10 gal with Khuli Loaches?

[alexjmore]

Hi friends!

I'm a newbie. Literally have never kept fish aside from a tank we had in my home as a child. I have a lil 10 gal aquarium with a female betta, some ghost shrimp, a mystery snail, and a blonde African dwarf frog. I'm seeing a lot of differing opinions on whether it's okay to keep khuli loaches in a 10gal tank. Even on the Aquarium Co-op blog, I'm seeing opposing opinions! In the Khuli Loach Care article, it says 20gal minimum, but in the Top 10 Fish for a 10gal Tank article it lists khuli's as #4. I'd love to have 2 or 3 in my 10gal as I love them, but I obviously also want them to be happy and healthy. It's a planted tank with lots of hidey holes and my female betta is curious but not aggressive. I have a tiny studio apartment, so I don't have room for a bigger tank, unfortunately. (MAYBE a 15gal if I could find one.)

[anewbie]

A 10 is a bit small as it doesn't provide much room for them to swim; they do better in a 20 long or 29. There is a smaller kuhli like loach call shelfordi (pangio shelfordii) that works better in a 10. If you do get them they prefer very soft substrate (as do kuhli); for digging.

Edited January 24 by anewbie

[alexjmore]

@anewbie Thanks! Sounds like I need to temporarily give up on my khuli loach dreams. I'll settle for enjoying them at my local aquarium shop. I think I'll get some panda cory's instead. 🙂

[Lots Of Loaches]

I currently have 4 Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Kuhli) in  a 10 gallon with a male Betta for company. The tank is heavily planted and they are doing great. I've had the tank running for over 3 years without any problems. I also have another 10 gallon that I was given by a coworker getting out of the hobby (her kids lost interest). It contained 3 Black Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Oblonga), 1 Red Eye Tetra, 1 Glow Tetra and a Siamese Algae Eater. Before I could make a decision which of my tanks to put them in and quarantine more Red Eye Tetras, the Kuhli Loaches decided to give me about (I forget the exact number) 50 babies. I think they were pretty happy in their tank considering they decided to breed.  

 

I'm not a Kuhli expert but I don't believe mine are unhappy with the footprint of a ten gallon. Everyone experiences different results in this hobby so make your decision based on your best educated guess. Good luck with your tank!

[anewbie]

On 1/24/2024 at 2:58 PM, Lots Of Loaches said:

I currently have 4 Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Kuhli) in  a 10 gallon with a male Betta for company. The tank is heavily planted and they are doing great. I've had the tank running for over 3 years without any problems. I also have another 10 gallon that I was given by a coworker getting out of the hobby (her kids lost interest). It contained 3 Black Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Oblonga), 1 Red Eye Tetra, 1 Glow Tetra and a Siamese Algae Eater. Before I could make a decision which of my tanks to put them in and quarantine more Red Eye Tetras, the Kuhli Loaches decided to give me about (I forget the exact number) 50 babies. I think they were pretty happy in their tank considering they decided to breed.  

 

I'm not a Kuhli expert but I don't believe mine are unhappy with the footprint of a ten gallon. Everyone experiences different results in this hobby so make your decision based on your best educated guess. Good luck with your tank!

You keep an SAE in a 10 gallon aquarium? You do realize as an adult this is a 5+ inch fish.

[knee]

There's also another small loach called the Rosy Loach. They max out at 1-1.5" and are super fun to watch. They swim on the mid and bottom level of the tank and prefer to be ingroups of 6 or more. I would personally put them in a 20 long or bigger but they're a small loach and if the tank is planted heavily it could work.

[Tony s]

My daughter has 5 in a fluval flex 15. They spend most of their time hiding. Either in their cave or behind the filter divider. Even at night they’re not very active. So 10g should be fine. They have a small bio load. So tank parameters will be okay. 

[macdaddy36]

On 1/24/2024 at 4:36 PM, anewbie said:

You keep an SAE in a 10 gallon aquarium? You do realize as an adult this is a 5+ inch fish.

@Lots Of Loaches correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you meant the 10 gallon you got from your co-worker had a SAE which you put into another one of your tanks?

I had Kuhli Loaches in a 10 gallon for around 2 months. The had lived in my 20 gal for 1.5 years and then I moved them to the 10 gal in attempt to get them to be less shy and after a couple months the Apistos got aggressive so I moved them back. 

If the other fish had not caused a problem, it probably would have been fine. They are pretty large for a 10 gallon but they hide a lot and don't move much during the day. Rather than focusing on tank size, make sure to give them lots of cover in the form of logs, caves, rocks, plants, and other decor because that's probably where they feel comfortable and spend a lot of their time. Even now that I have them back in the 20 gallon they spend all their time in only 1/3 of the tank where I have lots of wood and a pile of rocks.

Edited January 25 by macdaddy36

[anewbie]

On 1/24/2024 at 7:18 PM, macdaddy36 said:

@Lots Of Loaches correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you meant the 10 gallon you got from your co-worker had a SAE which you put into another one of your tanks?

I had Kuhli Loaches in a 10 gallon for around 2 months. The had lived in my 20 gal for 1.5 years and then I moved them to the 10 gal in attempt to get them to be less shy and after a couple months the Apistos got aggressive so I moved them back. 

If the other fish had not caused a problem, it probably would have been fine. They are pretty large for a 10 gallon but they hide a lot and don't move much during the day. Rather than focusing on tank size, make sure to give them lots of cover in the form of logs, caves, rocks, plants, and other decor because that's probably where they feel comfortable and spend a lot of their time. Even now that I have them back in the 20 gallon they spend all their time in only 1/3 of the tank where I have lots of wood and a pile of rocks.

Do you watch them glass surf at night? They should be swimming the quite a bit when the lights go out - esp early morning around 2am.

 

[Lots Of Loaches]

On 1/24/2024 at 3:36 PM, anewbie said:

You keep an SAE in a 10 gallon aquarium? You do realize as an adult this is a 5+ inch fish.

Yes, I am aware of how big SAE get. I didn't put the fish in the tank or keep it in there once I got it. It came to me that way from my coworker who was getting out of the hobby. I rehomed him with my LFS within days of getting him.

 

 

[Lots Of Loaches]

On 1/24/2024 at 8:43 PM, anewbie said:

Do you watch them glass surf at night? They should be swimming the quite a bit when the lights go out - esp early morning around 2am.

 

The funny thing is that none of the Kuhli loaches that I keep in my 10 gallon ever glass surf.  However, the ones I have in the 40L are out all the time (not just at night when the lights are out) swimming around and glass surfing on occasion. In over 40 years of keeping fish, I've learned that fish do what they want, when they want and no two fish of the same type have to act the same. Getting different results than what is the accepted "normal" happens all the time. That's what makes this hobby so much fun.

[macdaddy36]

On 1/24/2024 at 9:43 PM, anewbie said:

Do you watch them glass surf at night? They should be swimming the quite a bit when the lights go out - esp early morning around 2am.

 

Yes, they go crazy at night. I can see the silhouette of them swimming on my wall at night because there is a tiny light on the heater.