# Are Kuhli Loach good fish to get?



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

*
*

They are these cool looking eel called a Kuhli Loach. 



Has anyone had this fish? Is this a good fish to get? 



Are these Kuhli Loach ok with Eco-complete or do they need/require sand or something. 



I have some cory catfish with eco-complete that seem to do ok. 



Is this basically like a long snakelike version of a cory catfish? 



Thanks.


----------



## Ashnic05 (Jan 7, 2013)

Kuhli loaches (as well as cory cats) should be on sand substrate. They are scaleless fishes that have barbels ("whiskers" used for tactile purposes) that can get infected on sharper substrate like eco complete. That being said, kuhlis are a very popular choice among hobbyists for a bottom dwelling species and go well in community setups as they're very docile and fun to watch. They do require a group of 5+ and are mostly nocturnal, coming out in daylight usually only to feed. They'll hide in any nook and cranny they can find so it's highly suggested that you place a prefilter sponge over your intake to prevent them from going into your filter (yes, they can fit and are notorious for this). Omnivores, will eat most foods offered.


----------



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Kuhlies get along great with most community fish, including Cories. They will burrow through the substrate, which is why a softer material, not angular is best. There are several species. 

Loaches Online - Community Edition ? Loaches Online


----------



## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

You may rarely see it after you put him in your tank, I see mine once a week or so and only at feeding time. Get a Dojo loach if you want an entertaining loach that stay out when the lights are on.


----------



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

keymastr said:


> You may rarely see it after you put him in your tank, I see mine once a week or so and only at feeding time. Get a Dojo loach if you want an entertaining loach that stay out when the lights are on.


Do you need sand for the Dojo Loach?


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Dojo/Weather loaches get much much larger than Kuhli loaches. Cool fish, but aren't the most careful fish, bumping into whatever plants or fish are in their way, especially during feeding time.

Kuhli loaches are much smaller and extremely gentle and peaceful. You could say just as peaceful as Corydoras.
As mentioned, they do like to stay in the shade during light hours, so provide lots of cover. The more cover around, the more likely they are to venture around during the day. They are social fish, so the more Kuhli's the better (get bare minimum of at least 5).

Dojos and Kuhli's both would prefer to be on sand as it is gentler on their skin and they like to sift the sand pieces through their mouth/gills finding little bits of food. They can be kept on harder and larger substrates though without any problems. Same with Corydoras.

Kuhli loaches (Pangio sp.) are one of my favorite fish and I have over a dozen different Kuhli (Pangio) species (species, not just a dozen Kuhlis in total. Some I have not even found a description of). Out of all of them, I have never once seen them burrow and I do keep them on fine sand. Even when chasing them with a net or some other highly stressful event, I still have never seen any one of them burrow.
I do have other loach species that do burrow, and out of all my experience with Kuhli's, they do not burrow.

Do your research on any fish you consider to make sure you have the appropriate environment/water for them. Do note how much larger Dojo loaches get in case your tank size is not large enough. Make sure to have a good lid with dojo loaches.

You could always put a sand layer/cap on top of your current substrate. Half an inch is fine enough, but an inch is better.


----------



## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I rarely keep kuhlia as I have never had any that stayed out enough to watch. I do find Dojo to be good to watch. 
My tanks have almost always had large wood and the kuhlia often made small slots under the wood so that when I wanted to see if they were still living or dead, I could move the wood and see them shoot out to another hiding place. To me, the brief time I saw them made them not worth getting as there were always more interesting fish.


----------



## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

The kuhli loaches are my favorite fish in the tank. I have fine grained gravel (almost as fine as sand) and safe-t-sorb, no issue with degrading barbels here. The only time I've seen their barbels wear away was when I had problems with water quality. Mine always hid when I had two or three, I have six now. And they are always active, even during the day. My black kuhlis (pangio oblonga) are much bolder than the striped ones (pangio kuhlii). The black ones are always monkeying around in the front areas of the tank, whereas my striped ones tend to hang out in the back- but they are the climbers! going up and down my stem plants. I don't know if this is just a character trait of the different species, or if it's because the black ones are dominant (I have more of them) or the striped ones just more shy (only two of those). I would like to get more of them. They are very fun to watch.

When I want some extra entertainment I put sinking food (algae wafer or shrimp pellet) under a large stone that has a hollow beneath it, or under a thick plant against the glass (subwassertang) and watch the kuhlis cram themselves in after the food, which the other fish can't reach. It's hilarious.

So if you're only going to get two or three of them, I wouldn't bother. If you can get five, six or more- a whole gang- they're great fish. Also, I think they need a lot of space for activity- I had one in a ten-gallon and you would think that's okay because it's a small, skinny fish. But it was inactive and always hiding. In my larger tanks (a 20L and now a 38) they seem much happier. They really zoom all over the tank when they smell food in there.

