Food
Black Kuhli Loaches are omnivores, but their diet requires a reasonable amount of animal based food. My Kuhlis seem to particularly like frozen blood worms (so do many fish). I also give them frozen brine shrimp once a week. They will also eat normal fish foods like flakes.
They are bottom feeders and only eat what falls to the bottom.
Nocturnal
Tylomelania species orange poso.
Black Kuhlis are partially nocturnal. Combined with this they will burrow into the substrate and are good at hiding in the plants, so you may not see them much. They are difficult to catch.
The Kuhli Loach, Pangio kuhlii, is a small eel like fish. It comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Other names include Coolie Loach, which is a clear miss-spelling of Kuhli; both these words are pronounced in the same way. It is also called “Prickle Eye” because it has a prickle near its eye. This prickle probably gives this fish some protection from predators.
Length and Longevity
The Kuhli loach will supposedly grow up to 12 centimetres (4 and a half inches) long, but I have never seen one this big. Most of the ones available are much smaller than this. One of the reasons for this variation is that there are several subspecies of Pangio kuhlii, and the size they grow to varies a lot.
They have been reported as living up to 10 years.
Water Conditions
The Kuhli Loach is an equatorial fish; the main areas it is from are a little to the south of the Equator. It needs warm water, and a temperature of between 24 and 30 degrees C (between 75 and 86 degrees F) is suitable. They can survive a slightly higher or lower temperature than this range, but I do not recommend it.
In the wild this fish is mainly found in slowly flowing streams with a sandy bottom with a layer of organic matter from the surrounding forests in many places on the stream bed. The water in these streams tends to have a fairly low mineral content and to be soft and acidic. There are plants growing in sections of these streams.
In an aquarium they will adapt to a moderate hardness and can certainly take a hardness of up to 10 dH. A pH of up to 7.5 is generally tolerated. The water needs to be reasonably clean in the sense of not having a large build up of fish wastes.
Substrate
In an aquarium you should avoid any sharp substrates and fine river sand is the normal choice. I have also had success with using large (6mm or more) rounded pebbles.
These fish not only search the surface of the sand for food, they will go right into it. I have seen them dive straight into the sand to avoid being caught. With larger pebbles they will go between the pebbles looking for food.
Plants
These fish seem to like densely planted aquariums. Including some floating plants is also a good idea.
Food
Kuhli loaches are omnivores with a requirement for some animal based food. They will certainly eat flakes and pellets. One of their favourite foods is frozen bloodworms. They also like frozen brine shrimp.
Neritina natalensis – Nerite Zebra
This is a bottom feeding fish, so it is necessary for some of the food to reach the bottom.
Catching
The Kuhli Loach has the distinction of being the most difficult fish to catch in a planted aquarium. It is closely followed in this by the Black Kuhli Loach.
Companions
Although the Kuhli loach in not a schooling fish in the normal sense, they seem to need company. A single Kuhli may be able to, live all right in a tank, but will tend to be hidden nearly all the time during the day. A group of perhaps eight of these interesting fish will behave quite differently and are much more likely to come out and show themselves during the day.
This is a small peaceful fish, and is a suitable inhabitant for a community aquarium of small peaceful fish.
Sexing
Most of the time there is not a big difference in appearance between the sexes, but the male is more muscular in the front part of his body. The male also have larger pectoral fins with more black on them than the females.
When they are ready to breed the gender becomes more obvious with their lower body becoming distinctly fatter with greenish coloured eggs visible.
These fish probably reach sexual maturity at about 2 years old.
Breeding in the Wild
The wild Kuhli Loaches usually breed in December and January. In the areas they come from, the wettest three months are December, January and February, so they breed in the early part of the wet season when the water level is rising. They apparently breed in very shallow water, in areas which are dry part of the year. Some of the breeding areas would not even be part of the stream bed, but would be normally a forest area. Neritina pulligera – Military Helmet These flooded forests would have a large amount of food both for the adults and for their babies. The breeding appears to be communal with a group of Kuhlis taking part rather than just one pair.
This fish is not threatened in the wild so they must be breeding successfully.
Breeding in Aquariums
There are many reports of this fish breeding in aquariums, but nearly all of these are of accidents rather than planned breeding. Most of these reports involve community aquariums.
Although I have yet to see a well documented account of this fish breeding when this was planned, there are a number of bits of information which can be pieced together.
Weather Predicting
This fish will react when it is about to rain. It is in the same family as the famous weather loach whose rain predicting abilities appears to rival the most advanced meteorological techniques. Both the weather Loach and the Kuhli loach will swim wildly as if they are ready to spawn when rain is coming. It is generally believed that they are reacting to a change in air pressure. Of course we should remember that our Kuhli Loaches are kept inside in an aquarium heated to a constant temperature, and that the pressure they are subjected to includes the pressure caused by the depth of the water in the aquarium. This depth may vary from time to time.
I wonder if we are underestimating these fish. The change in air pressure is not the only thing that happens before rain. The rain in the areas they come from will be largely accompanied by electrical storms and the atmosphere before thunder storms has a different proportion of negative to positive ions from normal. Humans can feel the effects of this. Possibly this is also used by fish in predicting weather.
Conditioning
To breed it is obvious that the fish will need to be well fed so they have enough nutrition to grow the eggs and sperm. Meaty foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc will be helpful in this.
Stimulating Spawning
It appears that conditions simulating those at the start of the rainy season in their native habitat are likely to encourage spawning. These conditions will include an increase in water level by the addition of pure water. This will reduce the hardness of the water. A reduction in the water temperature of 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) may also help.
Spawning
The Reticulate Loach, Botia lohachata is also called the Reticulated Loach, The Yoyo Loach, The Y-Loach and The Pakistani Loach. It is similar to Botia almorhae, and shares several common names with that fish.
Origin
The Reticulate Loach is native to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Length and Longevity
The Reticulate Loach can reach 11 centimetres (4 inches) in length although exceptional individuals can be bigger than this. It has been reported as living up to 20 years.
Water Conditions
This is a mostly tropical fish although its range includes some cooler areas. A temperature in the aquarium of between 19 and 30 degrees C (between 66 and 86 degrees F) is suitable for this fish. In some parts of its range water temperatures can get lower than this. Kirysek panda – Corydoras panda
Reasonably soft water with a pH between 6 and 7.5 is ideal, but they can be acclimatized to water outside this pH range with moderate hardness. Reticulate Loaches prefer clean, well oxygenated water, and usually do better if there is no more than a moderate current in the tank; in nature they are usually found either in still water or in slowly flowing water rather than raging torrents.
A well planted tank will make this fish act as if it feels more secure. This is a reasonably big fish which needs the company of its own kind, so it is very unsuitable for a small aquarium.
By nature they are partially nocturnal, but they adapt quickly to being active and eating during the day time. By having plenty of plants, including some floating ones the lower part of the aquarium will be in the subdued light that this fish prefers.
Substrate
Reticulate Loaches have four pairs of barbels. These can be damaged by the substrate of the aquarium, so the sand or gravel should not be sharp. Loaches have no obvious scales (although they do have some small scales) and are sometimes referred to as being ‘naked’ fish.
Hiding Places
These fish like to be able to hide and will get into small spaces, so you should also avoid any sharp edges on ornaments or stones in the tank. They like a hiding place that they will just fit into, so there should be a lot of different small caves etc. so they can choose a suitable one as they grow. Reticulate Loaches generally do not like large open caves that might suit Clown Loaches.
Food
The Reticulate Loach is an omnivore with a preference for animal food. They will eat any normal fish food that sinks. Most of their feeding is at the bottom of the tank, but they are capable of eating in mid water. They occasionally also feed at the surface of the water. Frozen Blood Worms are a good food, but their diet should be varied as much as possible. Live food including Daphnia and Brine Shrimp are good. In the wild their food includes snails, worms and small fish.
They will eat slices of vegetables such as cucumber, if these are weighted down so they stay on the bottom.
Snails
The Reticulate Loach, like many of its relatives, will eat some of the common aquarium types of snail. This fish is sometimes purchased mainly to get rid of an infestation of snails in an aquarium.
Scavenger?
The Reticulate Loach is sometimes kept as a scavenger. As with any fish, you need to make sure it is getting enough of the right type of food, and you cannot rely on food missed by the other fish. It will not eat fish wastes.
Frequency
It is better for this fish to have a small amount of food several times a day rather than a lot of food once a day.
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever is a serious disease affecting Humans and their domestic animals, as well as wild animals. The intermediate host of the parasite which causes this disease is one of a number of species of freshwater snails. One way of breaking the life cycle of this debilitating disease is to control the water snails. The snail eating Reticulate Loach is one of many natural controls on the freshwater snail population and plays its part in controlling the disease. Fantom czarny (Barwieniec czarny)
Sound
The Reticulate Loach can make a clicking sound. This may be produced by forcing air through the gills and may be connected with feeding on the surface of the water; an alternative explanation of the noise is that it is produced by specialized teeth in the throat of this fish that appear to aid in the extraction of snails from their shells.
Air Breathing
Although the ideal conditions include well oxygenated water, this fish has the ability to take in air and force it over their gills so they can absorb Oxygen from the atmosphere when they are in Oxygen deficient water.
Spines
Reticulate Loaches have sharp spines near their eyes. These are used in a defensive manner, and care should be taken to avoid getting your skin pricked, or a plastic bag used for carrying the fish punctured.
Resting
This fish will sometimes rest on its side. This behaviour is normal for Reticulate Loaches and some of its relatives and does not indicate any problem with the fish.
Companions
Reticulate Loaches are compatible with a wide range of fish. I would avoid putting them with slow moving, long finned fish because some people have reported that they can nip the fins of these fish. They are an active, semi-aggressive, fish which can disturb nervous fish. However, when it is young it is a suitable companion for all the tetras, all the rasboras and many other fish. A mature Reticulate Loach is a bigger fish than many of the tetras, so you certainly should not expect them to be a suitable companion for the smaller tetras like the Neon Tetra and its relatives; especially remembering that in the wild their diet includes small fish.
The Reticulate Loach is not a schooling fish, but it does much better in a group of at least 5 fish. They also appear to be less aggressive in a group than as a single fish.
The natural food of this fish includes snails and shrimp, so it is not a safe companion for freshwater shrimp. Nymphaea lotus
Intelligence
Observations suggest that the Reticulate Loach is one of the more intelligent aquarium fish. They have been reported to be able to recognise people as individuals rather than just as people.
Sexing
When they are mature, the females are fatter than the males, and when loaded with eggs can be very fat. The slimmer males may have some red near their mouth.
Breeding
This fish has very rarely been bred in a home aquarium.
