Are you planning to keep Kuhli loaches in your tank? Or you are planning to add shrimp to the Kuhli loaches tank? Either way, you will be keeping an omnivore with a teeny tiny shrimp. So, you need to question many things before you go through the plan. What will happen if you keep Kuhli loach with shrimp? Will Kuhli loach eat up your shrimp? Or do Kuhli loach generally eat shrimp?
Yes absolutely. Your Kuhli loach will happily eat the shrimp present in the tank as it would devour any other food. So, it is very unlikely and highly restricted to keep these two together in the tank if you want your shrimp to live long.
There is, however, a window that you can try if you indeed want to keep Kuhli loach and shrimp together. You can keep a juvenile or a baby Kuhli loach with a full-grown shrimp.
I know this is not the only answer you are looking for. This fragment of information will do you no need if you are planning more for your Kuhli loach tank.
That’s why I have written an entire article dedicated to this very topic below. I hope this will help you make your decision easier.
Let’s dive in!
Do Kuhli Loach Eat Shrimp?
Yes, Kuhli loach eats shrimp and not only eats but devours these shrimp actually. If the shrimp is small enough to fit in the mouth of the Kuhli loach, then that is a done deal.
You will not be seeing your shrimp again when you leave them alone in the tank with Kuhli loach. There is always a risk that will hover around shrimp if it is living together with Kuhli.
It is like placing a deer and lion in the same den and waiting for the lion to leave the deer alone. That’s not how nature works so my friend you have to be mentally prepared to face the reality.
If you are placing your shrimp in the tank with Kuhli loach, you might not even be lucky enough to see the dead body of your shrimp.
Kuhli Loach is not intentionally killing your shrimp but rather it is the force of habit. You cannot aspect them to leave their prey behind.
However, there is a thin line of hope while your Kuhli loaches are still small. Keeping a juvenile or baby Kuhli loach with shrimp can work for you till this Kuhli loach grow enough to eat up the shrimp.
You might have to change the tank for either shrimp or Kuhli once the Kuhli is around and about to reach maturity.
Why Would Kuhli Loach Eat Shrimp?
Why do you eat food? Can you stay in front of your food without taking a bite after a long day at work? Can you expect a chocolate lover to leave behind a piece of chocolate?
I can’t give any better examples than this to explain why your Kuhli Loach Eat shrimp. The way they eat shrimp present around them is their way of living.
That is a force of habit of any fish to put anything in their mouth that fits. They won’t care if that is a shrimp or any other food,
You cannot blame your Kuhli loach for eating up, now can you? They are not doing it intentionally or with the feeling of revenge or anything, it is just that shrimp are like a tasty food for Kuhli loach as a deer is for a lion.
Also, there is a chance your Kuhli loach is hungry and scavenging the floor of the tank in search of food. While looking for food, they might get stumble upon shrimp and will happily feed on them.
There is no heart feeling or anything. It is just a pure act out of hunger and love for food. And, No, this doesn’t imply that your Kuhli loach is aggressive.
There is much fish that you can keep with Kuhli loach which has a very low chance, nearly null, to come up dead due to Kuhli loach.
How Can You Stop Kuhli Loach From Eating Your Shrimp?
It is quite simple to save your shrimp from being a lunch, dinner, or mid-day snack of Kuhli Loach. GET ANOTHER TANK AND KEEP YOUR SHRIMP AND KUHLI LOACH SEPARATELY.
This is the only way you will be able to save your shrimp. Do you truly think that there is a way to prevent or stop your Kuhli Loach from neat the shrimp right in front of them?
Okay here is what you can do. But I still don’t recommend keeping them together. You can keep your Kuhli Loach with shrimp until and unless this Kuhli loach is not big enough to eat up your shrimp.
If you have a newly born Kuhli loach or one who is yet to grow, then you can keep them with fully grown shrimp.
So not keep shrimplets with these small Kuhli loaches though. If the shrimplets or even the shrimp can get in their mouth, then Game over.
There is no way you can keep shrimp in the tank with Kuhli loach. Please act rationally and logically. Do not push the reset nature button because you cannot reset it or twist or turn the natural process accordingly.
Accept the fact that shrimp and Kuhli loach are not compatible and will not live together. Plan properly before you take any harsh steps.
What Do Kuhli Loaches Eat?
Let’s make it clear first: Your Kuhli loaches are omnivorous. You know that right? Well, don’t think I am questioning your knowledge about Kuhli loaches. It is just that when I was a beginner in fishkeeping, I used to think of them as carnivorous.
Now, when I come to think about it, I was making an absurd assumption without even dealing with the loaches.
So, if you are also a beginner, then do not repeat the mistake I made and assume anything on your own. With that being said, let’s talk about the food your Kuhli loach would love to devour in the aquarium.
Food For Your Kuhli Loach
The best thing about omnivorous fish is you can feed them both types of food. You can go for the live foods as well as the ones you can find in the aisle of fish food in any pet shops.
Kuhli loaches love eating food and they do need a different menu every day. Not that they will complain to your manager about the wrong menu but hey they will hate having the same food every day.
It is best to go for the foods that will sink in the bottom of the tank. These bottom-dwellers would love to have some community pellets, Repashy gel food, etc.
And from the frozen side of the food menu, you can go for frozen bloodworms but also remember to give them live blackworms once in a while.
