Detailed Information About the Kuhli Loach Aquarium Fish

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Brief Overview

The Kuhli Loach Tropical Aquarium Fish is a certain favorite amongst hobbyists. Its eel like body, and patterned skin make it a really cool aquarium companion. Kuhli Loach Tropical Aquarium Fish spend most of their time on the bottom of your aquarium digging and sifting through your gravel. For this reason they are best kept in a tank with smooth natural gravel pebbles, rather than jagged, painted aquarium rocks. The smooth pebbles are not only easier for the Loaches to dig through, but they also are less abrasive to the Loaches body and skin. Being bottom dwellers these fish are highly compatible since they stay mostly out of the way. Some recommended tank mates would be Zebra Danios,Neon Blue Gourami, or some Tiger barb's to accent the Loaches color.It originates in Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula.

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Detailed Wikipedia Information

Physical description

The Kuhli Loach Tropical Aquarium Fish is an eel-shaped fish, elongated with slightly compressed sides, and very small fins. The dorsal fin starts behind the middle of the body, and the anal fin well behind this. The eyes are covered with a transparent skin. The body has 10 to 15 dark brown to black vertical bars, and the gaps between them are salmon pink to yellow with a light underside. When the fish is not actively breeding, there is no known way to distinguish between males and females. When breeding, the females often become monstrously fat and their greenish ovaries can be seen through the skin before spawning. Spawning is not easy, but when it occurs a few hundred greenish eggs are laid among the roots of floating plants. Maximum size is 4 inches (10 cm) long, and four pairs of barbels around their mouth.

Habitat and Diet

The natural habitat of the kuhli loach is the sandy beds of slow-moving rivers and clean mountain streams. They are a social fish and are typically found in small clusters (they are not schooling fish but enjoy the company of their species), but are cautious and nocturnal by nature and swim near the bottom where they feed around obstacles. They natively live in a tropical climate and prefer water with a 5.5 - 6.5 pH-but will tolerate 7.5 pH in aquaria, a water hardness of 5.0 dGH, and a temperature range of 75 - 86 degrees F (24 - 30 C). Kuhli Loaches are scavengers, so they will eat anything that hits the bottom. Kuhli loaches usually feed in the night time, but can be taught to be fed in the day in the home aquarium.

In the aquarium

The Kuhli Loach Tropical Aquarium Fish is commonly kept as a pet in tropical aquaria. There are a number of species of the genus Pangio that appear similar and are sold under the same name, require similar care, and are all excellently suited for household tanks. They tend to be hardy and long-lived in the aquarium and get along well with their own kind as well as others.

In an aquarium environment, especially if the gravel is suitably finely grained, Pangio species can burrow into the bottom and there remain unseen for long periods of time, emerging to eat during the night. If the gravel is later disturbed, a hobbyist might well find themselves faced with fish assumed lost a long time ago.

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