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The missing kuhli loaches were on the java fern hotel

ghostsword

Member
Joined
19 Nov 2009
Messages
3,423
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
I had bought about a year or so ago 4 kuhli loaches, 2 strippy and 2 brown ones. As the tank was changed, more plants added, I stopped seeing them, I thought that they had kaput long time ago and the shrimps had a party on them.

I was wrong. :)

Yesterday I took all plants out, inclusive the Java Fern I got growing on a 2kg piece of wood and was surprised, not only I had the 4 kuhli loaches, but three extra strippy ones had appeared. I didn't know they bred on a community tank.

The tub the fern is on is about 40cm in diameter.

There was also lots of red cherry shrimp on the wood, with some assassin snails. A truly multicultural piece of wood.

Java Fern on wood:
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The kuhli loaches, the adult were very fat, and at least 10cm long:
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That's true - there are no records of them breeding in a home aquaria. I've looked into that subject quite a lot because my Kuhli's bred in my tank also - I had a group of 10 striped adults, which I thought had preished, but found them one day along with 20-30 minatures living in the bottom of my eheim 2126.
 
Lol, yup. I've got an Eheim 2126, and at the time time I had the standard green pickup, so I'm guessing they squeezed through the holes in the inlet.
 
hi, i'm sure i've heard of them breeding in a community tank before. i was reading up about it on the internet a while ago. i haven't heard of anyone intentionally breeding them, normally they just appear.

apparently it is really hard without hormones, so well done!!! :D
 
I have given a piece of wood with anubias and moss.. I guess that I am not the only one able to hatch Kuhlis.. if they indeed breed that way.

sumitha said:
Hi Luis,

By any chance did you have any egg laying fish in the tank with the Anubias on wood or Riccia you gave me? I've spotted a tiny little hatchling (seems to have completely absorbed its eggsac) bravely swimming around the surface of my new shrimp tank. No idea what it is!

Most of your plants are doing well. There is slight melting on the Micranthemum Umbrosum and Rotala Rotundifolia but hopefully these will recover in time. I placed these in a concentrated Easycarbo dip (2ml Easycarbo in 250ml of water) to get rid of some algae, hope I was not too enthusiastic.

Many thanks and have a great weekend,

John
 
mr. luke said:
Congratulations on the breeding :D

Thanks, I am waiting on Sumitha to confirm his side, if what he has swiming on his nano is indeed Kuhli's or something else.

On my tank I have not seen them again. :)

The lot will be up for sale in September, when I get a new tank setup and get some fresh water nerites for the tank.
 
congrats on the breeding!
Could it be that the khulis bred to have smth to eat?
Just saying because you said they werent seen at all.
 
Cyworld said:
congrats on the breeding!
Could it be that the khulis bred to have smth to eat?
Just saying because you said they werent seen at all.

I do drop pelets on the tank at night, as I got shrimp and cory's. Also there are assassin snails, cherry shrimp and some trumpets. They hide all day long on the long piece of wood covered with the Java fern. If all it takes to make them breed is to starve them, not bad.. :)
 
Kuhlis are shy fish in smaller groups and are great at cleaning the tank of any left overs so its not difficult for them to survive...I have 8 and even though they have plenty of places to hide the number of them means they prefer to come out and swim around too.

They're fun to watch feeding because they'll just form a big pile of kuhli loach over the food!
 
I used to see them about, but since the large piece of wood with the java fern went in they just disappeared. :)

To catch them is easy now, I just need to lift the java fern from the tank into a container with some tank water and in less then 30 seconds they jump out of the wood. Scared the beejesus out of me when it happened the first time, as the old ones are quite large.

I would like to keep them, they are very usefull in keeping the snail population down, but I want to breed freshwater nerites, and they would gobble up any small nails.
 
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