Khuulie Loaches- Are They The New Dwarf Gouramis?

[dwarfgourami]

Has anyone else noticed health issues with the khuulie loaches in shop recently?

I bought a small school of khuulies last year, acclimatised carefully and put them in my (lightly stocked) 240 ltr. Within the next month I lost all but one of them, and all my platies and a couple of portholes.

Since then, I have been looking for replacements in the local shops, but every time I go in there is always at least one dead body/or somebody poorly-looking in the khuulie tank.

Are they carrying something nasty? I'm beginning to get wary of khuulies, the way I've been wary of guppies and dwarf gouramis for a long time.

My one remaining loach seems remarkably cheerful though, for a single schooling fish. Eating well, coming out when food is served, growing healthily.

 

[mikev]

Not a recent issue. Kuhlis never shipped well, and the situation became much worse in the last couple of years.

More than one disease is involved. Usually the losses occur in the first two weeks, so a safer way is to buy kuhlis that were at a store for two weeks. Quarantine is a still a must. The problems are more common with "striped" kuhli species than with blacks.

hth

 

[dwarfgourami]

Thanks, I'll keep a cautious eye on the ones in the shops.