A report suggests that spawning has occurred with a pair conditioned on mainly vegetable food. The spawning happened at the water surface with a temperature of 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), a hardness of 11 degrees and a pH of 7. The female laid between three and five thousand eggs of about 2 to 2.5 mm diameter.
The eggs hatched in 16-18 hours.
The care of the fry was reported as being easy and they reached between 1 and 1.5 cm in length after one month.
Commercial Breeding
The Reticulate Loach is bred on a large scale commercially by the injection of hormones. This is done in Florida and other places.
Breeding in the Wild
They scatter their eggs over the bottom of the waterway they are in. Spawning appears to be done in pairs rather than in a group. The parents do not look after their babies. The babies grow during the wet season.
Common Names
In English the common names of the Reticulate Loach include Reticulated loach, Yoyo Loach, Y-Loach, Painted Loach and Pakistani Loach. The names “Y-Loach” and “Yoyo Loach” refer to the pattern of stripes on young fish of this species. At different stages of growth the pattern can look like a series of y’s, and then later like the word ‘yoyo’. When they are older they get the full net pattern which gives rise to the name “Reticulate Loach”. The actual pattern on different individuals varies considerably. Eleocharis Acicularis – Ponikło igłowate
Scientific Name
The accepted name for this fish is Botia lohachata (Chaudhuri, 1912). This is the only scientific name that has correctly been applied to this fish, but there is considerable confusion between Botia almorhae and Botia lohachata among aquarists. These two fish are similar in appearance and the information in this fact sheet about keeping them could be applied to either species.
Differences between Botia lohachata and Botia almorhae
The native range of these two species is different, but overlaps. While Botia lohachata comes from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Botia almorhae comes from India, Nepal, Myanmar and maybe Pakistan.
Botia almorha grows a little larger than Botia lohachata, but this difference could only be applied to full grown specimens, or to populations.
A Botia almorhae is generally wider than a Botia lohachata of the same length.
Conservation Status
Botia lohachata has not been evaluated by the UICN Redlist, but there is no reason to think it is an endangered fish.
Botia almorhae has been evaluated as being a species of least concern.
Pest Fish
Although I am not aware of this fish becoming a problem in ecosystems it is not native to, the normal precautions should be observed to make sure it cannot get into waterways it is not native to. The Reticulate Loach was introduced into the Philippines in 1991, but I don’t know if it has become established there.
Steve Challis
This fish seems more likely to breed if there are a good sized group of them. The female can lay up to 400 eggs. They are strongly adhesive, and stick to plants, including floating ones.
Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen
The eggs hatch in about 24 hours. The babies are about 7 millimetres long after hatching. In many cases the fry have succeeded in growing on the food present in a community tank.
Common Names
Common names for this fish in English include ‘Kuhli Loach”, “Coolie Loach”, “Giant coolie loach”, “Leopard loach”, “Slimy loach”, and “Slimy myersi”.
In French, it ii called “Kuhli” or “Loche coolie”, or “Loche léopard" or “Loche svelte” or “Serpent d'eau”.
Scientific Name
The accepted name is “Pangio kuhlii” (Valenciennes, 1846).
Companions
Although they cannot be described as a schooling fish, they seem to do better in groups; the larger the better.
Rotala rotundifolia – Rotala okrągłolistna
They are peaceful fish and can be kept with other small peaceful fish. They are a good inhabitant for a well planted community tank of at least 50 litres (13 US gallons).
Sexing
When in breeding condition the females become distinctly fatter than the males.
Breeding in the Wild
It is believed that in the wild this fish breeds in flooded forests. The forest floor may well have much organic debris from the trees and the baby loaches probably grow amongst these; feeding on the rich animal and vegetable food which would grows in this environment.
Breeding in an Aquarium
This has been done, and under sources there is a link to Richard Bias’s account of his success. It appears to be an unusual feat and not much information is available.
I suggest that two likely requirements for success are excellent feeding including rich foods like blood worms, and a substrate that will allow the babies to live and feed in.
Although the known single example of successful breeding in aquariums is not enough to make firm conclusions, it suggests that breeding in a community tank is not impossible.
In the wild this fish is not threatened and seems to be able to reproduce itself very well. I suggest that the rarity of breeding success in aquariums could be due to the likelihood of the conditions in the wild that stimulate breeding being quite different from those that the adults normally live in.
Common Names
In English, the “Black Kuhli Loach” is also called the “Java Loach” and the “Pangia Coolie-loach”. I have to say that none of these three common names are particularly good. The first one could suggest that it is a colour variety of the Khuhi Loach, the second could suggests that it in confined to Java while in fact it is a widely distributed species, while the third does not really distinguish it from the Kuhli Loach.
Scientific name
The accepted scientific name is “Pangio oblonga” (Valenciennes, 1846).
The Bronze Catfish, Corydoras aeneus, is probably the most popular of all the aquarium catfish. It comes from South America from both tropical and subtropical areas, and in the south its range extends into warm temperate areas.
The countries it is native to are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. It has been introduced to Hawaii and possibly to other places.
Size
The Bronze Catfish will grow to about 5 centimetres (2 inches) long. The females get bigger than the males. They can live for up to 10 years.
Water Conditions
In the wild the bronze Catfish lives in soft, slightly acidic water conditions both in still and moving water. In captivity it has adapted to a surprisingly large variety of conditions. I have even heard of them living apparently healthily with a pH of 8.5. I certainly would not recommend this. At high pH levels, ammonia becomes very poisonous. Generally I would suggest a pH range of between 6.2 and 7.5.
They can also adapt to a range of hardness, and can take up to about 25 degrees of general hardness. However, Bronze Catfish are intolerant of high levels of salt. 600 parts per million does not seem to worry them, but beware of letting the salt level get too high. I suggest a minimum aquarium size of 60 centimetres (2 feet) long, and a minimum volume of 40 litres (10 gallons).
Cleanliness
Bronze Catfish are sensitive to the types of pollutants that can build up in aquariums like ammonia, nitrite and high levels of bacteria. Regular partial water changes are recommended for this, and for other fish.
Temperature
The normally recommended temperature for the Bronze Catfish is between 22 and 28 degrees C (between 72 and 82 degrees F). However, my experience with this fish indicates that they have quite a wide range of temperature tolerance. This is not surprising when the wide range of places it is native to is considered. The Bronze Catfish can by found as far south as Buenos Aires. The climate of this part of Argentina is warm temperate, not sub tropical. In fact my experience suggests that you are more likely to have trouble at high temperatures like 28 degrees C than you are at low temperatures like 18 degrees C. The Bronze Catfish also seems to be better able to survive rapid drops in temperature than most tropical fish.
Breathing
The Bronze Catfish, in common with the others in its genus, can breathe air as well as water. You will often see them darting to the surface and going straight down again. When they do this they have taken in a gulp of air. The Oxygen is adsorbed by the fish’s intestine. In well Oxygenated water they only do this infrequently, but when the Oxygen level starts to get low, they each may be darting up as often as once every one and a half minutes. If this is happening it is an indication that the aquarium water is short of Oxygen. This needs to be fixed quickly.
If the tank is well oxygenated, the bronze Catfish gets a gulp of air between 1 and 3 times an hour. This is necessary to move the food through its lower intestine.
Food
The Bronze Catfish is an omnivore. In the wild, just as in the aquarium, it eats both animal and plant material. However, the digestive tract of this fish is quite short compared with the size of the fish. Also the back part of the intestine is modified to absorb Oxygen. This means that this fish is not able to extract as much nutriment from plant material as fish like the Bristlenose Catfish or the Molly.
So a reasonable amount of animal based food is necessary for Bronze Catfish. In the wild this will consist of things like small worms, crustaceans, and insect larvae. This can be mimicked fairly easily in an aquarium by feeding your fish the occasional serve of Daphnia as well as frozen or live Bloodworms, Brine shrimp etc.
Good quality sinking pellets are a useful food for your Corydoras Catfish. Make sure they have a variety of food. Algae wafers are relished by these catfish as well as many other fish.
Bronze Catfish are not specialized for eating algae. This does not mean that they never eat any, and I have observed a Bronze Catfish eating a piece of an algae filament.
Scavenging
The main place these fish get their food is from the bottom of the tank. This means that some of their food is what the other fish have missed. In this sense they are a useful cleaning fish. However, having some of these catfish should not be used as a substitute for normal aquarium maintenance.
Some Bronze Catfish learn to come to the top when food is put into the aquarium. They will be feeding upside down. The Bronze Catfish seems to have only a limited ability to feed in mid water.
Companions
In the wild Bronze Catfish are often found in schools of 20-30 fish. This is normally impractical in a home aquarium, but it is preferred to keep a group of 5 or more of these fish rather than just one.
They are a very peaceful fish and do not go out to catch other fish. If a fish is on the bottom and dying, the Catfish may eat them. They will also eat baby fish which are on the bottom of the tank and not yet free swimming, and they will eat fish eggs.
They will go with a very large variety of fish, including all the tetras and the common barbs, smaller Gouramis, Siamese fighting fish, Goldfish, and the many other similar fish. You will need to avoid very large or aggressive fish.
Albinos
As well as the normal bronze or slightly greenish colour, an albino form of this fish has been developed. In my own experience the albinos are not as hardy as the normal coloured ones. This is not the only species of corydoras with a commercially available albino form, but it is the most common one.
Coloured Catfish
A few years ago there was a trend for some unscrupulous suppliers to inject certain types of fish with coloured dyes. This was bad for the fish, and most retailers will not stock these fish.
Venom
The Bronze Catfish is an exceptionally well protected fish. As well as their armoured plates, they have spines. The one near the dorsal fin can actually deliver a low grade venom. Is a person is pricked on the skin by this spine, the pain is worse that a simple prick would be.
I have kept these fish for over 40 years and have never been pricked. We have also been selling fish for over 20 years and no one has been pricked in our shop, so it is not something that is likely to happen all the time. I suggest that you do not pick up a Corydoras Catfish with your hand.
Although no one has been pricked in our shop, one of the boys working for us was pricked by one of his Bronze Catfish in his own aquarium at home. He thought it was dead and tried to pick it up. The fish stung him through his finger nail, near the base where the nail is thin. A couple of days later he woke up with the most intense pain he had ever experienced. The sting had become infected. Antibiotics worked very quickly and he was all right.
The fish confusingly called in some countries “the Algae Eater”, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is also known as “Chinese Algae Eater” and “Indian Algae Eater” although it is not native to India, and there is doubt about whether or not it is native to China. Other names that have been used are “Sucking Loach” and even “Sucking Catfish” (It is not technically a loach or a catfish.)
Origin
This fish is native to parts of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. It usually lives in flowing water where it will use its sucker mouth to hold onto objects.
Length and Longevity
The Algae Eater can reach 28 cm (11 inches) although I have only seen two of these fish as big as this. Typically, in an aquarium they will be less than 10 centimetres (4 inches) long.
