Loaches Online Forum

Hi Everybody,

I really appreciate the help on my past thread!

I picked up 12 Kuhlies a couple of days ago. Not sure what they are, but 1 is definitely a myersi.

Anyway, I have a planted aquarium that is their new home. Here is a pic of it:




The substrate is Fluorite Black which is a plant type gravel. Here's a pic:



The substrate is mostly covered with this super thick UG (utricularia graminifolia):






It has grown in more since the pic. They cannot quite crawl around in it like you might think--it's some
pretty thick stuff.


So, after all of that What I am wondering about is a decent size container of sand to offer the kuhlies?
There's currently 12 and I may get up to 12 more.

I can use white play type sand or Fluorite Black Sand....I may even have some Tahitian Moon Sand around here
somewhere.

What I am thinking of using is just one of the cheap disposable type "tupperware" containers. They come in all shapes
and sizes these days.

I assume that it really doesn't need to be deep (1"-2"), but what kind of area would I need to make most of them
content...most of the time?

They have plenty of places to hide...so, is this even worth really considering?

Thanx!

I would think their burrowing instinct would be satisfied by swimming under the plants that are open enough to permit this, but closed in enough to give them the secure feeling of being under cover.
I am not sure how much swimming under the substrate my various Loaches actually do vs digging under and stopping when they are buried.
When I have had to remove them from a tank they are entirely capable of swimming under the planting media the full length of the tank. I just had to rescue Dojos from a leaking tank- I had to sift through all the substrate to find the last one! I have had similar experiences with Kuhlie Loaches, and there are one or two in a couple of tanks that have not yet been caught when I moved their buddies to another tank.

Anyway: What size/shape for a dozen Kuhlies? I would suggest something fairly long, so if they want to swim under the sand they can, but as you think, not too deep. Anything deeper than 2" can get anaerobic. How about 6" x 12" x 2", filled 1.5" with sand?
Metric: 15cm x 30 cm x 5 cm with 3 cm of sand.

Like you I have a planted tank with sand substrate. I have never seen my kuhlis bury into the substrate. I would expect that they only do this when panicked. I am watching four of mine contentedly looking for food among my Cryptocoryne as I write this. I have some rock piles and a lot of driftwood that they hide in/under when disturbed, but for the most part they are out and about among the plants.
The sand I have is pool filter sand. All my loaches and corys seem to like that as a substrate. It is also easy to care for - I can even siphon it without sucking anything up. And I like the colour of it. I have a bit of gravel mixed in for a bit of structure, and some of the loaches seem to enjoy turning over rocks looking for morsels of food.

Thanx to both of you! My only real consideration was trying to provide them with the "contact security" that they may want/need. No doubt that they can get that fron the UG....and I don't doubt that they will find a way to tunnel through it if that's what they want to do....so I think everything will be good as is for now.

All-n-all I think they are settling well. I'll give it some time and then start looking for some more.....

Many Thanx!

That's a beautiful tank, Naja.

I don't think they're missing anything without the sand.