Thread: Khuli Loach

Khuli Loach

Ancanthophthalmus Kuhlii

The Kuhli loach, also commonly known as 'Coolie loach', comes from the Tropical waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Java and surrounding areas. The fish is eel shaped. Its body colorings are a kind of salmon-pink/yellow with dark brown to black stripes that half circles the body. The stomach is a sort of a whitish colour. The eyes are set in one of the stripes and therefore not easily seen. The mouth is set at a downward angle and with 3 pairs of bushy barbels adorning it; it looks like it has an obstinate little moustache. Its fins are translucent.

This rather pretty little loach is fairly easy to care for in the home aquarium, needing water that is medium-soft to medium and pH around 6.0 to 7.0. It has been known, however, for them to adapt to most water conditions. Its region in the tank is the bottom where it browses for food. The temperature should be 75 - 85 F (24 - 29 C).

The kuhli loach has an advantage over most of the other loaches kept in aquariums, inasmuch as it never grows too large, growing around 8-11 cm (3-5 in) in length. Also their bioload is very small for a loach. Be sure to keep the tank covered properly at all times as it can squeeze out of quite small places. The minimum tank size required for the kuhli is 10 gallons (37 liters).

They also prefer sand for substrate but if sand is not appropriate, smooth stones should be used so that the loach won't scratch its body on gravel or stones. Sharp edged decorations also woud not be a good idea, with their habit of squeezing into tight places they could get badly scratched.

Kuhli loaches are peaceful fish and prefer to be kept in schools of 3 or more. Because of this fishes beauty, many hobbiest get them straight after the nitrogen cycle has completed. It is, however, not advised to get them for the new aquarium as they are affected by sudden water changes. It is best recommended to wait a month before introducing them to the aquarium.

Many fish can be kept as tank mates with these fish as long as precaution is taken not to include fish that are able to take them for a bite of food. In other words, don't keep fish that are big enough to eat them. They scavenge for food mainly at dusk or in the dark as they are nocturnal, and spend most of their time hiding in the substrate, plants and decorations during the day. But with time most of them readily learn to eat during the day time. Being scavengers they eat most fish food, however sinking food pellets are preferred as well as live foods, for instance; bloodworms and brineshrimp. It is recommended to feed them either, just before the lights are turned off for the night or after the lights have been off for a while. Dont switch on the lights during the process it may scare the fish back into hiding. This is sometimes done with a flashlight when a curious hobbiest wants to see whats going on when its dark inside the tank, but NEVER shine a flashlight into the tank after the lights have been off for a few hours! It will put the other fish and maybe the kuhli loach into a state of shock!

There are no specific common diseases that can affect the kuhli loach. It may get affected by any disease or if you do every thing correctly, it will not get any disease at all. Like other scale less fish, it is affected a lot from medications that treat diseases like ich, so with a scale less fish, the best thing to do is just increase the temperature. The tank water should be kept clean at all times. That way it lessens any chance of poor health and enables your fish to stay strong and healthy. The life span of kuhli loaches is approximately 10 years, but longer has been recorded.

Kuhli loaches are mostly bred in their native areas as they are very much available most of the time. Breeding in the home aquarium can be difficult. The eggs are stuck to roots, buried beneath the surface of the substrate. Females are plumper when ready to breed. This is the only way to identify the sexes. Most breeding is done accidentally when many kuhli loaches are put in a tank together and they breed by themselves. If you want to try and breed them, the best way is to get a bunch of them in a tank with an undergravel filter. Leave the kuhli loaches by themselves without any other fish for a few weeks, while still doing regular maintenance.
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Thai Freshwater Fish