Yes, cover your filter intake. I put a sponge prefilter on mine because have read stories about kuhlis getting into the filter housing. My sponge has grooves on it and the kuhlis swim up and down these picking things to eat off the sponge.


----------



## Manami (Sep 29, 2015)

I have 6 kuhli loaches in my 40g tank. They like to hide alot, but I have added lots of plants in my tank that I'm now starting to see a little more of them. They don't like to be in open spaces (which is the middle front space of the tank. I like them alot and I always see one or two everyday, I just wished they showed up more, but they are naturally nocturnal fish.

And make sure you cover your filter intake! If I hadn't made research about loaches getting inside the filters, I might never have guessed that there were THREE of my six kuhli loaches hiding inside my two filters! Two were inside one filter and the other while I was trying to get it out, it managed to get inside the motor electric box thing of the filter!


----------



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Hide too much, requires a closed top aquarium too. Not worth keeping ime.


----------



## BrynnaCC (Jan 5, 2014)

I love my Kuhlis. I keep them with EcoComplete with no problems. They are active, but they've never burrowed, and I never see them trying to burrow. They do like wiggling through my plants to rest between leaves (my tank is HEAVILY planted), and they also love tunnels/driftwood. They've been some of my healthiest fish and are about 3 years old as of now, although I'm told they can live much longer.


----------



## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Yeah, mine don't burrow either. Maybe if I had sand they would. They rest under the driftwood. They do root around in the upper layer of gravel a bit and filter-feed off the mulm that drifts up sometimes.

I've read they can live up to ten years. I've had mine two years.


----------



## Manami (Sep 29, 2015)

I forgot to add. I also have sand (with Eco-Complete at the bottom) and they never burrow. My tank is heavily planted and have different caves from mid to small sizes and they love to hide in all the caves and they also love to hide under a leaf or in between the plants. They show up more that way if you have those in your tank, plus if there are 5-6 of them, no less.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

One of my favs. Had a few for around 7 years. I was using a substrate of Eco-Complete and PFS. I know they hid a lot, but I saw mine plenty.


----------



## ibebian (Jan 11, 2016)

Does anyone know if they contribute significantly to bioload? I've always like them but I don't want to overcrowd, not to mention my 6 gallon is probably a bit on the smaller side. Has anyone successfully kept them in a small nano tank?


----------



## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I don't think they add significantly to the bioload. But are probably too active for a little tank- they need room to swim around.


----------



## end3r.P (Aug 31, 2015)

ibebian said:


> Does anyone know if they contribute significantly to bioload? I've always like them but I don't want to overcrowd, not to mention my 6 gallon is probably a bit on the smaller side. Has anyone successfully kept them in a small nano tank?



Too large and active for that size tank. Especially since they prefer being in groups.


----------



## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

They are super hard to catch with a net. Swim amazingly fast. I have kept them in 10g tanks without any obvious issues, other than going where they don't belong, like under gravel filters etc...


----------



## suppercat (Aug 22, 2016)

I have just seen this small cute fish in a video on Youtube, it's really small and cute for a 5 gallon fish tank. So, I bring its picture to Reddit to ask for the name. But, now I don't know how to buy it in Taiwan.


----------



## Boreas (Jan 24, 2016)

I have 20 in my 65 gallon. 10 Kuhli and 10 black Kuhli. They really enjoy my bushy area of Limnophila Sessiflora. If you have a heavily planted tank, they are plenty active during the day, but will stay near the substrate under cover. My tank is also rimless, and I've never had one jump. I also notice that the black kuhli loaches are more aggressive during feeding, but hide more most of the time.
Probably my favourite fish.


----------



## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I have to partially recant what I said earlier here.

Since I treated my fishes for parasites several months ago, lost one striped kuhli and the other one has changed its behavior. It is still the last to come for food, but other times is just as active out-and-about in the tank as the black kuhlis. So now I am thinking the striped ones aren't shy due to some inherent trait- maybe mine were just more reclusive because they were feeling unwell, carrying the parasite load . . . .


----------



## sapphiregem (Nov 28, 2016)

Manami said:


> I forgot to add. I also have sand (with Eco-Complete at the bottom) and they never burrow. My tank is heavily planted and have different caves from mid to small sizes and they love to hide in all the caves and they also love to hide under a leaf or in between the plants. They show up more that way if you have those in your tank, plus if there are 5-6 of them, no less.


May I ask to see your substrate?? I am trying to figure out what to use as a top layer on my eco...but i like the dark look. plus kuhli is on my list as well as cory's...

thanks


----------