They can live as long as 15 years.
Water Conditions
This fish needs clean water without a large accumulation of organic waste. It also needs plenty of Oxygen in the water.
The Algae Eater can take a pH from 6 to 8 and a wide range of hardness. It is by nature a tropical fish although it can survive cooler conditions than most tropical fish. In my experience, it can be acclimatized to the temperatures normally found in unheated aquariums in houses with normal levels of general heating, but the acclimatization has to be done very slowly (preferably by putting the fish into the unheated aquarium during summer or autumn when the aquarium is still the same temperature as a heated aquarium and allowing it to cool naturally as the season cools down.) In fact this fish seems more susceptible to a sudden drop in temperature than most tropical fish.
Ponds
My customers often ask me if this fish will live in ponds and reduce the algae. I do not recommend that this fish be put in ponds; except in tropical or near tropical climates. In the Adelaide Hills of South Australia where I live the water temperature in ponds in the winter will get down to 4 degrees C (39 degrees F). This is the temperature of fresh water that is under ice. This is much to cold for Algae Eaters. Another reason for not using them in ponds, even in summer, is that I doubt if the amount of algae one or two of these fish would eat in a reasonable sized pond would make a noticeable difference to the algae in the pond.
BUT, despite what I have just written, some people have put algae Eaters in ponds in our area. I would have expected them all to die in the first winter. However, this does not always happen. One couple told me of their experience. They put two of these fish into a pond. They didn’t see their fish again for two years. Then they cleaned out the pond, and caught the two magnificent Algae Eaters. They had not only survived, but had grown to an estimated 12 inches (30 cm) long; the estimate is my own. They were moving away and were getting rid of all their fish and they brought the two Algae Eaters in to our shop.
Food
As the name “Algae Eater” suggests, they eat algae. However, the type of algae they eat is green algae so they should not be expected to eat other types of algae. As well as algae, they eat the many types of organisms that grow on and with algae. The general name for this type of algae based film of living things is “aufwuchs” which is German for “surface growth.”
Other foods that can be given them include peas and slices of other vegetables as well as Brine Shrimp, Blood Worms and Daphnia.
Although when they are young, algae is their main food, they will eat other things including many common fish foods as well as the special algae wafers that are available. As the fish get larger, they increasingly eat more meaty foods.
Colour
Although the common colour for this fish is a mottled green, there are some commonly available gold or part gold Algae Eaters available. There have been reports of artificial dying of this fish, but the only gold ones I have seen are not dyed fish, but have been selectively bred for their colour.
Companions
Many people, including myself, keep this fish with a very wide range of other fish and it is commonly kept to reduce the algae in community aquariums.
But some individual fish of this species will suck on the sides of mostly larger slow moving fish. This can be very damaging to these fish and will often lead to their death. Although even small Algae Eaters will sometimes do this, it is likely to become more of a problem as the Algae Eater becomes larger. Algae Eaters also become increasingly territorial as they get bigger.
Very large Algae Eaters have been reported to swallow small fish like Neon Tetras. I have never observed this myself, and would not expect it to happen with the usual size of Algae Eaters we get.
With all the problems associated with this fish, the question might fairly be asked “Why do you sell them?” At one time I stopped getting them, but my customers wanted me to have them. They are the most popular algae eating fish. Personally I prefer the Bristlenose Catfish, but Bristlenose Catfish are not always available and tend to be about twice the cost of the Algae Eater.
Sexing
The usual small algae Eater we see are too small to show any sex differences. When they are mature the male can exhibit breeding tubercules on their nose. The females become fatter.
Breeding
Although some of our customers have mentioned that they have had young Algae Eaters appear in their tank, information about successful home aquarium spawning of this fish is lacking.
They are bred extensively commercially in ponds in warmer climates. Sometimes hormones are used to stimulate spawning.
Food Fish
In some countries they are eaten, either as a fish by themselves, or in fish paste, often with a mixture of other fish.
Conservation Status
This fish has not been evaluated for the UICN Redlist, but other sources of information suggest that it is not in immediate danger.
Pest Fish
Avoid allowing this fish to get into waterways in areas it is not native to.
Common Names
The common names used for this fish include ‘the “Siamese Algae Eater”. This name is very misleading because it leads to confusion with Crossocheilus oblongus which is the fish normally referred to as the Siamese Algae Eater. Other names that have been used for Gyrinocheilusaymonieri in English include: “Siamese algae-eater”, “Siamese headbreather”, “Sucker Loach” and “Sucking Loa”.
Bronze Catfish do not go out trying to catch other fish, but if a bigger fish tried to eat one, it would probable get painfully stung.
Sexing
The female is a little bigger than the male, but the shape is a better way of telling the sexes apart. The female gets a bigger belly, and if looked at from above the female is clearly wider than the male.
The male has a longer and more pointed dorsal fin.
Phantom Glass Catfish Fact Sheet
The "Phantom Glass Catfish" is often identified as "Kryptopterus bicirrhis", but the ones offered for sale are more likely to be "Kryptopterus minor", a similar but rather smaller species. Kryptopterus bicirrhis will grow to about 10 inches (25cm) long while Kryptopterus minor only grows to about 3 inches (8cm). The Phantom Glass Catfish is sometimes called the "Glass Catfish", "Ghost Catfish", or the "Asian Catfish." There is a further possible confusion with the African Glass Catfish, Parailia pellucida, sometimes being sold as the "Glass Catfish".
The Phantom Glass Catfish comes from South East Asia including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It comes from streams with sluggish currents, often with areas of still water.
Water Conditions
In the wild the water this fish often lives in is cloudy with suspended sediments. In these conditions this transparent fish is very difficult to see; fish's transparency acts as an excellent camouflage. This is not a condition normally aimed for in a home aquarium.
In an aquarium they will take neutral water (7). A temperature of 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) is suitable. We have no trouble with the moderate hardness of our Adelaide Hills water with this fish.
The tank should be heavily planted.
Food
This fish is a predator. It will eat other fish up to the size of a newly born Guppy. More normal foods for it include mosquito larvae and Daphnia. I find that they will eat a normal, good quality fish flake without any trouble but I have seen reports of them being difficult to feed.
Companions
The Phantom Glass Catfish is much more comfortable in a school of at least 5.
Although the Phantom Glass Catfish is a predator, it is peaceful to other fish as long as is cannot swallow them with its quite small mouth. They will certainly eat baby fish, but all reasonable sized adult fish, even small Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras and Green Neon Tetras are safe.
Other suitable companions include Diamond Tetras, Splashing Tetras, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Cherry Barbs, Penguin Tetras, Pristella Tetras, Glowlight Tetras, Red EyeTetras, Silvertip Tetras, Gold Barbs, Rummy Nose Tetras , Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Swordtails, Platies, Mollies, Zebra Danios, Black Widow Tetras, Rosy Barbs, Tiger Barbs, Paraguay Tetras, Buenos Aires Tetras and Colombian Tetras. They are also OK with Siamese Fighting Fish, Guppies and Endlers Guppies.
Breeding
It is claimed that in Asia techniques have been worked out for breeding the Phantom Glass Catfish. If this is so, I have been unable to find out the method. Possibly the commercial people who do this prefer not to tell possible competitors about their methods.
There have been rare reports of the breeding of this fish and these suggestions are based on these reports.
Feed well before hand with live food such as mosquito larvae. Simulate the start of the rainy season by daily partial water changes using soft water. Lower the water level and lower the temperature by about 2 degrees C (3 degrees F).
The eggs, in the unlikely event that you succeed in getting any, are laid on plants, perhaps a couple of hundred from each female.
The parents should be removed and the fry fed on small live food.
Fish Sauce
The Phantom Glass Catfish is a major ingredient of some of the salty fish sauces used in Asian cooking.
Wild Caught
Unlike the great majority of the fish we sell, at least some of our Phantom Glass Catfish are caught in the wild. This fish is very common in some places and is not threatened.
Pest Fish
Do not release any pet fish into the wild, or keep them where they can escape.
Sources
Scotcat, Red Orbit, Planetcatfish, CentralPets.com and Munga Bay.com
Breeding
The bronze Catfish is probably the easiest fish of its genus to breed. The parents to be should be well fed for a while before breeding. It is common to use two males and one female for breeding. In the wild this species will breed at the start of the breeding season. A drop in water temperature will often stimulate the breeding. This drop can be as much as 4 degrees C. Some people go further and lower the temperature by sprinkling cooler water over the surface of the water to simulate heavy rain.
Bronze Catfish Fact Sheet
Black Kuhli Loach Fact Sheet
Echinodorus amazonicus – Żabienica amazońska
The Black Kuhli Loach, Pangio oblonga, is a close relative of the Kuhi loach, Pangio kuhlii, but is not as popular in aquariums because of its plainer colouring. The Black Kuhli loach comes from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Size
The maximum length of this fish is about 8 centimetres (3 inches), but because it is a thin eel like shape, this is still a small fish.
Water Conditions
This is a tropical fish and a temperature of between 23 and 28 degrees C (between 73 and 82 degrees F) is acceptable. This fish comes from soft acid water and the usually recommended conditions for them in an aquarium are a pH of between 6.2 and 7.2, with soft water. Although it seems logical to approach the water parameters of its natural habitat, Richard Bias of New Jersey, USA has kept and bred this fish with a pH of 8.0 and relatively hard water with a gH of 18-22 and a kH of about 20.
It may be that keeping the water clean and with consistent pH and hardness is more important than the actual values of the parameters.
In the wild their habitats often have a sandy bottom. This is generally recommended for aquariums, but Mr. Bias used small rocks of up to 2.5 cm (1 inch in diameter). I have also had success with keeping this species using a substrate of small pebbles.
Plants
Tylomelania towutensis
In the wild they are used to plants and an aquarium should have plenty of live plants.
Food
Black Kuhli Loaches are omnivores, but their diet requires a reasonable amount of animal based food. My Kuhlis seem to particularly like frozen blood worms (so do many fish). I also give them frozen brine shrimp once a week. They will also eat normal fish foods like flakes.
They are bottom feeders and only eat what falls to the bottom.
Nocturnal
Tylomelania species orange poso.
Black Kuhlis are partially nocturnal. Combined with this they will burrow into the substrate and are good at hiding in the plants, so you may not see them much. They are difficult to catch.
The Kuhli Loach, Pangio kuhlii, is a small eel like fish. It comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Other names include Coolie Loach, which is a clear miss-spelling of Kuhli; both these words are pronounced in the same way. It is also called “Prickle Eye” because it has a prickle near its eye. This prickle probably gives this fish some protection from predators.
Length and Longevity
The Kuhli loach will supposedly grow up to 12 centimetres (4 and a half inches) long, but I have never seen one this big. Most of the ones available are much smaller than this. One of the reasons for this variation is that there are several subspecies of Pangio kuhlii, and the size they grow to varies a lot.
