It is a mystry to me...(mystry Solved)

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

The canister filter (which I absolutely LOVE) that I got from Carl was not flowing as fast as it had been. The filter had been hooked up for about 2 months now(?). Well I shut the power off, closed each tube, unhooked the return first, got water everywhere (hmmm remember a towel next time), unhooked the intake(?) (not so much water..got better at unhooking fast), carried the filter outside carefully not to soak my work clothes, unhooked the top and set it aside, took the grate thingy out, took the charcoal basket/filter floss out, took the black sponge thing basket out, took the pvp pipe looking bio-media thing out (which is the last one) then dumped the yucky water into the flowerbed....OMG!!! there were 4 Kuhli loaches in the filter!!! They are squirming everywhere!!! I can't catch them by hand so I run back into the office and grab my biggest net. I run back outside and I see 2! I grab those 2 carefully (they are covered with dirt and debris) and start looking for the other 2. I found one working it's way under the leaf litter and grab him. The other one I can't find. I see movement on the other side of the tree (man those things can move!)...dig him out of the leaf litter and throw them gently into a "bucket" (actually an old rinsed and bleached plastic coffee can) and opened the return valve and added water. They stayed in the water until I finished with the filter and by then all the yuck had washed off.

All 4 are happily swimming in the tank again.

Now I have a question...how in the heck did they get INTO the filter? The intake and return are too small for them to squeeze through or at least I think it is. The ones in my 75g are breeding so I wonder if these are too and those are offspring and they got in shortly after I set it up and there was enough food for them to live for 2 months. Any ideas?

Lori

[Carl]

Although I have yet to find a Kuhli Loach in a canister filter, I have found these guys under UG-Filter plates where the return pipe had a grate (not to mention upward water pressure that would make a swim down nearly impossible, or so one would think).

So I guess these guys are regular Houdinis.

My though would be to add a Filter Max #3 PreFilter to the intake.

Carl

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

I had thought that maybe I left the end off the return but nope...cked it...it is still there. No other "holes" that I can see. Houdini's they are!!!

Carl, I plan on ordering another canister filter from you in a couple of months for my 75g (plus an extra set of on/off switches (got a plan )) and 2 of the prefilters due to the kuhli's in that tank...I know they are breeding (wish I could watch the actual birth from my 2 girls). The babies are SOOOOO cute (1 inch replicas of the adults).

[bikeguy33]

in the maintenance biz i OFTEN encountered odd critters living in filters....but they were always salt water and were eggs that survived through freezing in the frozen food. loaches are by nature tough to breed....but i would think these had to be eggs that hatched inside the canister....especially if these were critters you didnt purchase.

[goldenpuon]

I once had an pleco who "climbed" into my filter. It was an internal filter and the area where the pleco climbed into above the water level.

So if loaches can suck on like a common pleco (which they look like they might), maybe they "climbed in". I hope that makes sense.

As for how they were getting food, maybe they were eating fish food and/or other debris that got sucked into the filter.

How big are they? I know you said there was no holes for them to get in but maybe they got stuck in there somehow when they were younger and then continued growing bigger (to the point where they couldn't get out) inside the filter.

Also, is it possible they hid in there while you were cleaning the tank and/or filter and you put the filter back together. That would have left them trapped inside without you knowing it.

I'm not saying any of these scenarios are the case. Just throwing out ideas to maybe figure out what happened.

[babygeige]

Jul 6, 2010 19:47:04 GMT -5 goldenpuon said:

Also, is it possible they hid in there while you were cleaning the tank and/or filter and you put the filter back together. That would have left them trapped inside without you knowing it.

That sounds like a good possibility, Renee. I am very paranoid about this exact thing happening!
I did find a missing ghost shrimp in the filter once, but that's not as remarkable as finding kuhli loaches!

I'm glad you found the kuhli's before something bad happened to them.

[parker002]

I used to find molly and platy fry in my filters all the time. Sponge pre-filters work great for that.

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

I replied to you guys but I think I closed it down before I actually posted it. The Joys of being at work

Bike:
These are not babies. They are about 3 inches long so I'm doubting they were eggs that hatched but that is still a possibility.

Renee:
I am not sure how they would have gotten into the filter. I'll post pictures of how it is set up. This has only been running for just a couple of months and this is the first time I did maintenance on it.

Adding picture of what the tank/set-up looks like:





They could have squeezed through the intake but that would have been a TIGHT squeeze.

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

I cleaned out the filter again because the water just was not moving as much as I felt it should have (cleaned impeller this time). I found 2 dead loaches in there this time....I noticed a lot of "rocks" (soil) in the cage part of the intake so I pulled the intake off to shake the rocks out. I found that 2 of the "guards" were broken and offered a 1/8-1/4 in gap (just big enough for a Kuhli to fit through. I have put a rubber band around the gap for the time being but I will be ordering another guard in a bit when I order my 2nd canister filter from Carl.

[Carl]

Lori, did some rocks fall against the strainer guards, as this is rather unusual for these to break on this or any filter?

You might be able to find a similar sized replacement strainer locally ("borrowed" from another filter?)

We do not have these available at this time, maybe with our next order in Sept?

Anyway, glad to read you solved the mystery!

Carl

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

Carl, I really don't know if it was broken before or after I put it in the tank. I set it up and the valves leaked so I broke it down and took it home and it sat for a couple of months before I finally got off my lazy rear and ordered more valves. It probably got broke then because it was just in a Tote in the garage. something probably got dropped on it. IF you can pick one up in Sept that would be great!!! Email me how much the replacement is and another Canister filter will be and i'll order the Canister and pay pal you the total Invoice me how ever you need to (too much trouble?)

Thanks Carl....you know your the BEST!!!

Lori

[babygeige]

I'm sorry you lost more loaches!
At least you figured out the problem!

[Suzie Q (Lori)]

Thanks BBG...yea I'm sad but at least I know now why/how and it can be taken care of. I have several at home that are breeding so I can just catch a few of them or I can take the remaining 2 home and add them to the breeders...I'm sure the 2 would like that better Bigger tank and more friends

[goldenpuon]

Sorry to hear about the loaches. But at least you solved the problem and now you can fix it so no more loaches can sneak in! Best of luck!