Khuli Loaches

[folyet]

I have read so many places that Khuli loaches do much better in sand than they do in smooth gravel. I have also read that people have kept them for years on smooth gravel.

I just do not know what to believe.

I have smooth gravel and I have 3 Khuli loaches (recently one died)
They all seem happy. I have lots of hiding places where they hide, and they always come out and eat

I do not know why the Khuli loach dies, and I have had other ones die in the past.
They all seem healthy and happy but then suddenly one would die, just like the last one did

All my water parameters are fine 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates are anywhere from 10 - 20 ppm water changes every week 10 - 15%

I love my Khuli Loaches and am mystified why they would die

 

[phoenixgsd]

they are deffinatly are happier on sand, they are also more confident in larger groups, i have 7 and they are always out playing

 

[LoachLover]

They tend to bury themselves under rocks and other decor, and they enjoy nosing around through sand quite a bit. So while I believe they can be kept on smooth gravel, I believe they prefer the sand. As to why the fish died, it is sometimes difficult to pin down a reason. If your water levels were normal, with no signs of external parasites, there is a chance that something internal could have caused it as well. Sometimes you lose fish and you're not sure why.

 

[Crossfire]

Kuhlis definatley need sand and large groups to be 100% happy. As to why it died, it could have been stress related due to small group no sand, or underlying medical problems (cancer, cysts, defects etc) or it might've just been old. Kuhlis live up to 10+ years.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I've kept them on both and they seem to do well on either. I recently added 5 to my tank (to make a group of 10) and the ativity level of the tank went through the roof. If you cannot switch to sand, at least get some buddies for the two that you have. They will keep you smiling constantly

 

[onebto]

I have had a small group of 6 Khuli for about 2 years I have never lost a Khuli since I got them, there habits have always been constant in that they are mainly nocturnal only coming out on occasion during the day except for one which does not really care and coils his tail up in the higher points of plants with his top half floating around god knows what he is doing .

Anyway I changed my substrate about 10 months ago from sand to smooth pea gravel and as mentioned before have not changed there habits, so in my humble opinion yes sand is really good for Khuli but if you get a good quality smooth gravel it will serve them well to.

I must say after using both sand and gravel substrate it is far easier to clean gravel and thus less likely to harbour waste that could be dangerous to Khuli thus more hygienic than sand.

I have to disagree with the totality of some of the statements pointing to sand only.

I have to agree your current Khuli would be much happier with a few more friends.

As for your losses I am sorry just a shot in the dark as you say your water stats are ok what is your water PH are you aware of the Khuli requirement?

Of course this is a subjective matter like many in our hobby of caring for different species of fish, these are my humble opinions as always and are only shared through experience and observations and in no way do i consider myself an expert I am just trying to be a little more subjective .

Regards onebto.