They have been reported as living up to 10 years.
Water Conditions
The Kuhli Loach is an equatorial fish; the main areas it is from are a little to the south of the Equator. It needs warm water, and a temperature of between 24 and 30 degrees C (between 75 and 86 degrees F) is suitable. They can survive a slightly higher or lower temperature than this range, but I do not recommend it.
In the wild this fish is mainly found in slowly flowing streams with a sandy bottom with a layer of organic matter from the surrounding forests in many places on the stream bed. The water in these streams tends to have a fairly low mineral content and to be soft and acidic. There are plants growing in sections of these streams.
In an aquarium they will adapt to a moderate hardness and can certainly take a hardness of up to 10 dH. A pH of up to 7.5 is generally tolerated. The water needs to be reasonably clean in the sense of not having a large build up of fish wastes.
Substrate
In an aquarium you should avoid any sharp substrates and fine river sand is the normal choice. I have also had success with using large (6mm or more) rounded pebbles.
These fish not only search the surface of the sand for food, they will go right into it. I have seen them dive straight into the sand to avoid being caught. With larger pebbles they will go between the pebbles looking for food.
Plants
These fish seem to like densely planted aquariums. Including some floating plants is also a good idea.
Food
Kuhli loaches are omnivores with a requirement for some animal based food. They will certainly eat flakes and pellets. One of their favourite foods is frozen bloodworms. They also like frozen brine shrimp.
Neritina natalensis – Nerite Zebra
This is a bottom feeding fish, so it is necessary for some of the food to reach the bottom.
Catching
The Kuhli Loach has the distinction of being the most difficult fish to catch in a planted aquarium. It is closely followed in this by the Black Kuhli Loach.
Companions
Although the Kuhli loach in not a schooling fish in the normal sense, they seem to need company. A single Kuhli may be able to, live all right in a tank, but will tend to be hidden nearly all the time during the day. A group of perhaps eight of these interesting fish will behave quite differently and are much more likely to come out and show themselves during the day.
This is a small peaceful fish, and is a suitable inhabitant for a community aquarium of small peaceful fish.
Sexing
Most of the time there is not a big difference in appearance between the sexes, but the male is more muscular in the front part of his body. The male also have larger pectoral fins with more black on them than the females.
When they are ready to breed the gender becomes more obvious with their lower body becoming distinctly fatter with greenish coloured eggs visible.
These fish probably reach sexual maturity at about 2 years old.
Breeding in the Wild
The wild Kuhli Loaches usually breed in December and January. In the areas they come from, the wettest three months are December, January and February, so they breed in the early part of the wet season when the water level is rising. They apparently breed in very shallow water, in areas which are dry part of the year. Some of the breeding areas would not even be part of the stream bed, but would be normally a forest area. Neritina pulligera – Military Helmet These flooded forests would have a large amount of food both for the adults and for their babies. The breeding appears to be communal with a group of Kuhlis taking part rather than just one pair.
This fish is not threatened in the wild so they must be breeding successfully.
Breeding in Aquariums
There are many reports of this fish breeding in aquariums, but nearly all of these are of accidents rather than planned breeding. Most of these reports involve community aquariums.
Although I have yet to see a well documented account of this fish breeding when this was planned, there are a number of bits of information which can be pieced together.
Weather Predicting
This fish will react when it is about to rain. It is in the same family as the famous weather loach whose rain predicting abilities appears to rival the most advanced meteorological techniques. Both the weather Loach and the Kuhli loach will swim wildly as if they are ready to spawn when rain is coming. It is generally believed that they are reacting to a change in air pressure. Of course we should remember that our Kuhli Loaches are kept inside in an aquarium heated to a constant temperature, and that the pressure they are subjected to includes the pressure caused by the depth of the water in the aquarium. This depth may vary from time to time.
I wonder if we are underestimating these fish. The change in air pressure is not the only thing that happens before rain. The rain in the areas they come from will be largely accompanied by electrical storms and the atmosphere before thunder storms has a different proportion of negative to positive ions from normal. Humans can feel the effects of this. Possibly this is also used by fish in predicting weather.
Conditioning
To breed it is obvious that the fish will need to be well fed so they have enough nutrition to grow the eggs and sperm. Meaty foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc will be helpful in this.
Stimulating Spawning
It appears that conditions simulating those at the start of the rainy season in their native habitat are likely to encourage spawning. These conditions will include an increase in water level by the addition of pure water. This will reduce the hardness of the water. A reduction in the water temperature of 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) may also help.
Spawning
The Reticulate Loach, Botia lohachata is also called the Reticulated Loach, The Yoyo Loach, The Y-Loach and The Pakistani Loach. It is similar to Botia almorhae, and shares several common names with that fish.
Origin
The Reticulate Loach is native to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Length and Longevity
The Reticulate Loach can reach 11 centimetres (4 inches) in length although exceptional individuals can be bigger than this. It has been reported as living up to 20 years.
Water Conditions
This is a mostly tropical fish although its range includes some cooler areas. A temperature in the aquarium of between 19 and 30 degrees C (between 66 and 86 degrees F) is suitable for this fish. In some parts of its range water temperatures can get lower than this. Kirysek panda – Corydoras panda
Reasonably soft water with a pH between 6 and 7.5 is ideal, but they can be acclimatized to water outside this pH range with moderate hardness. Reticulate Loaches prefer clean, well oxygenated water, and usually do better if there is no more than a moderate current in the tank; in nature they are usually found either in still water or in slowly flowing water rather than raging torrents.
A well planted tank will make this fish act as if it feels more secure. This is a reasonably big fish which needs the company of its own kind, so it is very unsuitable for a small aquarium.
By nature they are partially nocturnal, but they adapt quickly to being active and eating during the day time. By having plenty of plants, including some floating ones the lower part of the aquarium will be in the subdued light that this fish prefers.
Substrate
Reticulate Loaches have four pairs of barbels. These can be damaged by the substrate of the aquarium, so the sand or gravel should not be sharp. Loaches have no obvious scales (although they do have some small scales) and are sometimes referred to as being ‘naked’ fish.
Hiding Places
These fish like to be able to hide and will get into small spaces, so you should also avoid any sharp edges on ornaments or stones in the tank. They like a hiding place that they will just fit into, so there should be a lot of different small caves etc. so they can choose a suitable one as they grow. Reticulate Loaches generally do not like large open caves that might suit Clown Loaches.
Food
The Reticulate Loach is an omnivore with a preference for animal food. They will eat any normal fish food that sinks. Most of their feeding is at the bottom of the tank, but they are capable of eating in mid water. They occasionally also feed at the surface of the water. Frozen Blood Worms are a good food, but their diet should be varied as much as possible. Live food including Daphnia and Brine Shrimp are good. In the wild their food includes snails, worms and small fish.
They will eat slices of vegetables such as cucumber, if these are weighted down so they stay on the bottom.
Snails
The Reticulate Loach, like many of its relatives, will eat some of the common aquarium types of snail. This fish is sometimes purchased mainly to get rid of an infestation of snails in an aquarium.
Scavenger?
The Reticulate Loach is sometimes kept as a scavenger. As with any fish, you need to make sure it is getting enough of the right type of food, and you cannot rely on food missed by the other fish. It will not eat fish wastes.
Frequency
It is better for this fish to have a small amount of food several times a day rather than a lot of food once a day.
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever is a serious disease affecting Humans and their domestic animals, as well as wild animals. The intermediate host of the parasite which causes this disease is one of a number of species of freshwater snails. One way of breaking the life cycle of this debilitating disease is to control the water snails. The snail eating Reticulate Loach is one of many natural controls on the freshwater snail population and plays its part in controlling the disease. Fantom czarny (Barwieniec czarny)
Sound
The Reticulate Loach can make a clicking sound. This may be produced by forcing air through the gills and may be connected with feeding on the surface of the water; an alternative explanation of the noise is that it is produced by specialized teeth in the throat of this fish that appear to aid in the extraction of snails from their shells.
Air Breathing
Although the ideal conditions include well oxygenated water, this fish has the ability to take in air and force it over their gills so they can absorb Oxygen from the atmosphere when they are in Oxygen deficient water.
Spines
Reticulate Loaches have sharp spines near their eyes. These are used in a defensive manner, and care should be taken to avoid getting your skin pricked, or a plastic bag used for carrying the fish punctured.
Resting
This fish will sometimes rest on its side. This behaviour is normal for Reticulate Loaches and some of its relatives and does not indicate any problem with the fish.
Companions
Reticulate Loaches are compatible with a wide range of fish. I would avoid putting them with slow moving, long finned fish because some people have reported that they can nip the fins of these fish. They are an active, semi-aggressive, fish which can disturb nervous fish. However, when it is young it is a suitable companion for all the tetras, all the rasboras and many other fish. A mature Reticulate Loach is a bigger fish than many of the tetras, so you certainly should not expect them to be a suitable companion for the smaller tetras like the Neon Tetra and its relatives; especially remembering that in the wild their diet includes small fish.
The Reticulate Loach is not a schooling fish, but it does much better in a group of at least 5 fish. They also appear to be less aggressive in a group than as a single fish.
The natural food of this fish includes snails and shrimp, so it is not a safe companion for freshwater shrimp. Nymphaea lotus
Intelligence
Observations suggest that the Reticulate Loach is one of the more intelligent aquarium fish. They have been reported to be able to recognise people as individuals rather than just as people.
Sexing
When they are mature, the females are fatter than the males, and when loaded with eggs can be very fat. The slimmer males may have some red near their mouth.
Breeding
This fish has very rarely been bred in a home aquarium.
A report suggests that spawning has occurred with a pair conditioned on mainly vegetable food. The spawning happened at the water surface with a temperature of 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), a hardness of 11 degrees and a pH of 7. The female laid between three and five thousand eggs of about 2 to 2.5 mm diameter.
The eggs hatched in 16-18 hours.
The care of the fry was reported as being easy and they reached between 1 and 1.5 cm in length after one month.
Commercial Breeding
The Reticulate Loach is bred on a large scale commercially by the injection of hormones. This is done in Florida and other places.
Breeding in the Wild
They scatter their eggs over the bottom of the waterway they are in. Spawning appears to be done in pairs rather than in a group. The parents do not look after their babies. The babies grow during the wet season.
