# kuhli loach not eating



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I have 3 kuhlis. one is very thin. 2 weeks ago it seemed the same size as the others. The other 2 are quite fat.
I have it in the floating breeder tank to observe it. It is mostly all head and a thin body. The head is bigger than the body.
It does not seem to have any fungus or parasites on it.
I have tried it with crushed snails, shrimp pellets and crushed flake.
it has eaten nothing. 
I don't know much about these fish as I inherited them from someone who was moving last year. 
I do not know how old they are.
Could this just be coming to the end of its lifespan?
I know that when livebearers age they tend to do so quite rapidly and they often don't eat .


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

mousey said:


> I have 3 kuhlis. one is very thin. 2 weeks ago it seemed the same size as the others. The other 2 are quite fat.
> I have it in the floating breeder tank to observe it. It is mostly all head and a thin body. The head is bigger than the body.
> It does not seem to have any fungus or parasites on it.
> I have tried it with crushed snails, shrimp pellets and crushed flake.
> ...


Kulhi Loaches are nocturnal and rarely venture out during the daytime. As a matter of fact I find that mine won't come out of his cave unless it is completely dark in the room. He's probably eating, but you're just not seeing him eating because it's dark or you're asleep or both.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Sorry but you miss the point- it looks like a skelton with a big head.
Also The food offered is in his little tank all night and still there in the morning.
He was fat and now is skeletal.
My other 2 kulis do venture out the morning when I feed the fish. they stay close to their cave but they do come out for food.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

mousey said:


> Sorry but you miss the point- it looks like a skelton with a big head.
> Also The food offered is in his little tank all night and still there in the morning.
> He was fat and now is skeletal.
> My other 2 kulis do venture out the morning when I feed the fish. they stay close to their cave but they do come out for food.


I feed nothing but goldfish flakes and pellets to mine and he eats it all up from his cave every morning. You could simply have a sick Kuhli Loach and in that case you should start dosing with Melafix.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

he needs some Plecocaine..

there is definitely something wrong with it..females are fatter than males ; but they should never be that thin..unfortunately i just don't know what it is..
try looking in the "fishypharmacy" site.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I have read of 'your' plecocaine but have never seen it up here in Ontario.
I don't think it has a parasite( worm) as the tank has been treated a few times with Prazi altho I suppose it could have a different kind of worm.
Since it doesn't want to eat anyhting perhaps it is old.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

old age is a possibibity..especially if all of the other fish are pretty healthy...
Plecocaine is only avvailable from me or a couple of shops in the lower 48 us states...i do ship to other countries though..but shipping is a bit pricey..to ship 1 pound of Plecocaine to canada costs over $10 USD..but i do have a coupl of customers there.....i even ship Plecocaine to ZAKK over in india..


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2009)

*Kuhli will live several years in a clean well maintained aquarium, are as mentioned above somewhat reclusive in the light, but are non stop scavengers that will search every nook and cranny in a tank in search of food. They seem to be more active in large groups but are not to be confused with schooling fish because they are not. Since this particular fish is apparently not eating at all, i would suspect some bacterial, intestinal problem, or as you say it may also be nearing the end of life.*


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## ~ocean (Sep 16, 2009)

try bloodworms...


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I think he was just old. The others are just fine and anyway he did die.


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