Kuhlie Loaches

[AndrewH]

So I've been looking into getting four of these little guys for my 29 gallon since they love to burrow and play in the substrate. Will having a few of these guys be good enough so that I don't have to stir up the sand every week?

 

[Alaris]

This is the advice JohnPaul gave me.

You may also want to get a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS), small little conical snails that burrow into the substrate during the day and usually only come out at night. They are great for sand substrates because they help "stir up" the sand, which prevents anaerobic pockets from forming and releasing toxic gas into the tank. Or, if you don't like the idea of having MTS, then you just need to periodically stir up the deeper layers of the sand yourself by hand (people often use chopsticks for this).

This should be true for fish that burrow, too. And if you keep your sand less than 1" deep, it will also help prevent anaerobic pockets.

 

[AndrewH]

The sand is settling at the moment and I left it at a little bit less then an inch so I should be good. Thanks for you're help.

 

[saffikeagan]

I have kuhlis and they have not burried themselved once! Okay, okay, the did go into hiding a few days ago when I took out all their normal hiding places. I can only assume that they went for a dig. However, I would not count on all kuhlis being big burrowers. I was saying in another post that I felt kinda jipped because I changed out my substrate specifically so that they would have something to dig and play in. Some other loach owner agreed with me though I don't remember who off the top of my head.

 

[AndrewH]

Even if they don't I think they are pretty cool so we'll just have to see. I'll also have a few snails possibly malasian trumpets, they love to burrow.

 

[saffikeagan]

I do like my kuhlis.


If only I could figure out how to
a) make sure that they get enough food
b) make sure I'm not overfeeding to make sure they are getting enough food thus polluting my water.

It's difficult as they are nocturnal scavengers the normal feeding guidelines just don't seem to apply.

 

[AndrewH]

Hm maybe possibly dropping a small wafer in at night time. I plan on making a Moonlight. Well even though most of my work is latenight. Thanks for the heads-up though, I was unaware that they where nocturnal. I think I have pretty much come down to exactly what I want in this tank tell me what you think and spare no critcism.

2 Angels
4 Khulie's
6-8 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Red Tailed Shark.

Am I OS'd or do you think I could add some'or.

 

[saffikeagan]

Eh, honestly, I know nothing about angels or RTS. Rasboras are good community fish and a group of 6 sounds good. I only know about fish sutable for tanks less than 15 in size as that's where I did all my research when setting up my tank.

Are you picky about the type of Kuhli because there are a lot of different pangios that are sold under the name kuhli. Some get bigger than others. I saw some "black kuhli" in at a local PetStore that looked more like cinnamon kuhlis and found out cinimon kuhlis get to be twice the size of the black kuhlis. I think despite all my efforts to locate and reserve my pangio kuhlis I still got one that isn't a kuhli as it is significantly thicker than the other two and the stripe pattern is just enough different to make me question more than the gender.

I have moonlight too. I love watching the silhouette's of my betta by moonlight. It's funny to see him be hit on the nose by a figure-eighting kuhli. Once they get going, they don't stop for any obstruction (I half think they are blind). There have been several times when I've been watching the tank, that Sammie has been up against the glass begging for food and been run into by the kuhlis. He'll ignore them completely until it happens a second and third time, then he'll decide to move off to a less trafficked area!

 

[AndrewH]

Looks likeI got my work cut out for me finding the right ones. I don't want any that will get over 4" Petsmart is usually good about labeling their fish correctly but I know the guy pretty well at the LFS and he knows his stuff. Thanks again

 

[saffikeagan]

Loach Species Index (Alphabetical) — Loaches Online and page down to the start of the pangio section, then start clicking and reading (if you haven't already).