Hi, I have three kuhli loach, and two are active and healthy, but one is very sick. He is extremely skinny and listless. He just wont eat! even if there is food right infront of his nose. He used to be so active and happy, does anybody know what is wrong with him and why he wont eat? If he doesnt eat soon he is going to die :-(
Very sick Kuhli loach
- Thread starter Carly
- Start date
Can you give more specifics? How big is the tank? How long has it been set up? Do you have your water parameter readings? How long have you had the loach, what does it eat, etc. etc. That would be helpful!I have a communal tank, 62 litres, in it I have guppies, neon tetras,a gourami, bristlenose plecos, and 3 kuhli loaches. Most of the other fish seem fine, the other kuhli loaches are very happy. I feed them tropical fish food flakes. I have had the loach for about three months. I dont know the water conditions, the temp is 27C, 80F
Does he have any spots around his nose? on his body by dorsal fin or sides? Is he laying on his side? Do you give variety in their diet? i feed mine flakes on monday, pellets on tuesday, algae wafer on wednsday, brine shrimp on thursday, flake on friday, pellet on sat, wafer on sunday.... i just do it that way to keep variety for them. Is there a fish that is bully him? can you get a test kit and post the results here so we can see if it is a water issue? Do you notice any puss/white stuff from his poop area? How long do you leave lights on tank? Do you condition water when doing W/C?
Please answer questions so we can get a good reliable answer to you. I have loaches as well and they are my favorite so if you can get these answers i will definately post some help here if i know it.
P.S. I also have a black kuhli loach(no stripes) He had ich a few weeks after buying him, i treated with aquarium salt and temp increase from 78 to 82 for three days. he returned to normal and is happy go lucky. So it could be simple solution but we need some info to guide you in right direction.
Please answer questions so we can get a good reliable answer to you. I have loaches as well and they are my favorite so if you can get these answers i will definately post some help here if i know it.
P.S. I also have a black kuhli loach(no stripes) He had ich a few weeks after buying him, i treated with aquarium salt and temp increase from 78 to 82 for three days. he returned to normal and is happy go lucky. So it could be simple solution but we need some info to guide you in right direction.
There is nothing visually wrong with him except he is very skinny and he doesnt eat. I ususally only feed them flakes, I sometimes give the gourami some ball food and the plecos some zucchini, but the loaches dont eat those. He has had white spot before but I treated it and he got better. There doesnt seem be be any fish bullying him. I bought an aquarium test kit and the results are as follows - General hardness - 120 ppm, carbonate hardness - 100 ppm, pH 6.5-7, Nitrite - 0 ppm, Nitrate - approx 100 ppm. I think maybe the general hardness and the nitrate levels are too high. What can I do to fix these?
My dad has a kuhli loach and it loves to hide. From what I've heard from some people it is that kuhlis are scavengers so they'll eat just about anything that is eatable on the bottom of the tank. Not to say they don't like uneaten food for themselves. Does he have a place to hide from the light? If your other two have already staked out their hiding place then that could be part of the problem. He may need a place to get out of the light. They are nocturnal. You might try cleaning the tank and doing a water change too. Sometimes that is was in needed to get a fish feeling better. Other than that I don't know what to tell you. But if what I told you doesn't help, these guys know a lot and might surely be able to help you. Welcome by the way.
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They have a log to hide under, and they are a very communal fish so they love to share the space and lay all over each other. I also cleaned the tank recently and did a water change. The guy at the aquarium also recommended that I put some salt in the aquarium so I did that. I think that it might just be to late for Acti (thats his name cos he used to be so active!). Thanks anyway
I'm thinking internal parasites too...especially if the other two loaches are eating and doing fine.
Of all the fish I've kept, I've most-commonly encountered this problem in platies. Their bellies would gradually get a 'pinched' (read: "skinny") appearance, and their poop was often white and stringy. In virtually all cases the fish got extremely skinny and weakened over a period of weeks, if not months, to the point of death.
IF this happens to your loach, just be sure to remove him ASAP so that the others don't feed off of his parasite-infested corpse. (Even though I lost some platies to internal parasites, the majority of my fish did NOT get infected, so don't worry about it being contagious---just make sure you remove any casualties right away).
Sorry to sound so bleak.
It is possible that something else is going on, but I'm fairly certain---based on what you've told us---that it is internal parasites.
Another thing that stands out is that your nitrates are (were?) at 100 PPM. This isn't an ideal reading...but you said you've cleaned the tank and done a water-change since then, right? If not, then do one right away.
Oh, by the way, even though your loach is skinny, is there any odd 'lumpiness' to his belly?
Big Vine
Of all the fish I've kept, I've most-commonly encountered this problem in platies. Their bellies would gradually get a 'pinched' (read: "skinny") appearance, and their poop was often white and stringy. In virtually all cases the fish got extremely skinny and weakened over a period of weeks, if not months, to the point of death.
IF this happens to your loach, just be sure to remove him ASAP so that the others don't feed off of his parasite-infested corpse. (Even though I lost some platies to internal parasites, the majority of my fish did NOT get infected, so don't worry about it being contagious---just make sure you remove any casualties right away).
Sorry to sound so bleak.
It is possible that something else is going on, but I'm fairly certain---based on what you've told us---that it is internal parasites.
Another thing that stands out is that your nitrates are (were?) at 100 PPM. This isn't an ideal reading...but you said you've cleaned the tank and done a water-change since then, right? If not, then do one right away.
Oh, by the way, even though your loach is skinny, is there any odd 'lumpiness' to his belly?
Big Vine
Ditto what vine said... If you haven't done w/c need to do it right away, 100 ppm scares me but i am new to tanks and that, but i keep mine below 40-50 with plants. They have medicated food for internal parasites, but i have used it on two guppies that were sick with internal parasites... neither made it through. I can't think of anything more that hasn't been said already. hopefully he turns for the better and pulls through.