Now, with the commercial foods and non-vegetarian ones out of the way, let’s discuss the food you can feed them for quenching their thirst for vegetables.
You know, this list of vegetables I am about to give you will make it easier for you to have options when you run out of fish food.
Mashed green vegetables can be one of your options to go for when you are feeding your Kuhli loach. Give your Kuhli loach well-boiled spinach, lettuce, or zucchini.
They will eat these veggies up without making any fuss. Trust me, these vegetables can be a real-life saver when it comes to feeding your Kuhli loach.
Also, if the other fish in the tank leaves behind food, then you will have a clean-up crew as Kuhli loach. Yes, Kuhli Loach will happily eat up the leftover food that sinks in the bottom of the tank.
Are There Any Shrimp-Safe Loaches? Loach That Will Not Eat Shrimp
Apparently no. There are no loaches that will leave your shrimp alone. You need to be extra careful with your loaches when there is a shrimp in the tank.
If you truly want to see if there are any chances of shrimp survival, try keeping one shrimp with your Kuhli loach. You might not even see your shrimp the very next day. Kuhli loach is one of the most peaceful fish that basically minds their own business all the time.
So, if your shrimp is not safe with Kuhli Loach, then there is barely any option left for you to try out. If you are certain about keeping your shrimp with a fish, then go for Otocinclus.
These Otocinclus would leave your shrimp alone and I think are the only ones who are considered shrimp-safe at a 100 percent rate.
You have many more options to choose from but Kuhli loach or any other loach is not the one for you. Please do not experiment or even try to act clever by keeping shrimps with juvenile loach.
Juvenile loaches do grow and they grow quite faster. So, before you can prepare your tank to separate loaches and shrimp, you might already lose those shrimp0lets with a blink of an eye.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some of the FAQs people often ask and there is a chance you might be wondering about them as well.
Can Ghost Shrimp Live With Kuhli Loaches?
Well, I think we have already established the fact that Kuhli Loach and shrimps together are big no. Even if the shrimp is Ghost or Amano. Either way, it is quite risky to keep Shrimp with your Kuhli loach.
You might like to know the differences and similarities between Ghost Shrimp VS Amano Shrimp | Differences And Similarities.
As I have mentioned earlier, your Kuhli Loach loves their food quite much than necessary. And trust me when it comes to snails and shrimps or any other crustaceans, you will find your Kuhli Loaches lavishly devouring them.
Here is an article on Snails And Shrimps: Can Snails Live with Shrimps?
Those fish that will stay on the mid and top section are however quite safe as these bottom-dwelling loaches would barely make past their substrate.
That’s why you need to give them the food that will sink in the bottom of the tank. And, it is better for Ghost shrimps as well as snails to stay away from the tank with loaches.
You might like to read more about Do Kuhli Loaches Eat Snails: What To Know?
What Can Kuhli Loaches Live With?
If you are raising a Kuhli loach in your tank, then you already know how amazing this fish can be. They are not even fussy and they are one of the peaceful fish you can have in the tank.
But while choosing a tank mate for these fish, you need to consider any possibility. And we have already established that shrimps are a big no when it comes to being a tank mate of Kuhli loach.
Hence, you need to consider the size of the next fish, their needs in the aquarium, and of course the water parameters.
You need to look for the ones who will neither bully your Kuhli Loach nor will get bullied by them. Also, Kuhli Loach is a bottom-dwellers and will stay on the bottom of the tank swimming happily most of the time.
They are the scavengers and will be busy playing around and eating the food they can find in the bottom of the tank. So, it is better to go for mid-dwelling or top-dwelling fish. I do have few names for the one that will live happily with your Kuhli loach.
Choose the one you like and unquestionably love from the following list of non-aggressive fish:
- Neon tetra
- Cardinal tetra
- Black skirt tetra
- Harlequin Rasboras
- Chili Rasboras
- Cherry barb
- Celestial pearl danio
- Zebra danio
- Corydoras Catfish
Do Kuhli Loaches Eat Cucumber?
Oh yes, your Kuhli loaches are a big fan of veggies like cucumber. We are talking about a fish who will happily eat anything you feed them.
I always find omnivorous fish easier to raise as I will have to think very little about their diet. If I am running out of their food any day, I can just go to my refrigerator and pick out vegetables like cucumber, zucchini, etc. and after a few steps of making it appropriate for your fish, you can just drop those into the tank.
What else would you want if your fish is this easy to feed? So, you can feed your Kuhli loach cucumber without worrying much. But it is suggested to boil them too in or4der to make them edible and chewable for your fish.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Kuhli loach would love eating shrimp once in a while. So, do not risk keeping your shrimp with loach. There are few loaches that will stay away from your shrimp. You can research about them or in fact go for fish which will not even consider shrimp their food. And if you indeed want to try keeping Kuhli loach with shrimp, then keep them, while Kuhli loach is still small enough to not fit the shrimp in their mouth. But why take the risk and kill your shrimp over a simple experiment? You can always have options among other fish which are big enough for your Kuhli loach to eat.
I still recommend you to not experiment and keep these aquatic beings apart from each other. You will be able to keep together when your Kuhli loach is small. But once they get big, the additional workload of separating them is not essentially exciting.
If you still have doubts about certain things I talked about here in this article, then try pinging me in the comment section. I will try to clear your doubt.
Good Luck!!!
Happy Fishkeeping!!!