Kuhli Loach Questions

logansmommy41306 · Jul 8, 2008

I was in my LFS today and saw some of these for $1.99. I thought they were pretty cool looking. But before I buy any i wanted to do some research on them. Would they go good in my 55 Gallon with my stock (listed in siggy) any other info on them would be great.

RedeyesUK · Jul 8, 2008

They should be fine. They're pretty easy fish to keep, and don't really have any special requirements. They're also pretty placid, and shouldn't give you any real behavioural problems. They do best when kept in a group though, so I'd recommend you get at least four, preferably six or more.

One thing that might be an issue is substrate - they prefer a sandy substrate, and could damage themselves if you have sharp gravel. That said, I've kept them with gravel before with no real issues.

Go for it, they're great little fish! :good:

Tsi_User · Jul 8, 2008

They are great little guys, I have 3 of them in my 29 gallon with shrimps, tetras, corey cats, guppies and blue rams with no problems.

They love to dine on sinking wafers!

Tetraking · Jul 9, 2008

i once had three, put them in the tank (120litre) they hide behind my plants and rocks and buried themselfes, i did not see for days/weeks at a time.

Still like the fish, they are cool when you do see them.

jourdy288 · Jul 9, 2008

On another note, I have three Botia kubotai, one of them has disappeared, but shows up every now and then.

logansmommy41306 · Jul 10, 2008

Maybe I should wait untill i Change my substrate to sand. Right now I have gravel. Then I think I will get some. Do they eat Fry? I have a ton of fry in my tank to I was doing survival of the fitest but i dont think any have been eaten. They all swim where ever they want and my other fish dont bother them. I dont really wany my fry to be eaten, I expecially dont want to witness it lol.

adam98150 · Jul 10, 2008

logansmommy41306 said:
Maybe I should wait untill i Change my substrate to sand. Right now I have gravel. Then I think I will get some. Do they eat Fry? I have a ton of fry in my tank to I was doing survival of the fitest but i dont think any have been eaten. They all swim where ever they want and my other fish dont bother them. I dont really wany my fry to be eaten, I expecially dont want to witness it lol.

They are pretty much harmless, and will not eat your fry.

Just make sure you have some pellets / sinking wafers.

n3ont3tra · Jul 10, 2008

I don't think kuhlie loaches would eat fry, not even on accident. As long as the gravel doesn't have any sharp edges I would go ahead and add them.

vettech909 · Jul 11, 2008

i have a kuhli loach and he is a GREAT fish type thinggy what ever they are!!!hope you get one!!!its best too get 4-6.

Piltdownpaul · Jul 11, 2008

In my opinion go for it. But if you dont like them, you'll have hours of fun trying to catch them to remove them from your tank. I loved mine but hardly saw them.

Corleone · Jul 11, 2008

Piltdownpaul said:
In my opinion go for it. But if you dont like them, you'll have hours of fun failing to catch them to remove them from your tank. I loved mine but hardly saw them.

Fixed

I had six of them in my 30 gallon. For the first week, they clustered in a wriggling little ball in a small fake cave. Very cool to look at, especially when they came out to eat - they wriggled around each other and looked like a sentinel from The Matrix. They disappeared one day, and I thought they'd died and been eaten. Never saw them again for six months. When I moved my community into a 55 gallon tank, I drained the tank and moved the fish, then left the tank overnight before I cleaned out the bottom. Woke up to find all six laying dead on top of the gravel. I felt like crap - I'd assumed them dead long before, but I still really liked those fish.

logansmommy41306 · Jul 11, 2008

I got 3 of them today. I am going to change my substrate to sand on Sunday and Then prob Monday or tuesday I plan to go get a few more.

n3ont3tra · Jul 11, 2008

I caught all of mine pretty easily when I changed substrate. I removed all of the rocks and plants so they were easy to locate, then I would wait until they stopped moving and put the net directly in front of them. Then i would move my hand toward them from the other side and they would freak out and swim right to the net.