r/pangio

So, I have wanted eel loaches for so long. It's been a journey. I read and read about their keeping and finally went to my local aquarium shop (to avoid Petco) and they had them. The guy working sold me some but totally lied to me about their fam. They had Pangio semicincta and Pangio oblonga (as far as I can tell now) in the same tank. When I asked about them, he told me they were the same species. When I asked if he was sure, he said absolutely that there where black Pangio semicincta. When I asked if it was safe for them to be on aquarium sand, yes. When I asked if they were safe with Neocaridina davidi, yes. Will they be okay, just the two of them until I'm back? Yep. So I bought what they had intended on coming back for more when they got them in in a few days. A black and a banded. Sad now that I know better.

I'm home and the banded loach (who knows which) wasn't doing well. When I went to trouble shoot, I read "Since 90% of Pangio loaches are wild caught..." 😶 I read so much and it didn't give me anything but care info and what their natural environment is. Now, I'm not here to crap on anyone for buying wild fish, but I wish I'd known that so I could have made sure they were tank bred. Hindsight and all that.

This is when I discover, no, dude straight up lied. There are no black Pangio semicincta. Although I'm still confused about how we tell who's who besides the black Pangio oblonga. The banded are hard to tell apart at least for me. I wish there was more information and AI wasn't running Google. Even if the info has always carried a risk, it's so much worse now. So! I'm here where the experts reside.

The banded loach unfortunately died. Who's to say why. I was really sad as I'm totally in love with the banded loach. I've learned I'll have to settle here but that's okay. I love all eel fish. 😊 The water parameters where totally perfect. Could have been stress. Could have been the aquarium gravel being too coarse since I was told it was fine and what they had them on. I took the single black kuhli out and put him in a 12 qt bin with nothing but boiled oak leaves and a heater, filter, and got to work finding him a fam. I ordered 4 more from someone who said they tank raised them and they're all healthy but look suspiciously wild to me based on their shape and sizes. But hey, I've never bred a black loach so what do I know? They went into the quiet bin with him.

I gradually exposed them to more and more light over the next wk and did frequent water changes. Today, they got moved into a 10 gal. It does still have aquarium gravel, but everything I've read said this is totally fine for the black loach but it will be appropriate sand like pool filter sand in the upcoming 40 gal Walstad tank. But now that I've seen someone breeding them on here, they might get their own 55 gal! 😂 It's not perfectly cycled, but their filter and leaves went with them. I'll be monitoring it closely. Eventually, they're going in a 40 gallon community tank with some peaceful friends so this will all change.

Now to the rock pile in the corner. I thought these river stones would be fun for them. But now I'm wondering if it's not safe, like they could get stuck. They seem to be having a blast with it so far. Noodling in and out. I figured I left it a little high, so ended up lowering it. I can remove it entirely or spread it out if need be. What do the eel fish peeps have to say? 😊

I have several kuhli loaches living in a 29 gallon neocaradina tank. Most of them that I see are in good condition, if perhaps a little too pudgy. This one guy is perpetually skinny, though. I've spotted him a few times, but he's shy and keeps hidden most of the time. It's only when I do a water change and a feed that I typically spot him. (Thus, the murky water in the photos. It's typically very clear but a little green tinted.) I noticed he was thin about a month ago and started putting more sinking food in the hidden spots where the kuhlis spend their time, hoping to make sure there was enough. But, lo and behold, he came out today and is still a very thin noodle.

Any thoughts on why this may be happening to just one khuli and not the others? Is there any way to help him?

If it's relevant, I last purchased kuhli loaches about 3 years ago, if I'm remembering correctly. They came mostly full grown, but not completely, so I believe they're pretty close to 3 years old. There were some in there that could have been 5 years by now, but I would be surprised, because there was a pretty bad tank crash that resulted in the loss of all the shrimp and several kuhlis at that time. No water problems since then.

Final picture in the slide shows the regular sized, healthy loach that comes to the front the most, to prove there are healthy ones in there.

So, I am upgrading my 30 gallon to a 55. I’m adding my fish from my 30 into my 55- and I have a lot of stocking space

I have currently
5 mollies
7kuhlis
2 Cory’s (ADDING TO THE GROUP)
1 nerite
Like 30 Molly fry I’m going to give to my lfs

What I want
I want to have a pair of angels- they are so pretty, but I’m curious on if they will be compatible
6-8 mollies
8 Cory’s
10 kuhlis
Cherry shrimp
2-3 nerites
Maybe a group of rummy noses or a schooling fish? I do not want larger tetras like white skirts, I’ve kept them before but I can’t find them anywhere else so I can’t have them

This tank will have multiple driftwood pieces, floaters, tiger lotus, vallisneria, anubias, parrotsfeather, ferns, and a lot more. I will have fluval stratum with multiple decently sized sandpits in different areas of the tank, and some under driftwood for secure areas to sift. I plant to have moderately hard water, with a temp of 77-78, with an HOB filter that has airline tubing separating it from the floaters.

The photo is so this will be seen more and so I can get some good advice

Common interactions between the group of 12 striped kuhli loaches after they've gotten used to their 29 gallon. Live among thai crabs, pom pom crabs, neo shrimp, and glowlight tetras.

Tank inhabitants: 9 kuhli loach, 1 plakat betta, 1 mystery snail and about 100 MTS and ramshorn snail.

Rescaped tank last Sunday and found a couple eggs in the tank and floating on the surface attached to my floating rings for duckweed. Do these look like kuhli eggs? Could they just be bubbles. They were gone in the morning with the moss disturbed.

Been awhile since I've uploaded here is another fry I caught video off.

3 more kuhli for my tank bringing my total to 12! In less than 30 minutes from adding I noticed my kuhli coming out into the less covered areas and exploring on top of driftwood! Tanks officially fully stocked and will be spending the rest of the night watching the sweet little guys!

My favorite part of bringing them home is seeing their reaction going from a mesh breeder box with 1 piece of driftwood to a tank with sand, plants rocks and places to hide/explore.

Very tempted to go get more leopard khuli’s (currently only have 3)

Also what’s the visual difference between regular and giant Kuhli loaches when they are young? As of rn I have 2 or 3 known giants.

I’ve been posting a lot recently but I’ve been getting some good photos and videos so I’m going to share them!🧡🖤

Here I come again, I was looking at my tank and noticed this Kuhli loach is a lot more golden than the rest of the crew ( as shown in video). This one came in a batch of black Kuhli’s , is there a possible ID for this guy?

There’s like two of them in this heater and idk how to get them out. Going to flip the heater horizontally off the ground so they don’t get back in it.

One of the youngsters in the gang caught reflecting on noodle life.

Random shenanigans in and around one of the noodle caves