, it might just have been the luck of the draw. Weaker ones might not have been able to stand a change in pH. Either way, it's crappy.

I would think PH fluctuation Martin . Too many to fast possibly. Any large change is a problem as you know. Oil breakdown on older leaves is an intriuging possibility too me thinks......or a mold possibly.I assume you have inspected them with your nose and fingers by now.....I don't have to say that suxs cause you know I feel your pain also....

Rocco wrote:Hey Blue, funky finding a fellow Filipino here.

Do you live in or near the Makati area?

Over here, the plant is called talisay

pronounced tah-lee-sai

I live in Iloilo. A fellow Pinoy in another forum suggested talisay as an alternative to the more expensive almond leaves.

Mad Duff wrote:Sorry to hear that Martin

I have put the IAL's in with my Pangio's and they all seem to be fine, In fact if anything I would say that the Pangio oblonga are a little bit more active than usual

Same here. I have no issues with my kuhlis using almond and talisay leaves.