Common Names
In English the common names of the Reticulate Loach include Reticulated loach, Yoyo Loach, Y-Loach, Painted Loach and Pakistani Loach. The names “Y-Loach” and “Yoyo Loach” refer to the pattern of stripes on young fish of this species. At different stages of growth the pattern can look like a series of y’s, and then later like the word ‘yoyo’. When they are older they get the full net pattern which gives rise to the name “Reticulate Loach”. The actual pattern on different individuals varies considerably. Eleocharis Acicularis – Ponikło igłowate
Scientific Name
The accepted name for this fish is Botia lohachata (Chaudhuri, 1912). This is the only scientific name that has correctly been applied to this fish, but there is considerable confusion between Botia almorhae and Botia lohachata among aquarists. These two fish are similar in appearance and the information in this fact sheet about keeping them could be applied to either species.
Differences between Botia lohachata and Botia almorhae
The native range of these two species is different, but overlaps. While Botia lohachata comes from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Botia almorhae comes from India, Nepal, Myanmar and maybe Pakistan.
Botia almorha grows a little larger than Botia lohachata, but this difference could only be applied to full grown specimens, or to populations.
A Botia almorhae is generally wider than a Botia lohachata of the same length.
Conservation Status
Botia lohachata has not been evaluated by the UICN Redlist, but there is no reason to think it is an endangered fish.
Botia almorhae has been evaluated as being a species of least concern.
Pest Fish
Although I am not aware of this fish becoming a problem in ecosystems it is not native to, the normal precautions should be observed to make sure it cannot get into waterways it is not native to. The Reticulate Loach was introduced into the Philippines in 1991, but I don’t know if it has become established there.
Steve Challis
This fish seems more likely to breed if there are a good sized group of them. The female can lay up to 400 eggs. They are strongly adhesive, and stick to plants, including floating ones.
Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen
The eggs hatch in about 24 hours. The babies are about 7 millimetres long after hatching. In many cases the fry have succeeded in growing on the food present in a community tank.
Common Names
Common names for this fish in English include ‘Kuhli Loach”, “Coolie Loach”, “Giant coolie loach”, “Leopard loach”, “Slimy loach”, and “Slimy myersi”.
In French, it ii called “Kuhli” or “Loche coolie”, or “Loche léopard" or “Loche svelte” or “Serpent d'eau”.
Scientific Name
The accepted name is “Pangio kuhlii” (Valenciennes, 1846).
Companions
Although they cannot be described as a schooling fish, they seem to do better in groups; the larger the better.
Rotala rotundifolia – Rotala okrągłolistna
They are peaceful fish and can be kept with other small peaceful fish. They are a good inhabitant for a well planted community tank of at least 50 litres (13 US gallons).
This fish is an egg placer. The female carefully cleans a number of places for the eggs. These places may be on the sides of the aquarium, or on the leaves of plants etc.
When they are ready the breeders assume the “T ? position with the female’s mouth adjacent to the male’s vent. The female takes the male’s sperm into her mouth ready for fertilization.
She lays her eggs into a little basket formed by her pectoral fins and carefully places the fertilized eggs onto the prepared places.
The number of eggs laid each time varies between 1 and 10. The breeders repeat this until the female has laid all her eggs. This may be up to 300 eggs and the spawning will sometimes take several days.
When they are first laid the eggs are nearly clear, but they darken to a golden brown. If they turn white they are infertile. Infertile eggs get fungus which can spread to healthy eggs.
Generally the eggs are separated from the parents because some people have observed Bronze Catfish eating their own eggs and young. The eggs hatch in about 5 days.
Fertilization
The method of fertilization used by many corydoras catfish is in dispute.
The "Phantom Glass Catfish" is often identified as "Kryptopterus bicirrhis", but the ones offered for sale are more likely to be "Kryptopterus minor", a similar but rather smaller species. Kryptopterus bicirrhis will grow to about 10 inches (25cm) long while Kryptopterus minor only grows to about 3 inches (8cm). The Phantom Glass Catfish is sometimes called the "Glass Catfish", "Ghost Catfish", or the "Asian Catfish." There is a further possible confusion with the African Glass Catfish, Parailia pellucida, sometimes being sold as the "Glass Catfish".
The Phantom Glass Catfish comes from South East Asia including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It comes from streams with sluggish currents, often with areas of still water.
Water Conditions
In the wild the water this fish often lives in is cloudy with suspended sediments. In these conditions this transparent fish is very difficult to see; fish's transparency acts as an excellent camouflage. This is not a condition normally aimed for in a home aquarium.
In an aquarium they will take neutral water (7). A temperature of 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) is suitable. We have no trouble with the moderate hardness of our Adelaide Hills water with this fish.
The tank should be heavily planted.
Food
This fish is a predator. It will eat other fish up to the size of a newly born Guppy. More normal foods for it include mosquito larvae and Daphnia. I find that they will eat a normal, good quality fish flake without any trouble but I have seen reports of them being difficult to feed.
Companions
The Phantom Glass Catfish is much more comfortable in a school of at least 5.
Although the Phantom Glass Catfish is a predator, it is peaceful to other fish as long as is cannot swallow them with its quite small mouth. They will certainly eat baby fish, but all reasonable sized adult fish, even small Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras and Green Neon Tetras are safe.
Other suitable companions include Diamond Tetras, Splashing Tetras, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Cherry Barbs, Penguin Tetras, Pristella Tetras, Glowlight Tetras, Red EyeTetras, Silvertip Tetras, Gold Barbs, Rummy Nose Tetras , Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Swordtails, Platies, Mollies, Zebra Danios, Black Widow Tetras, Rosy Barbs, Tiger Barbs, Paraguay Tetras, Buenos Aires Tetras and Colombian Tetras. They are also OK with Siamese Fighting Fish, Guppies and Endlers Guppies.
Breeding
It is claimed that in Asia techniques have been worked out for breeding the Phantom Glass Catfish. If this is so, I have been unable to find out the method. Possibly the commercial people who do this prefer not to tell possible competitors about their methods.
There have been rare reports of the breeding of this fish and these suggestions are based on these reports.
Feed well before hand with live food such as mosquito larvae. Simulate the start of the rainy season by daily partial water changes using soft water. Lower the water level and lower the temperature by about 2 degrees C (3 degrees F).
The eggs, in the unlikely event that you succeed in getting any, are laid on plants, perhaps a couple of hundred from each female.
The parents should be removed and the fry fed on small live food.
Fish Sauce
The Phantom Glass Catfish is a major ingredient of some of the salty fish sauces used in Asian cooking.
Wild Caught
Unlike the great majority of the fish we sell, at least some of our Phantom Glass Catfish are caught in the wild. This fish is very common in some places and is not threatened.
Pest Fish
Do not release any pet fish into the wild, or keep them where they can escape.
Sources
Scotcat, Red Orbit, Planetcatfish, CentralPets.com and Munga Bay.com
The old idea was that the sperm goes very quickly through the female’s digestive tract and comes out of her vent in exactly the right position to fertilize the eggs. It has always been recognized that there were problems with this theory. The sperm would have to pass through much faster than food normally does, and avoid being digested. Various ways were postulated to explain how this is done.
Catfish are in the fish order Siluriformes. To put in perspective what an ‘order’ is in the classification of organisms, in mammals, the Bats make up one order, the Rodents another and Primates another. As you can see, the classification ‘order’ can include a lot of different animals. For example consider the difference between the primates, including Humans, apes, lemurs and others. As with the primates, the Catfish of the order Siluriformes are a diverse group of animals.
Catfish range in length from a couple of centimetres to several metres. In aquariums and ponds there are a lot of different catfish kept. The name “Catfish” comes from the ‘whiskers’ (barbels) that most Catfish have.
Some of the most popular catfish for aquariums are the corydoras catfish such as the Bronze and the Peppered catfish. There are hundreds of different species of corydoras catfish. These are mostly tropical but some of them have a range extending well out of the tropics and these can tolerate lower temperatures. As a general rule, the corydoras catfish are intolerant of very high temperatures and high concentrations of salt.
Some catfish like the Bristlenose Catfish are specialized for eating algae.
Although most Catfish are bottom feeders there are some midwater catfish like the Glass Catfish.
Another idea is that the sperm comes out of the gill covers of the female and are directed backwards in the right general direction to fertilize the eggs. Reading forums, you can see that there are people who adamantly insist that one or other of the theories is correct. The supporters of both sides are experienced breeders who have carefully observed the spawning of Bronze Catfish.
Personally I think the second theory is more likely to be correct.
Raising the Fry
After hatching the babies will live on their yolk sac for 2 or 3 days. They will then eat infusoria and fine fry food including Microworms and other very small live food.
Spread of the Bronze Catfish
The Bronze Catfish has a wide natural distribution, being found in at least 12 different countries and several separate river systems.
The Amazon and Orinoco river systems are connected by at least 2 natural connections. The Casiquiare River is a tributary of one of the major tributaries of the Amazon, but also a distributary of the Orinoco. There is also another connection further down the river. These would allow a fish to go from one river system to the other. Probably more easily from the Orinoco to the Amazon rather than the other way, but either is possible. Since two known connections between these river systems exist, we can speculate that others have existed at other times in the past.
So there is no mystery about why the Bronze Catfish is present in both these major river systems, but it is also present in several unconnected river systems.
I would speculate that it is sometimes spread by its eggs. The eggs of the Bronze Catfish are very sticky and in the wild usually placed on plants. The eggs are also fairly tough and people will sometimes transfer them to a hatching tank with their finger. It seems likely that on rare occasions a bird will accidentally pick up these sticky eggs and then happen to fly to an adjacent river system. This would explain part of the wide distribution of this fish.
Bronze Catfish Fact Sheet
Black Kuhli Loach Fact Sheet
Echinodorus amazonicus – Żabienica amazońska
The Black Kuhli Loach, Pangio oblonga, is a close relative of the Kuhi loach, Pangio kuhlii, but is not as popular in aquariums because of its plainer colouring. The Black Kuhli loach comes from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Size
The maximum length of this fish is about 8 centimetres (3 inches), but because it is a thin eel like shape, this is still a small fish.
Water Conditions
This is a tropical fish and a temperature of between 23 and 28 degrees C (between 73 and 82 degrees F) is acceptable. This fish comes from soft acid water and the usually recommended conditions for them in an aquarium are a pH of between 6.2 and 7.2, with soft water. Although it seems logical to approach the water parameters of its natural habitat, Richard Bias of New Jersey, USA has kept and bred this fish with a pH of 8.0 and relatively hard water with a gH of 18-22 and a kH of about 20.
It may be that keeping the water clean and with consistent pH and hardness is more important than the actual values of the parameters.
In the wild their habitats often have a sandy bottom. This is generally recommended for aquariums, but Mr. Bias used small rocks of up to 2.5 cm (1 inch in diameter). I have also had success with keeping this species using a substrate of small pebbles.
Plants
Tylomelania towutensis
In the wild they are used to plants and an aquarium should have plenty of live plants.
Food
Black Kuhli Loaches are omnivores, but their diet requires a reasonable amount of animal based food. My Kuhlis seem to particularly like frozen blood worms (so do many fish). I also give them frozen brine shrimp once a week. They will also eat normal fish foods like flakes.
