Description
The kuhli loach looks more like a tiny eel than an aquarium fish: an elongated body of about 10 cm, orange-yellow with dark bands and an undulating way of moving through sand and roots.
It is nocturnal and a burrower, so for most of the day you will not see it. Anyone buying it expecting an active bottom fish like a corydoras is usually disappointed. Anyone who knows what they are buying enjoys a group that comes out at dusk and weaves through the plants.
It is peaceful, bothers nothing and makes use of food that falls to the bottom. It needs a group, fine sand and hiding places; without them it never comes out.
Behavior
Peaceful and gregarious: five or six minimum. In a group it grows bolder and even comes out by day; alone it spends its life buried.
It lives well with almost any peaceful mid-water fish: tetras, rasboras, small gouramis, bettas and shrimp.
Avoid housing it with territorial bottom-dwelling cichlids, large fish that mistake it for food and greedy bottom feeders that leave it nothing.
Watch the filter: it squeezes into any gap, the filter intake included. Cover intakes with a sponge.
Habitat
Pangio kuhlii lives in Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, in slow forest streams and swampy areas with soft, acidic water, fine sand and a thick layer of leaf litter where it hides.
In the aquarium: fine sand — never sharp gravel — dried leaves, roots and dense plants. Dim light helps it come out sooner.
Habitats
Fish sharing this habitat
These fish appear in one or more habitats linked to this profile. It doesn't mean they are directly compatible in an aquarium.
Details
🌊 Water parameters
🐠 Minimum tank size
Breeding
It rarely breeds in home aquariums, and when it does it is usually a surprise in mature, heavily planted tanks: the female releases greenish eggs among the roots of floating plants.
Most trade fish come from farms in Southeast Asia.
Diet
A nocturnal bottom-feeding omnivore.
- Staple: sinking tablets or granules, given after lights out.
- Supplement: frozen mosquito larvae, tubifex and brine shrimp.
If you only feed during the day, the tank mates eat everything before it comes out: the kuhli's food goes in at night.
What about your tank?
Enter your tank's values to see only the compatible species that fit them. Litres apply to fish.
Compatible fish
General guidance based on water parameters, behaviour and known exceptions; always review the individual animals' and aquarium's specific needs.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 26–30 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 25–30 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–25 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 27–30 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 25–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–27 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 26–30 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–6.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
Compatible invertebrates
General guidance based on water parameters, behaviour and known exceptions; always review the individual animals' and aquarium's specific needs.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.5–6.5 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–25 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.8–6.8 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.8–6.8 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
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They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
Sources
- FishBaseFroese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2026. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
Seriously Fish lists its kuhlii page as Pangio semicincta, and the two are mixed up in the trade; so it is not cited. FishBase gives 24-30 °C.
Plan your next aquarium
Is this fish right for you? Plan a suitable aquarium before setting it up.