My kuhli did subsequently pass away, but I don't think there was anything I could do at this stage anyway. It came out of hiding after a deep clean (60%) the day prior. Everyone else is fine. It was one of my chonkiest kuhlis, and they hide in the gaps between by rock ledge. Do y'all suspect this is ich? It doesn't look like it to me, which was why I went searching in the first place. Hope this helps any other kuhli loach keepers who have something like this happen to them, too.
Posted by Wild_Cheetah_6356
5 Comments
Try this stuff I had a similar affliction never found out what it was but this fixed it
https://preview.redd.it/gc5shmujlnog1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32658eefd30794b14343a6a72146c447e85ce80a
What do you mean by “deep clean”? This is usually one of the worst things you can do to an aquarium
I’m not by any means an expert, so whatever I say on this should be checked up on for sure, but:
It looks like velvet to me, which I believe is a parasitic infection (I used to think it was fungal, but apparently not).
It does not look like ich, but the treatments may be similar.
Hi OP. I agree with you, doesn’t look like ich. It does look a little like what the loach in this post had though.
https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/49801-loaches-with-white-soresdiscoloration/
Or this:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/kuhli-loach-with-white-spots.491402/
There doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer after a trawl on loach forums outside of Reddit, but I do know that columnaris bacterial infection presents as white patches on scaleless fish and can look a bit like this. A lot like this. It’s fatal if not caught in time.
The fish would be likely to rub against anything hard like rock with this causing abrasions and white patches too.
Were the water parameters okay and the rest of the fish healthy? Are the barbels full and not eroded (asking this to ascertain if the substrate was not too rough)?
If columnaris it is quite contagious and the tank would need treating with gram negative antibiotic like kanamycin or furan-2, plus absolute certainty the water parameters were pristine as it is opportunistic when fish are stressed.
It might be a type of protozoa infection. The fish secrete extra muslcus as a response to the parasites.
Here’s a video i found that shows fishs with similar symptoms. You can use anti-parasite medicines like ich-x to treat, just don’t use any “herbal” or “natural” remedies since those usually don’t work.
https://youtu.be/Kxf4groYOU8?si=u-LvvqxtVHPMcp4F