coolie loach fans?

[cheng wei jian]

Anyone's a fan of coolie loach? They may be cheap but still interesting to watch especially all the different pattern types.

[burntrubber]

Me! I now have 6 in a nano tank. Wish more species of Pangio are available here though.

[cheng wei jian]

hahaha me too. Actually i noticed one thing in recent shipments of "giant coolie loaches", there are actually more than one species in it. I was curious as to why some have very thick straight stripes and look so chunky while other more snake-like with spots and irregular patches of black and volia, after some research my 3 "coolie loaches" are all each from a different species!

[burntrubber]

I've only seen and bought once few years ago at Polyart the P.Shelfordi with nice jaguar spot pattern instead of the stripes.
Also Pangio doriae and Vaillantella maassi (DOA when reach home)
I think Aquahobby did have albino kuhli at one time too.

[onlyyouknow]

I kept them when I was still a child, interesting fishes but dunno why never thought of getting them again. Maybe for a long time always have bare tanks so no gravel for them to dig into. Maybe can get some to keep for fun.

[cheng wei jian]

Originally Posted by burntrubber

I've only seen and bought once few years ago at Polyart the P.Shelfordi with nice jaguar spot pattern instead of the stripes.
Also Pangio doriae and Vaillantella maassi (DOA when reach home)
I think Aquahobby did have albino kuhli at one time too.

For some reason, when i buy such loaches like when they first arrived at the shops, they had like reddish tails that looked a little bloody and really pink gills and when i bought them and brought them home they died within days on multiple occasions. This then led me to think that maybe the loaches suffered ammonia burns which was why when they came, they appeared so. I then decided to buy from a batch that i had seen being placed into the tanks a few weeks ago and they were fine so i guess maybe those that needed to migrate to heaven have already did, leaving only the healthier ones behind?

[burntrubber]

Originally Posted by onlyyouknow

I kept them when I was still a child, interesting fishes but dunno why never thought of getting them again. Maybe for a long time always have bare tanks so no gravel for them to dig into. Maybe can get some to keep for fun.

They are great for nano tanks. Just a thin layer of fine sand and some driftwood and fern will do. Tankmates cannot be too active or they will not come out. My son likes to watch them eat. Just drop in a pellet and they will appear.

[burntrubber]

Originally Posted by cheng wei jian

For some reason, when i buy such loaches like when they first arrived at the shops, they had like reddish tails that looked a little bloody and really pink gills and when i bought them and brought them home they died within days on multiple occasions. This then led me to think that maybe the loaches suffered ammonia burns which was why when they came, they appeared so. I then decided to buy from a batch that i had seen being placed into the tanks a few weeks ago and they were fine so i guess maybe those that needed to migrate to heaven have already did, leaving only the healthier ones behind?

Generally for all fish, transition is very stressful. Farm water, bag water and fish shop water condition is not the same. So if not acclimatized properly there will be casualties. See how the Altums are sold? Most LFS don't dare to open the bag. I have a friend that only buys fish bagged straight from the farm, he orders from LFS and ask them not to open.

[cheng wei jian]

i see, no wonder, hahaha, btw, i discovered i may have a P.myseri, right now, he's the same size as his other two buddies but he seems the most greedy amongst the 3, gobbling up big chunks of flakes.