Another problem with the kuhli loaches.

[JamesTasker]

This time they keep swimming up and squeezing in behind the filter (Fluval 3). I don't know whether they can get out by themselves so I keep rescuing them which is very annoying. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about why they are doing it . I thought maybe there weren't ebough hiding places - just a piece of bogwwod (I tried to get some small flower pots but the garden centre didn't have any ). I'm not sure about this though because they weren't doing it before.

 

[ryan]

IME and others I have spoken to it is quite common for this to happen. My young Khulis often swim into internal filters but they seem to grow out of it with age. They will pick their favourite hiding place so unless you can block it off they are likely to keep going there.

 

[JamesTasker]

they dont swim into it, just kinda behind it at the top - and they get stuck sometimes. Maybe its because i rearranged the tank. Perhaps if i put it back...???

 

[JamesTasker]

They were stuck again tonight, this time between the glass and the sucker thingys that hold the filter to hthe side of the tank. They looked dead but they weren't . Dunno whether they would have been if i hadn't rescued them. Does anyone know if I can put them in the breeding trap with the platy fry just for a couple of days?

 

[Clown Loach]

From what I've heard, khuli loaches like hiding in filters, reminds me of an amusing story of emptying the fish tank when we moved house... It took ages to find the stupid thing

 

[smithrc]

it's normal behaviour... if you want, give them tighter places to hide... mine squeeze under a piece of bog wood - all 3 of them entwined together..

they just like tight places.

 

[JamesTasker]

Won't they suffocate? I really think that they can't get out.

 

[JamesTasker]

Well, I put the tank back before I left this morning to how it was before and moved the filter to the back instead of the side of the tank. When I got home they were not there. So unless they're dead, problem solved . The filter is back in its normal position now - bet they go back there again annoying *******!!

 

[Clown Loach]

My current ones aren't that bad. If you put some catfish food in the tank, they'll crawl over and eat it from underneath a plant, but you can see them, and they were particularly hyperactive the first night we got them home - but it didn't last