Kuhli Loach?

[Magma4life]

So my betta recently passed and I was thinking about maybe getting another solitary tropical fish for my 6.5 gallon. My question is: can I fit a kuhli loach in my aquarium comfortably? I have a large mushroom castle thing, two plastic plants, and a bunch of marimo moss balls in my tank. I also have small gravel substrate and a lid on my tank. If so, could it maybe eat tropical fish pellets and dried brine shrimp? I have a lot of those foods left over from Magma. Thanks.

 

[rlederer]

Kuhli loaches like to be in groups of 6 or more and get too big for your small aquarium.

 

[Magma4life]

I read that you can keep one in a five gallon, so I thought my 6.5 gallon would be big enough. If not, is there another solitary tropical fish I can keep that would like my current setup and preferably live longer than five years? That was my main reason for the kuhli loach, as they can live for ten years.

 

[okapizebra]

Kuhli loaches are not solitary fish.

Perhaps a dwarf gourami, paradise gourami, honey gourami, or some other species of smaller gourami? I don't know their lifespan but one of those could work.

 

[Magma4life]

I googled it and it says dwarf gouramis are not solitary fish, and require a minimum of 10 gallons, and the other gourami types are even bigger. Is that info correct?

 

[earhtmother]

Personally I wouldn't be keeping anything except snails or a Betta in that small a tank. My Blue Gourami is about 3" long and I wouldn't keep him in less than a 10g

 

[Magma4life]

I'm not keeping snails because they transmit disease, and personally it would be too hard on me to keep another betta. I was looking for an alternative.

 

[okapizebra]

Gouramis are in the betta family and many do not get along with each other.

I would not do a blue gourami either. This is why I suggested dwarf gouramis- they will only get 2 inches. You could also do a sparkling gourami, they only get to an inch and a half.

IMO, I don't see why a single one of these is any different than a single betta.

 

[Magma4life]

Thanks for your advice. Considering a gourami.