Breeding Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Kuhlii)
By Evelyn
Copyright 2007

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What you will need

• At least 6-12 adult Kuhlis (that means they need to be at leas 4 inch long)

• 10 gallon tank which should be painted black on the outside, and already well cycled

• Sponge filter

• bare bottom (makes it easier to catch the adults when you have to transfer them)

• a few caves for them to hide

• a couple of pieces of Java Fern

• Only enough Water sprite (floating plant) to cover 1/3 of the tank surface

• a large piece of Java Moss for the bottom

• A lid with light, which should only be on for 8 hours a day

• pH should be around 6.8 - 7.2 and temp around 70-78 degrees

Very important

It's very important to keep the water clean. You should do a 25% partial water change every 4 days, but don't suck all the mulm from the bottom of the tank, because that will be essential for the fry to feed the first few days on. Also if you have very hard water, put water in a bucket and soak Peat moss in it for a few days, before using it to refill your tank.


Conditioning and spawning them

• Feed them with black worms, Grindal worms, micro worms and occasional with frozen Blood worms. It's best to feed them at nights.

• Males/Females are hard to sex until the females have actually eggs

• You will notice that some of them get plumber and show a green spot, which is their egg spot (the pic following shows what I'm talking about)

• When they're finally ready, they will start swimming nervously up and down on the sites of the tank, as well as over the tank. At this point it's good to do a bigger water change, like 50% in the evening

• In the dim early light, you will see them pairing off, and swim up and down together. Eventually they will twine around each other and you will soon see bright green eggs being released and fertilized.

• The eggs will float for a bit and then sink and attach them selves onto the Water Sprite, Java Moss and Java Fern.

• All the eggs which fall to the bare bottom will be eaten by the adults, at this point it's a good idea to remove the adults from the tank

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How to raise the fry

• The eggs will hatch after a couple of days, and the fry will start feeding a few days later.

• The mulm on the bottom of the tank will be full of all kinds of protozoa that will provide an excellent first food for the fry. They will also eat much of the micro-fauna found on the Java moss and Java ferns, and the sponge filter.

• Add supplemental foods, such as specially made commercial fry foods that sink to the bottom.

• After four or five days, you can start adding frozen Cyclops and micro-worms.

• After another week, you can start adding newly hatched brine shrimp, too.

• Do small daily water changes to help keep the water quality at an optimal level.

• The fry grow fast and will be nearly an inch long after six weeks.

• At this size, it's a good idea to move some of them to another tank for further growing, as a good-sized spawn can number several hundred fry.

   
Once they reach about 2 inch in length, you can sell them. They are in high demand, so if you're good with an Owner from a Fish store, they will be happy to take them of your hands.