Loaches Online Forum

Hi,
I was wondering if I could put a small kuhli loach in with my clown loaches. My loaches are between 2 3/4" and 3 1/2". Would they try and eat one thats 2" or smaller? If I only buy one will I ever see it out and about? I have lots of hiding places in my 55G tank. Do you think my clowns would addopt it into thier group? How big do they get? I don't know much about them. Are they jumpers?
Thanks so much!
Red_Arokh

I currently have black kuhlis in with my 4 inch yo yo loaches and 3 inch clown loaches without a problem. Since black kuhlis are more outgoing they are constantly out and about.

However, you do need to add more than one kuhli loach. They need to have several others with them.

Here's a shot of them when they were smaller....

My only suggestions would be to A. get more than one kuhli - like clowns they are social and they like to have company, and B. quarantine them before you add them to your loach tank.

Kuhlis (as we see here routinely) are notorious for needing time to acclimitize and even then, they may be imported with invisible nasties, infections, disease, or parasites. Quarantine is a very good - read that "necessary" - option for all loaches.

Kuhlis also respond very poorly to many of the treatment options if they do arrive with a problem or if they arrive with Ich.

But as far as compatibility goes, Botiine loaches like clowns will ignore kuhlis, IME, and kuhlis are like little tanks once they're established - they don't care what happens.

Thanks for the input. Would small kuhli loaches and yo yo loaches be ok with cory cats for the quarantine period? Didn't know it was that risky! I wouldn't want anything to happen to my loachies! I love them to much. How long is a good quarantine period? Two weeks? Four weeks? How many of the kuhlies should I get? I have a 55G tank with three clown loaches in it. I have giant dannios and tiger barbs but I think I am going to trade them for angel fish.
Red_Arokh

I currently have a batch of 10 kuhlis I bought on line that are in a Q tank and have been for over two weeks now. They were in the store over 10 days before they were shipped to me so I consider these pretty safe but they'll stay in the tank about 10 days more.

Wendie has been lucky here. Honestly, quarantine them on their own. Don't try to do it with fish from different import bags, even loaches from different tanks in the same store.

Red: quarantine means on their own, not with other fish. You will learn why if you make the mistake of mixing them. A Q-tank is easy to set up, fairly cheap, and you can take it down when it's not needed.

A bare ten gallon tank with any old filter system running and some small amount of cover is good for quarantining kuhlis. It'll cost you $50, maybe, but you'll have healthy fish and you won't wreck your community tank. As your hobby grows, you'll thank your stars for the small Q-tank.

If you use the Aquaclear HOB filter for a 10 gallon Q-tank, you can keep the bacteria alive by transferring the sponge to a larger filter in a larger tank when the Q-tank is not in use.

Mark's right about the quarentine. If your kuhlies are sick, you risk losing everything in the tank, if you don't.