They are bottom feeders and only eat what falls to the bottom.
Nocturnal
Tylomelania species orange poso.
Black Kuhlis are partially nocturnal. Combined with this they will burrow into the substrate and are good at hiding in the plants, so you may not see them much. They are difficult to catch.
The Kuhli Loach, Pangio kuhlii, is a small eel like fish. It comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Other names include Coolie Loach, which is a clear miss-spelling of Kuhli; both these words are pronounced in the same way. It is also called “Prickle Eye” because it has a prickle near its eye. This prickle probably gives this fish some protection from predators.
Length and Longevity
The Kuhli loach will supposedly grow up to 12 centimetres (4 and a half inches) long, but I have never seen one this big. Most of the ones available are much smaller than this. One of the reasons for this variation is that there are several subspecies of Pangio kuhlii, and the size they grow to varies a lot.
They have been reported as living up to 10 years.
Water Conditions
The Kuhli Loach is an equatorial fish; the main areas it is from are a little to the south of the Equator. It needs warm water, and a temperature of between 24 and 30 degrees C (between 75 and 86 degrees F) is suitable. They can survive a slightly higher or lower temperature than this range, but I do not recommend it.
In the wild this fish is mainly found in slowly flowing streams with a sandy bottom with a layer of organic matter from the surrounding forests in many places on the stream bed. The water in these streams tends to have a fairly low mineral content and to be soft and acidic. There are plants growing in sections of these streams.
In an aquarium they will adapt to a moderate hardness and can certainly take a hardness of up to 10 dH. A pH of up to 7.5 is generally tolerated. The water needs to be reasonably clean in the sense of not having a large build up of fish wastes.
Substrate
In an aquarium you should avoid any sharp substrates and fine river sand is the normal choice. I have also had success with using large (6mm or more) rounded pebbles.
These fish not only search the surface of the sand for food, they will go right into it. I have seen them dive straight into the sand to avoid being caught. With larger pebbles they will go between the pebbles looking for food.
Plants
These fish seem to like densely planted aquariums. Including some floating plants is also a good idea.
Food
Kuhli loaches are omnivores with a requirement for some animal based food. They will certainly eat flakes and pellets. One of their favourite foods is frozen bloodworms. They also like frozen brine shrimp.
Neritina natalensis – Nerite Zebra
This is a bottom feeding fish, so it is necessary for some of the food to reach the bottom.
Catching
The Kuhli Loach has the distinction of being the most difficult fish to catch in a planted aquarium. It is closely followed in this by the Black Kuhli Loach.
Companions
Although the Kuhli loach in not a schooling fish in the normal sense, they seem to need company. A single Kuhli may be able to, live all right in a tank, but will tend to be hidden nearly all the time during the day. A group of perhaps eight of these interesting fish will behave quite differently and are much more likely to come out and show themselves during the day.
This is a small peaceful fish, and is a suitable inhabitant for a community aquarium of small peaceful fish.
Sexing
Most of the time there is not a big difference in appearance between the sexes, but the male is more muscular in the front part of his body. The male also have larger pectoral fins with more black on them than the females.
When they are ready to breed the gender becomes more obvious with their lower body becoming distinctly fatter with greenish coloured eggs visible.
These fish probably reach sexual maturity at about 2 years old.
Breeding in the Wild
The wild Kuhli Loaches usually breed in December and January. In the areas they come from, the wettest three months are December, January and February, so they breed in the early part of the wet season when the water level is rising. They apparently breed in very shallow water, in areas which are dry part of the year. Some of the breeding areas would not even be part of the stream bed, but would be normally a forest area. Neritina pulligera – Military Helmet These flooded forests would have a large amount of food both for the adults and for their babies. The breeding appears to be communal with a group of Kuhlis taking part rather than just one pair.
This fish is not threatened in the wild so they must be breeding successfully.
Breeding in Aquariums
There are many reports of this fish breeding in aquariums, but nearly all of these are of accidents rather than planned breeding. Most of these reports involve community aquariums.
Although I have yet to see a well documented account of this fish breeding when this was planned, there are a number of bits of information which can be pieced together.
Weather Predicting
This fish will react when it is about to rain. It is in the same family as the famous weather loach whose rain predicting abilities appears to rival the most advanced meteorological techniques. Both the weather Loach and the Kuhli loach will swim wildly as if they are ready to spawn when rain is coming. It is generally believed that they are reacting to a change in air pressure. Of course we should remember that our Kuhli Loaches are kept inside in an aquarium heated to a constant temperature, and that the pressure they are subjected to includes the pressure caused by the depth of the water in the aquarium. This depth may vary from time to time.
I wonder if we are underestimating these fish. The change in air pressure is not the only thing that happens before rain. The rain in the areas they come from will be largely accompanied by electrical storms and the atmosphere before thunder storms has a different proportion of negative to positive ions from normal. Humans can feel the effects of this. Possibly this is also used by fish in predicting weather.
Conditioning
To breed it is obvious that the fish will need to be well fed so they have enough nutrition to grow the eggs and sperm. Meaty foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc will be helpful in this.
Stimulating Spawning
It appears that conditions simulating those at the start of the rainy season in their native habitat are likely to encourage spawning. These conditions will include an increase in water level by the addition of pure water. This will reduce the hardness of the water. A reduction in the water temperature of 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) may also help.
Spawning
The Reticulate Loach, Botia lohachata is also called the Reticulated Loach, The Yoyo Loach, The Y-Loach and The Pakistani Loach. It is similar to Botia almorhae, and shares several common names with that fish.
Origin
The Reticulate Loach is native to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Length and Longevity
The Reticulate Loach can reach 11 centimetres (4 inches) in length although exceptional individuals can be bigger than this. It has been reported as living up to 20 years.
Water Conditions
This is a mostly tropical fish although its range includes some cooler areas. A temperature in the aquarium of between 19 and 30 degrees C (between 66 and 86 degrees F) is suitable for this fish. In some parts of its range water temperatures can get lower than this. Kirysek panda – Corydoras panda
Reasonably soft water with a pH between 6 and 7.5 is ideal, but they can be acclimatized to water outside this pH range with moderate hardness. Reticulate Loaches prefer clean, well oxygenated water, and usually do better if there is no more than a moderate current in the tank; in nature they are usually found either in still water or in slowly flowing water rather than raging torrents.
A well planted tank will make this fish act as if it feels more secure. This is a reasonably big fish which needs the company of its own kind, so it is very unsuitable for a small aquarium.
By nature they are partially nocturnal, but they adapt quickly to being active and eating during the day time. By having plenty of plants, including some floating ones the lower part of the aquarium will be in the subdued light that this fish prefers.
Substrate
Reticulate Loaches have four pairs of barbels. These can be damaged by the substrate of the aquarium, so the sand or gravel should not be sharp. Loaches have no obvious scales (although they do have some small scales) and are sometimes referred to as being ‘naked’ fish.
Hiding Places
These fish like to be able to hide and will get into small spaces, so you should also avoid any sharp edges on ornaments or stones in the tank. They like a hiding place that they will just fit into, so there should be a lot of different small caves etc. so they can choose a suitable one as they grow. Reticulate Loaches generally do not like large open caves that might suit Clown Loaches.
Food
The Reticulate Loach is an omnivore with a preference for animal food. They will eat any normal fish food that sinks. Most of their feeding is at the bottom of the tank, but they are capable of eating in mid water. They occasionally also feed at the surface of the water. Frozen Blood Worms are a good food, but their diet should be varied as much as possible. Live food including Daphnia and Brine Shrimp are good. In the wild their food includes snails, worms and small fish.
They will eat slices of vegetables such as cucumber, if these are weighted down so they stay on the bottom.
Snails
The Reticulate Loach, like many of its relatives, will eat some of the common aquarium types of snail. This fish is sometimes purchased mainly to get rid of an infestation of snails in an aquarium.
Scavenger?
The Reticulate Loach is sometimes kept as a scavenger. As with any fish, you need to make sure it is getting enough of the right type of food, and you cannot rely on food missed by the other fish. It will not eat fish wastes.
Frequency
It is better for this fish to have a small amount of food several times a day rather than a lot of food once a day.
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever is a serious disease affecting Humans and their domestic animals, as well as wild animals. The intermediate host of the parasite which causes this disease is one of a number of species of freshwater snails. One way of breaking the life cycle of this debilitating disease is to control the water snails. The snail eating Reticulate Loach is one of many natural controls on the freshwater snail population and plays its part in controlling the disease. Fantom czarny (Barwieniec czarny)
Sound
The Reticulate Loach can make a clicking sound. This may be produced by forcing air through the gills and may be connected with feeding on the surface of the water; an alternative explanation of the noise is that it is produced by specialized teeth in the throat of this fish that appear to aid in the extraction of snails from their shells.
Air Breathing
Although the ideal conditions include well oxygenated water, this fish has the ability to take in air and force it over their gills so they can absorb Oxygen from the atmosphere when they are in Oxygen deficient water.
Spines
Reticulate Loaches have sharp spines near their eyes. These are used in a defensive manner, and care should be taken to avoid getting your skin pricked, or a plastic bag used for carrying the fish punctured.
Resting
This fish will sometimes rest on its side. This behaviour is normal for Reticulate Loaches and some of its relatives and does not indicate any problem with the fish.
Companions
Reticulate Loaches are compatible with a wide range of fish. I would avoid putting them with slow moving, long finned fish because some people have reported that they can nip the fins of these fish. They are an active, semi-aggressive, fish which can disturb nervous fish. However, when it is young it is a suitable companion for all the tetras, all the rasboras and many other fish. A mature Reticulate Loach is a bigger fish than many of the tetras, so you certainly should not expect them to be a suitable companion for the smaller tetras like the Neon Tetra and its relatives; especially remembering that in the wild their diet includes small fish.
The Reticulate Loach is not a schooling fish, but it does much better in a group of at least 5 fish. They also appear to be less aggressive in a group than as a single fish.
The natural food of this fish includes snails and shrimp, so it is not a safe companion for freshwater shrimp. Nymphaea lotus
Intelligence
Observations suggest that the Reticulate Loach is one of the more intelligent aquarium fish. They have been reported to be able to recognise people as individuals rather than just as people.
Sexing
When they are mature, the females are fatter than the males, and when loaded with eggs can be very fat. The slimmer males may have some red near their mouth.
Breeding
This fish has very rarely been bred in a home aquarium.
A report suggests that spawning has occurred with a pair conditioned on mainly vegetable food. The spawning happened at the water surface with a temperature of 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), a hardness of 11 degrees and a pH of 7. The female laid between three and five thousand eggs of about 2 to 2.5 mm diameter.
