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Kuhli Loach Care and Feeding with Easy Ways

By Aquabase | Last Updated Feb 4, 2019

This post contains affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you purchase something mentioned in this post. See more details here.
Kuhli Loach

Many people get interested in having an aquarium in which they can keep any types of fish inside. Many fishes can be put in a fish tank, one of them is kuhli loach that is one of the exotic freshwater fish.

What is Kuhli Loach?

Kuhli loach also commonly known as Coolie loach and also called by Pangio kuhli. These types of eels are usually found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Although this kind of fish species has the similar look with eel, actually it is a kind of part for loach family variety. Actually, there are many types of species of fish that are under the name of kuhli loach, but the most found is Pangio. In the wild area, This snake-like creature is very slender and nocturnal, usually lives in the slow stream that follows the river with the soft kinds of muddy bottoms. It is not traditionally as the schooling fish, but they have naturally formed to the group larger interactions.

Kuhli Loaches in Aquarium

They are usually growing in the small of house aquarium. It is growing just in the small size in which the average size is about three inches but there are some of those that grow larger that can grow about four inches, but these kinds of fish are rarely found because the most common size for kuhli loach is only three inches. For those of you who are this kind of fish well, and also correctly give the food, they are able to live longer at your house aquarium, it can stay live longer about 10 years. For that, you need to prepare any kinds of purchase that can stay longer commitment. It also gives the fun and comical behavior to the owners.

Housing Kuhli Loaches

As the owners, you really need to do the housing for your kuhli loaches. Since it is not such kind of demanding fish that need about 20 gallons of water to be able to thrive, you can attempt them in a small fish tank in which the group of fish will stay growing well in the place that is less than 20 gallons. Therefore, kuhli loach can be categorized as fish for small tanks. Important to be noted by you this species of fish needs to be kept in groups because kuhli loaches is categorized as a social fish. So if you do not keep them in a group with the enough number, they will get stressed.

If it gets stressed, they will live by hiding permanently. For that, you need to keep them live at least in the five numbers. If you are possible, you have to keep them live in the larger number of group in which they are able to exhibit in larger to be natural and playful more between the kuhli loaches.

kuhli loaches

How to keep Kuhli Loaches?

To care this pangio species well, you are also important to note that to do the setting of the aquarium for kuhli loach, this is aimed to avoid and reduce the stress. To do this, you can add such kind of substrate to be applied as like sand. Playing sand can be more attractive this species. Besides, it is also cheap and clean to buy. When you have firstly applied the substrate, it usually will disappear for a period of time in which you do not need to worry because it just needs the time to burrow and hide in the plants where they can be more comfortable.

You need to ensure that you make such a numerous of the cave so that kuhli loach can play and hide. Besides, you also can add the plenty kinds of plant that can be living plant or fake plant. Those caves play the important role in which they can hide safely when they get threatened.

After you are ready to choose the substrate to be applied, do not forget that you also need to pick the right filter. You can choose the hang on back filter or another filtration system like the internal and external filter. Besides, you also can choose any kinds of a canister filter such Marineland Emperor 400, but usually, it is priced more expensive. The important think you must be considered on the filter is that have a cover on their intake.

Choosing Marineland Emperor 400 power filter for the tank with kuhli loaches inside could probably be one of the options and also recommended for you because it came with a cover intake and designed with the excellent filtration that can keep the filter sparkling some years. You can read the detail of Marineland Emperor 400 here.

This is really important for you to use the right filter because it can cover the fish intake. They are usually swimming up on uncovered filter intakes then will be trapped in the filter. Because that, they may be killed by the filter.

Another type of Kuhli Loach

black kuhli loach
Black kuhli loach
Calico Kuhli Loach
Calico Kuhli Loach

Kuhli loach tank mates

You may put some fishes on your tank where kuhli loach inside. But you have to put the kuhli loaches because they feel more comfortable in a group of 4-5 or more fishes. If there are more species in the tank, they are shy fish and only come out at night. The fish is peaceful, very compatible with other fishes of similar size like tetras, bettas, and some freshwater shrimps like red cherry shrimp or crystal red shrimp. They are also very helpful in the process of cleaning the water in a tank, as they take the leftovers which are contained below an aquarium.

Sex differences

Females are thicker than male that can be seen from above, also has eggs in her body. Besides that, you can see a greenish elongated spot on her abdomen. Males have more a muscular, and more upper cross-section and their pectoral fins larger with thickened and branched, and often have some pigment in them. But when breeding, the females usually become bigger than the male and their greenish ovaries can be seen through the skin before spawning.

Feeding kuhli loach

Besides giving the aquarium with the best fish tank filter, you also need to feed for kuhli loaches. Since it is such kind of scavenger in the wild, they usually will eat anything that reaches the bottom that you offer to them at the aquarium. But still need more time to adjust the food that you give to them because they usually feed at night. When you supply the food for the first time, they will just let it because they need few weeks to adjust to the food given and after that, they will surely come out when the feeding time. You can also use the automatic fish feeder to regulate the feeding of fish.

It is important for you to do the healthy diet for kuhli loach. You can do the healthy diet by giving the best quality for the flake of pellet for food. Besides, you also can combine for the kind of frozen food with the occasional herbivore food pellets. Just make sure that the pallet that you give can down to the bottom of the aquarium. For the frozen food, they favorite usually is bloodworms, davina, and also black worms. Avoid the thing as like mosquito larvae because it can disturb them when eating.

In addition, you need to give the best for the good of kuhli loaches. You must always concentrate in conditioning the fish. You have to always pristine for the water inside and for the fish; you always need to give the best quality for the pellets and other kinds of food so that it can provide to them the good quality of diet as like the frozen food is recommended for you. Besides, you must also keep the water temperature in which the kuhli loach can adjust and live well as the best freshwater fish an aquarium.

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