Kuhli Loaches

[darklight]

Amongst the various fish that came with my new (2nd hand) tank, are 2 Kuhli Loaches. These look great, but I never see them. How can I coax them out?

I've already read about adding more - I'll probably snap up 3 or 4 more when I can. Is there anything more I can provide to get them out more?

I'm also worried about my substrate - its very very rough gravel. They dont appear damaged, and seem to have no problems burying themselves. But I'd like to add patches of river sand to my tank - for asthetic purposes, and to give the various fish some nice soft stuff to play in. Does this sound like a silly idea - 2 grades of substrate in a tank?

Simon.

 

[GSD]

Hi,
I have had a khuli loach for around 5 years now, and never see him. My tank is very heavily planted and also has plenty of rocks, and they seem to be very shy and prefer to hide. Getting more may entice them out #

Having two different substrates will be fine, the khulis will appreciate it! Although i have had mine in gravel with no problems, they do prefer some sand to bury themselves in.

Laura

 

[keenonfish]

I have gravel and am thinking about a horseface loach. What I thought about doing was to make a sort of bath out of plastic, filling with sand and pushing into the gravel. This should keep things separate to some extent and give the loach somewhere nice and easy to bury itself...

 

[kevinthecow]

Well, it's not really a bother. Depends how much you'll cover up, if its like first layer gravel, second layer sand, it's not really a point to have the gravel there.
Are you making it like 50% Gravel, 50% Sand? (Half of the side is gravel/sand)
If so, yeah. MOST loaches LOVEEEE to burrow and cover in sand. I can't really think of one that doesn't.
But, put your ornaments on the gravel, as the sand is the pain in the @$!@*#^&*$^@&*!# to clean. (Algae can get it to , so easily. I learned the hard way. a layer of green algae on sand is NOT attractive.)

 

[darklight]

Well, it's not really a bother. Depends how much you'll cover up, if its like first layer gravel, second layer sand, it's not really a point to have the gravel there.
Are you making it like 50% Gravel, 50% Sand? (Half of the side is gravel/sand)
If so, yeah. MOST loaches LOVEEEE to burrow and cover in sand. I can't really think of one that doesn't.
But, put your ornaments on the gravel, as the sand is the pain in the @$!@*#^&*$^@&*!# to clean. (Algae can get it to , so easily. I learned the hard way. a layer of green algae on sand is NOT attractive.)

I was thinking about having gravel only around the rocks /plants in my setup, and everywhere else sand. Minimal to no gravel under the sand - I agree, no point in that.

 

[JustKia]

I've sand substrate and have never seen my kuhli's burrow into it.
That said I do see quite a lot of my Kuhli's, they are always out snuffling around with the corys.

 

[matchstickman47]

mine are timid they dont come out for food so i have to literaly hand feed em cause the syno multis are too competitive over food

 

[millym]

hi
we've found the more hiding spots khulis have the more you will see them. get some pieces of pipe (stuff a plumber would use) a couple of cm diameter khulis LOVE hanging out in them. i made a little khuli apartment block for ours in our 40L, i glued 5 pieces of approx 2cm diameter pipe together & then mixed sand with the glue (i used aquarium sealant for gluing) and spread it over so the pipes blend more into the background, its in 2 storeys & quite often you'll see a little khuli face peeking out of all 5 holes...i'll post a pic when i get camera out tommorow! great little fish.
never seen khulis burrow in sand but they seem to enjoy whiskering around in it, the 2 black khulis that are in our big 169L tank though, are often seen buried in the gravel.

 

[millym]

hi
ive stuck some pics of the khuli apartment block under a new post - khuli towers ours love it

 

[mattbond]

i find black kuhlis are more outgoing than the stripeys, but since putting two black kuhlis in mine, theyve encouraged the stripeys out in the day

 

[B13]

i find black kuhlis are more outgoing than the stripeys, but since putting two black kuhlis in mine, theyve encouraged the stripeys out in the day

Ooo!! I've never seen a black khuli, can you post a pic?



I've got 5 khulis, 3 big and 2 small and while the big fellas are out-and-about almost all day, the little 'uns only come out at night... I just love 'em!!

 

[Night61]

i like to put ornaments that they would hide in near the glass, that way they feel safe and i can check up on them. also i feed mine with the cories at night when the other fishies are heading to bed to give them more of a chance to eat.

 

[Gazoo]

Amongst the various fish that came with my new (2nd hand) tank, are 2 Kuhli Loaches. These look great, but I never see them. How can I coax them out?

I've already read about adding more - I'll probably snap up 3 or 4 more when I can. Is there anything more I can provide to get them out more?

Once I jumped from 2 to 6 I saw mine at all hours of the day. They have now become one of my favorite fish.