The eggs hatched in 16-18 hours.
The care of the fry was reported as being easy and they reached between 1 and 1.5 cm in length after one month.
Commercial Breeding
The Reticulate Loach is bred on a large scale commercially by the injection of hormones. This is done in Florida and other places.
Breeding in the Wild
They scatter their eggs over the bottom of the waterway they are in. Spawning appears to be done in pairs rather than in a group. The parents do not look after their babies. The babies grow during the wet season.
Common Names
In English the common names of the Reticulate Loach include Reticulated loach, Yoyo Loach, Y-Loach, Painted Loach and Pakistani Loach. The names “Y-Loach” and “Yoyo Loach” refer to the pattern of stripes on young fish of this species. At different stages of growth the pattern can look like a series of y’s, and then later like the word ‘yoyo’. When they are older they get the full net pattern which gives rise to the name “Reticulate Loach”. The actual pattern on different individuals varies considerably. Eleocharis Acicularis – Ponikło igłowate
Scientific Name
The accepted name for this fish is Botia lohachata (Chaudhuri, 1912). This is the only scientific name that has correctly been applied to this fish, but there is considerable confusion between Botia almorhae and Botia lohachata among aquarists. These two fish are similar in appearance and the information in this fact sheet about keeping them could be applied to either species.
Differences between Botia lohachata and Botia almorhae
The native range of these two species is different, but overlaps. While Botia lohachata comes from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Botia almorhae comes from India, Nepal, Myanmar and maybe Pakistan.
Botia almorha grows a little larger than Botia lohachata, but this difference could only be applied to full grown specimens, or to populations.
A Botia almorhae is generally wider than a Botia lohachata of the same length.
Conservation Status
Botia lohachata has not been evaluated by the UICN Redlist, but there is no reason to think it is an endangered fish.
Botia almorhae has been evaluated as being a species of least concern.
Pest Fish
Although I am not aware of this fish becoming a problem in ecosystems it is not native to, the normal precautions should be observed to make sure it cannot get into waterways it is not native to. The Reticulate Loach was introduced into the Philippines in 1991, but I don’t know if it has become established there.
Steve Challis
This fish seems more likely to breed if there are a good sized group of them. The female can lay up to 400 eggs. They are strongly adhesive, and stick to plants, including floating ones.
Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen
The eggs hatch in about 24 hours. The babies are about 7 millimetres long after hatching. In many cases the fry have succeeded in growing on the food present in a community tank.
Common Names
Common names for this fish in English include ‘Kuhli Loach”, “Coolie Loach”, “Giant coolie loach”, “Leopard loach”, “Slimy loach”, and “Slimy myersi”.
In French, it ii called “Kuhli” or “Loche coolie”, or “Loche léopard" or “Loche svelte” or “Serpent d'eau”.
Scientific Name
The accepted name is “Pangio kuhlii” (Valenciennes, 1846).
Companions
Although they cannot be described as a schooling fish, they seem to do better in groups; the larger the better.
Rotala rotundifolia – Rotala okrągłolistna
They are peaceful fish and can be kept with other small peaceful fish. They are a good inhabitant for a well planted community tank of at least 50 litres (13 US gallons).
Pest Fish
Catfish are in the fish order Siluriformes. To put in perspective what an ‘order’ is in the classification of organisms, in mammals, the Bats make up one order, the Rodents another and Primates another. As you can see, the classification ‘order’ can include a lot of different animals. For example consider the difference between the primates, including Humans, apes, lemurs and others. As with the primates, the Catfish of the order Siluriformes are a diverse group of animals.
Catfish range in length from a couple of centimetres to several metres. In aquariums and ponds there are a lot of different catfish kept. The name “Catfish” comes from the ‘whiskers’ (barbels) that most Catfish have.
Some of the most popular catfish for aquariums are the corydoras catfish such as the Bronze and the Peppered catfish. There are hundreds of different species of corydoras catfish. These are mostly tropical but some of them have a range extending well out of the tropics and these can tolerate lower temperatures. As a general rule, the corydoras catfish are intolerant of very high temperatures and high concentrations of salt.
Some catfish like the Bristlenose Catfish are specialized for eating algae.
Although most Catfish are bottom feeders there are some midwater catfish like the Glass Catfish.
The introduction of any animal to an ecosystem it is not native to can disrupt that ecosystem. The Bronze Catfish was introduced into Hawaii in 1984. The effect of the Bronze Catfish on the Hawaiian ecosystem does not appear to have been separately evaluated, but the overall effect of the large numbers of introduced fish to that state has been devastating to the native freshwater fish. It is a reasonable guess that some of the other fish have been much worse in their effects than the Bronze Catfish.
The Hawaiian and Australian ecosystems are examples of the terrible effects of introduced species, and of government mismanagement of the environment generally.
Common Names
Although I refer to “Corydoras aeneus ? as the “Bronze Catfish ?, it is also called the “Bronze Corydoras ?, “Lightspot Corydoras ?, “Wavy Catfish ?, “Aeneus Cat ?, “Bronze Cory ?, “Brown Cory ?, “Albino Cory’, “Gold Lazer Cory ? and the “Green Lazer Cory ? in English.
In France, it is called La “Corydoras vert ?, La “Aeneus ?, La “Fouilleur ? La “Corydoras Cuivré ?, and La “Corydoras Bronze ?. In French Guiana it is called “Kuikui ?, “Manii ?, “Taya Uipila ?, “Kwikwi ? or “Ilikyé ?.
In Mandarin Chinese it is called “侧斑兵鲶 ?, “ ? 斑兵鯰 ?, “ ?眼兵鯰 ? or “ ?眼兵鲶 ?.
There are similarly large numbers of names in several other languages, reflecting the popularity of this fish over a long period.
Scientific Names
The Bronze Catfish is widespread, and there are many different species in the genus. It is not surprising that some people have collected this species and believed that it was an undescribed one. There are a number of different scientific names that have been used for this species.
Bronze Catfish Fact Sheet
Black Kuhli Loach Fact Sheet
Echinodorus amazonicus – Żabienica amazońska
The Black Kuhli Loach, Pangio oblonga, is a close relative of the Kuhi loach, Pangio kuhlii, but is not as popular in aquariums because of its plainer colouring. The Black Kuhli loach comes from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Size
The maximum length of this fish is about 8 centimetres (3 inches), but because it is a thin eel like shape, this is still a small fish.
Water Conditions
This is a tropical fish and a temperature of between 23 and 28 degrees C (between 73 and 82 degrees F) is acceptable. This fish comes from soft acid water and the usually recommended conditions for them in an aquarium are a pH of between 6.2 and 7.2, with soft water. Although it seems logical to approach the water parameters of its natural habitat, Richard Bias of New Jersey, USA has kept and bred this fish with a pH of 8.0 and relatively hard water with a gH of 18-22 and a kH of about 20.
It may be that keeping the water clean and with consistent pH and hardness is more important than the actual values of the parameters.
In the wild their habitats often have a sandy bottom. This is generally recommended for aquariums, but Mr. Bias used small rocks of up to 2.5 cm (1 inch in diameter). I have also had success with keeping this species using a substrate of small pebbles.
Plants
Tylomelania towutensis
In the wild they are used to plants and an aquarium should have plenty of live plants.
Food
Black Kuhli Loaches are omnivores, but their diet requires a reasonable amount of animal based food. My Kuhlis seem to particularly like frozen blood worms (so do many fish). I also give them frozen brine shrimp once a week. They will also eat normal fish foods like flakes.
They are bottom feeders and only eat what falls to the bottom.
Nocturnal
Tylomelania species orange poso.
Black Kuhlis are partially nocturnal. Combined with this they will burrow into the substrate and are good at hiding in the plants, so you may not see them much. They are difficult to catch.
The Kuhli Loach, Pangio kuhlii, is a small eel like fish. It comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Other names include Coolie Loach, which is a clear miss-spelling of Kuhli; both these words are pronounced in the same way. It is also called “Prickle Eye” because it has a prickle near its eye. This prickle probably gives this fish some protection from predators.
Length and Longevity
The Kuhli loach will supposedly grow up to 12 centimetres (4 and a half inches) long, but I have never seen one this big. Most of the ones available are much smaller than this. One of the reasons for this variation is that there are several subspecies of Pangio kuhlii, and the size they grow to varies a lot.
They have been reported as living up to 10 years.
Water Conditions
The Kuhli Loach is an equatorial fish; the main areas it is from are a little to the south of the Equator. It needs warm water, and a temperature of between 24 and 30 degrees C (between 75 and 86 degrees F) is suitable. They can survive a slightly higher or lower temperature than this range, but I do not recommend it.
In the wild this fish is mainly found in slowly flowing streams with a sandy bottom with a layer of organic matter from the surrounding forests in many places on the stream bed. The water in these streams tends to have a fairly low mineral content and to be soft and acidic. There are plants growing in sections of these streams.
In an aquarium they will adapt to a moderate hardness and can certainly take a hardness of up to 10 dH. A pH of up to 7.5 is generally tolerated. The water needs to be reasonably clean in the sense of not having a large build up of fish wastes.
Substrate
In an aquarium you should avoid any sharp substrates and fine river sand is the normal choice. I have also had success with using large (6mm or more) rounded pebbles.
These fish not only search the surface of the sand for food, they will go right into it. I have seen them dive straight into the sand to avoid being caught. With larger pebbles they will go between the pebbles looking for food.
Plants
These fish seem to like densely planted aquariums. Including some floating plants is also a good idea.
Food
Kuhli loaches are omnivores with a requirement for some animal based food. They will certainly eat flakes and pellets. One of their favourite foods is frozen bloodworms. They also like frozen brine shrimp.
Neritina natalensis – Nerite Zebra
This is a bottom feeding fish, so it is necessary for some of the food to reach the bottom.
Catching
The Kuhli Loach has the distinction of being the most difficult fish to catch in a planted aquarium. It is closely followed in this by the Black Kuhli Loach.
Companions
Although the Kuhli loach in not a schooling fish in the normal sense, they seem to need company. A single Kuhli may be able to, live all right in a tank, but will tend to be hidden nearly all the time during the day. A group of perhaps eight of these interesting fish will behave quite differently and are much more likely to come out and show themselves during the day.
This is a small peaceful fish, and is a suitable inhabitant for a community aquarium of small peaceful fish.
Sexing
Most of the time there is not a big difference in appearance between the sexes, but the male is more muscular in the front part of his body. The male also have larger pectoral fins with more black on them than the females.
When they are ready to breed the gender becomes more obvious with their lower body becoming distinctly fatter with greenish coloured eggs visible.
These fish probably reach sexual maturity at about 2 years old.
