A different cleaning crew

[sidra]

I wanted to share pictures of my cleaning crew. My 75 gallon planted discus tank has only been running for four months now. For the past two I had a brown algae problem. I introduced (after QT) 2 Golden Algae Eaters but the job required the hiring of two more. After they finished QT and have been in the tank for a couple weeks the four of them are doing an awesome job. The tank is soooo clean. They clean the plants, gravel, driftwood, glass, filter intake tube...you name it. And they never bother my dicus like Ottos I had in the past. They top out at about 4 inches.

Then I decided to try one of my favorite fish from when I was a kid...a Khuli Loach. They are shy little eel-like bottom feeders. They like PH below 7. He's about 4 inches long and lived with my barbs for a while but lived in hiding because they're so mean. I moved him to my discus tank and he is such a happy camper he comes out every day (they are somewhat nocturnal). The discus don't bother him so he's thrilled. The first day I put him in the discus just slowly followed him around. I could tell they were thinking "Dang! That's the biggest blackworm I've ever seen. I wonder if he'll fit in my mouth". They quickly lost interest.

Here are some pics of the hired hands.

Kristen

(First is the golden algae eater)

[sidra]

Here's the Khuli Loach

[sidra]

Here they are together

[AmberC]

Very cute! I had some Kuhlis when I lived in Wa state. Fun little guys. I loved them. I was thinking about getting some more.
Thanks for sharing!
Amber

[diskboy]

i had a pair of them got one then two and hey were unseperatable then i ripped over the heater cord and didn't know that i had unplugged it and the one died it was a shame they were such a good pair. now the one i have left is pushing 2-2 1/2 years

[nicholas76]

The Khuli Loach are not a good tank mate in my experience.

Once they get a taste for it they will try to hitch a ride on the discus, consuming the slime on the discus skin.

It will happen eventually.

[Timbo]

"The discus don't bother him so he's thrilled."

guess so! he will most likely bother the discus

[discusdave]

The Kuhli Locan isno tproblem in the tank, but keep an eye on the golden chinese algae eater. I don't know how they do with discus, but in community tanks they can get very aggressive. If I'm not mistaken they also get about 7 inches long.

Dave

[sidra]

Watching closely, but so far everyone is getting along great. The Ram keeps the algae eaters in line, that's for sure. My Golden Algae eaters seem pretty timid so far.

[Dave_S]

Have had 1 or more Khuli Loach's in my tanks for over 5 years. Might be 7 in my 80G now. Never seen one touch a Discus - but they are nocturnal and I'm not. I like them for snail control over the Clown Loach - they seem to fit the mellow mode of the Discus tank better also fun to watch. Now that issue has come up I'll be looking for more info on this though.

[sidra]

Dave,
I know algae-eating type fish will try to eat the discus' slime coat. Khuli's are scavenger-types, not surface cleaners so I never really thought of them going after the discus. Luckily, mine is a perfect gentle-loach so far.

They are mostly nocturnal but since I moved this guy from the 30 gallon barb tank where he had to hide all the time to the 75 gallon discus tank, he comes out several times a day. He doesn't even hide when I approach the tank anymore. He's cool. I want to get him a buddy now. The lfs has black khuli loach too.

Kristen