# Is my loach sick?



## Fishy Bob (Oct 22, 2012)

I have had 6 kuhli loaches for about a month now. They have been just fine and then today i noticed one is fading alot. It is still active, plays with the others and eats but took a dramatic change in appearence over night. I have not read anything online that says what it is conclusively. Didn't know if anybody else out there might have any clues to what is up with it. Thanks for any help in advance


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## startsmall (Oct 17, 2012)

Most all fish will change colors depending on mood and health. So I would start with a narrowing down process...
easy things like tank size, number of that species for those that like to school, food, hiding places, etc. 
What size tank are they in? Is it big enough for them? if not that might be stressing him out. 
You have 6 so that should be fine
What are you feeding them? Are you feeding the food that is recommended for them? Is he smaller and maybe not getting the same amount of food as the others? 
Do you have adequit hiding places so that he can hide if he wants to? if not try a small cave or chunk of driftwood with space under it.

Other things might be water quality, amonia, nitrite, nitrate levels, sickness, time that you are looking at them, 
Are you sure you have enough filtration, Your tests might come back good for amonia and such but you might still have dirty water if your filtration is not good enough (This happened to me, killed 2 corys before I realized what was going on)
Obviously you need to test the water for amonia, nitrites, and nitrates, to ensure proper levels, if any of them are not normal you may need to change some water, or maybe your tank isn't properly cycled
If it is only one fish you may want to put him in a QT to observe him and see if he has any other symptoms pop up, maybe for a couple weeks at least
Is he always pale? If not maybe you are just catching him at a certain time of day? My odessa barbs are pale almost white first thing in the morning, but in a few hours are black with the bright orange stripes.

Hope this helps a little or at least sparks some ideas, good luck.


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## Fishy Bob (Oct 22, 2012)

Tank has been cycled and everything is good. I do water changes every week and usually do 25% as my tank is not over stocked. I also always check water with an api liquid test kit.

It is a 20 gallon long. It has 7 leopard corys, 1 small angel (little bigger than a quarter) 1 small albino lf pleco and a small marble fin pleco. Both plecos are still very small and under 3 inches so not much bio load yet and i know also i will have to move the sailfin and angel to a bigger tank, lol.


I have lots of hiding places for them but they tend to always group up under my drift wood. 
I feed the good quality pellet food, blood worms, flake food,and some other stuff with i alternate between and they even munch on the algea wafers for my plecos

This is the first time ive seen one of them pale but acting fine. Thanks for the help and hopefully it is like your fish and just changes at times


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## Fishy Bob (Oct 22, 2012)

**UPDATE**

I have come home to notice my pale loach has recovered it color. I have not found anything saying for 100% that this is normal, but i have seen people say they have had this issue with mixed results (either death or nothing happens) 

No site says anything about it, but many people in FAQ's have said it comes and goes. Either way im happy and thanks for the help startsmall!


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## startsmall (Oct 17, 2012)

Glad to hear he is ok, just keep an eye on him. Most all fish will change colors from time to time, it is just a matter of knowing why they are doing it and making sure they are not unhealthy.


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## Fishy Bob (Oct 22, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah, i started to pay close attention to them now and saw that this morning that 2 or 3 were very pale but acting fine. I dont think ive noticed because they are still fairly new and were hiding under the drift wood, but now they are always swimming, even in the light, so i think it was just a matter me having to catch it. Ive just never really heard that about them doing that, and didnt know what was up when i first encountered it.


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## startsmall (Oct 17, 2012)

Sweet.


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