Breeding in the Wild
The wild Kuhli Loaches usually breed in December and January. In the areas they come from, the wettest three months are December, January and February, so they breed in the early part of the wet season when the water level is rising. They apparently breed in very shallow water, in areas which are dry part of the year. Some of the breeding areas would not even be part of the stream bed, but would be normally a forest area. Neritina pulligera – Military Helmet These flooded forests would have a large amount of food both for the adults and for their babies. The breeding appears to be communal with a group of Kuhlis taking part rather than just one pair.
This fish is not threatened in the wild so they must be breeding successfully.
Breeding in Aquariums
There are many reports of this fish breeding in aquariums, but nearly all of these are of accidents rather than planned breeding. Most of these reports involve community aquariums.
Although I have yet to see a well documented account of this fish breeding when this was planned, there are a number of bits of information which can be pieced together.
Weather Predicting
This fish will react when it is about to rain. It is in the same family as the famous weather loach whose rain predicting abilities appears to rival the most advanced meteorological techniques. Both the weather Loach and the Kuhli loach will swim wildly as if they are ready to spawn when rain is coming. It is generally believed that they are reacting to a change in air pressure. Of course we should remember that our Kuhli Loaches are kept inside in an aquarium heated to a constant temperature, and that the pressure they are subjected to includes the pressure caused by the depth of the water in the aquarium. This depth may vary from time to time.
I wonder if we are underestimating these fish. The change in air pressure is not the only thing that happens before rain. The rain in the areas they come from will be largely accompanied by electrical storms and the atmosphere before thunder storms has a different proportion of negative to positive ions from normal. Humans can feel the effects of this. Possibly this is also used by fish in predicting weather.
Conditioning
To breed it is obvious that the fish will need to be well fed so they have enough nutrition to grow the eggs and sperm. Meaty foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc will be helpful in this.
Stimulating Spawning
It appears that conditions simulating those at the start of the rainy season in their native habitat are likely to encourage spawning. These conditions will include an increase in water level by the addition of pure water. This will reduce the hardness of the water. A reduction in the water temperature of 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) may also help.
Spawning
The Reticulate Loach, Botia lohachata is also called the Reticulated Loach, The Yoyo Loach, The Y-Loach and The Pakistani Loach. It is similar to Botia almorhae, and shares several common names with that fish.
Origin
The Reticulate Loach is native to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Length and Longevity
The Reticulate Loach can reach 11 centimetres (4 inches) in length although exceptional individuals can be bigger than this. It has been reported as living up to 20 years.
Water Conditions
This is a mostly tropical fish although its range includes some cooler areas. A temperature in the aquarium of between 19 and 30 degrees C (between 66 and 86 degrees F) is suitable for this fish. In some parts of its range water temperatures can get lower than this. Kirysek panda – Corydoras panda
Reasonably soft water with a pH between 6 and 7.5 is ideal, but they can be acclimatized to water outside this pH range with moderate hardness. Reticulate Loaches prefer clean, well oxygenated water, and usually do better if there is no more than a moderate current in the tank; in nature they are usually found either in still water or in slowly flowing water rather than raging torrents.
A well planted tank will make this fish act as if it feels more secure. This is a reasonably big fish which needs the company of its own kind, so it is very unsuitable for a small aquarium.
By nature they are partially nocturnal, but they adapt quickly to being active and eating during the day time. By having plenty of plants, including some floating ones the lower part of the aquarium will be in the subdued light that this fish prefers.
Substrate
Reticulate Loaches have four pairs of barbels. These can be damaged by the substrate of the aquarium, so the sand or gravel should not be sharp. Loaches have no obvious scales (although they do have some small scales) and are sometimes referred to as being ‘naked’ fish.
Hiding Places
These fish like to be able to hide and will get into small spaces, so you should also avoid any sharp edges on ornaments or stones in the tank. They like a hiding place that they will just fit into, so there should be a lot of different small caves etc. so they can choose a suitable one as they grow. Reticulate Loaches generally do not like large open caves that might suit Clown Loaches.
Food
The Reticulate Loach is an omnivore with a preference for animal food. They will eat any normal fish food that sinks. Most of their feeding is at the bottom of the tank, but they are capable of eating in mid water. They occasionally also feed at the surface of the water. Frozen Blood Worms are a good food, but their diet should be varied as much as possible. Live food including Daphnia and Brine Shrimp are good. In the wild their food includes snails, worms and small fish.
They will eat slices of vegetables such as cucumber, if these are weighted down so they stay on the bottom.
Snails
The Reticulate Loach, like many of its relatives, will eat some of the common aquarium types of snail. This fish is sometimes purchased mainly to get rid of an infestation of snails in an aquarium.
Scavenger?
The Reticulate Loach is sometimes kept as a scavenger. As with any fish, you need to make sure it is getting enough of the right type of food, and you cannot rely on food missed by the other fish. It will not eat fish wastes.
Frequency
It is better for this fish to have a small amount of food several times a day rather than a lot of food once a day.
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever is a serious disease affecting Humans and their domestic animals, as well as wild animals. The intermediate host of the parasite which causes this disease is one of a number of species of freshwater snails. One way of breaking the life cycle of this debilitating disease is to control the water snails. The snail eating Reticulate Loach is one of many natural controls on the freshwater snail population and plays its part in controlling the disease. Fantom czarny (Barwieniec czarny)
Sound
The Reticulate Loach can make a clicking sound. This may be produced by forcing air through the gills and may be connected with feeding on the surface of the water; an alternative explanation of the noise is that it is produced by specialized teeth in the throat of this fish that appear to aid in the extraction of snails from their shells.
Air Breathing
Although the ideal conditions include well oxygenated water, this fish has the ability to take in air and force it over their gills so they can absorb Oxygen from the atmosphere when they are in Oxygen deficient water.
Spines
Reticulate Loaches have sharp spines near their eyes. These are used in a defensive manner, and care should be taken to avoid getting your skin pricked, or a plastic bag used for carrying the fish punctured.
Resting
This fish will sometimes rest on its side. This behaviour is normal for Reticulate Loaches and some of its relatives and does not indicate any problem with the fish.
Companions
Reticulate Loaches are compatible with a wide range of fish. I would avoid putting them with slow moving, long finned fish because some people have reported that they can nip the fins of these fish. They are an active, semi-aggressive, fish which can disturb nervous fish. However, when it is young it is a suitable companion for all the tetras, all the rasboras and many other fish. A mature Reticulate Loach is a bigger fish than many of the tetras, so you certainly should not expect them to be a suitable companion for the smaller tetras like the Neon Tetra and its relatives; especially remembering that in the wild their diet includes small fish.
The Reticulate Loach is not a schooling fish, but it does much better in a group of at least 5 fish. They also appear to be less aggressive in a group than as a single fish.
The natural food of this fish includes snails and shrimp, so it is not a safe companion for freshwater shrimp. Nymphaea lotus
Intelligence
Observations suggest that the Reticulate Loach is one of the more intelligent aquarium fish. They have been reported to be able to recognise people as individuals rather than just as people.
Sexing
When they are mature, the females are fatter than the males, and when loaded with eggs can be very fat. The slimmer males may have some red near their mouth.
Breeding
This fish has very rarely been bred in a home aquarium.
A report suggests that spawning has occurred with a pair conditioned on mainly vegetable food. The spawning happened at the water surface with a temperature of 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), a hardness of 11 degrees and a pH of 7. The female laid between three and five thousand eggs of about 2 to 2.5 mm diameter.
The eggs hatched in 16-18 hours.
The care of the fry was reported as being easy and they reached between 1 and 1.5 cm in length after one month.
Commercial Breeding
The Reticulate Loach is bred on a large scale commercially by the injection of hormones. This is done in Florida and other places.
Breeding in the Wild
They scatter their eggs over the bottom of the waterway they are in. Spawning appears to be done in pairs rather than in a group. The parents do not look after their babies. The babies grow during the wet season.
Common Names
In English the common names of the Reticulate Loach include Reticulated loach, Yoyo Loach, Y-Loach, Painted Loach and Pakistani Loach. The names “Y-Loach” and “Yoyo Loach” refer to the pattern of stripes on young fish of this species. At different stages of growth the pattern can look like a series of y’s, and then later like the word ‘yoyo’. When they are older they get the full net pattern which gives rise to the name “Reticulate Loach”. The actual pattern on different individuals varies considerably. Eleocharis Acicularis – Ponikło igłowate
Scientific Name
The accepted name for this fish is Botia lohachata (Chaudhuri, 1912). This is the only scientific name that has correctly been applied to this fish, but there is considerable confusion between Botia almorhae and Botia lohachata among aquarists. These two fish are similar in appearance and the information in this fact sheet about keeping them could be applied to either species.
Differences between Botia lohachata and Botia almorhae
The native range of these two species is different, but overlaps. While Botia lohachata comes from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Botia almorhae comes from India, Nepal, Myanmar and maybe Pakistan.
Botia almorha grows a little larger than Botia lohachata, but this difference could only be applied to full grown specimens, or to populations.
A Botia almorhae is generally wider than a Botia lohachata of the same length.
Conservation Status
Botia lohachata has not been evaluated by the UICN Redlist, but there is no reason to think it is an endangered fish.
Botia almorhae has been evaluated as being a species of least concern.
Pest Fish
Although I am not aware of this fish becoming a problem in ecosystems it is not native to, the normal precautions should be observed to make sure it cannot get into waterways it is not native to. The Reticulate Loach was introduced into the Philippines in 1991, but I don’t know if it has become established there.
Steve Challis
This fish seems more likely to breed if there are a good sized group of them. The female can lay up to 400 eggs. They are strongly adhesive, and stick to plants, including floating ones.
Echinodorus cordifolius Tropica Marble Queen
The eggs hatch in about 24 hours. The babies are about 7 millimetres long after hatching. In many cases the fry have succeeded in growing on the food present in a community tank.
Common Names
Common names for this fish in English include ‘Kuhli Loach”, “Coolie Loach”, “Giant coolie loach”, “Leopard loach”, “Slimy loach”, and “Slimy myersi”.
In French, it ii called “Kuhli” or “Loche coolie”, or “Loche léopard" or “Loche svelte” or “Serpent d'eau”.
Scientific Name
The accepted name is “Pangio kuhlii” (Valenciennes, 1846).
Companions
Although they cannot be described as a schooling fish, they seem to do better in groups; the larger the better.
Rotala rotundifolia – Rotala okrągłolistna
They are peaceful fish and can be kept with other small peaceful fish. They are a good inhabitant for a well planted community tank of at least 50 litres (13 US gallons).
The accepted scientific name is “Corydoras aeneus ? (Gill, 1858). Other names that have been used include “Callichthys aeneus ? (Gill, 1858) , “Hoplosoma aeneum ? (Gill, 1858), “Corydoras microps ? ( Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903) and “Corydoras venezuelanus ? (Ihering, 1911).
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