Giant Kuhli Loach

One of my larger kuhlI loaches has reached nearly 5 inches and is rather thick (maybe 1/2 an inch). Just how big can these guys get. Mind you i've had kuhlI loaches in the past but I don't remember them getting this large. All the articles i've read suggest 4 inches is max so I don't know if this is some other type of kuhlI loach (he is black/orange stripped).
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I have 5 and two of them are fairly large the other three are smaller (I had 6 but couldn't find one when the aquarium broke - they like to dig into the gravel and hide in the heater making quick extraction difficult).
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If they are all going to get this large i'm thinking I might need a larger tank. The large ones like to curl around things mid tank and hang there - the smaller ones like to dig into the gravel - but they mostly don't hang out together since the tank broke (before the tank broke they would pile up on each other in a corner).

 

Ive had a few that hit that size. Its not "normal" but its not out of the norm either.

 

You probably have two different species. The real kuhlI loach, (Pangio semicincta) and the giant kuhlI (Pangio myersi) look alike but are quite different.

 

Yea after I posted this I found an article but it doesn't really indicate how to tell the difference.

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But I can't really figure out how to tell the difference. The picture of myersI show that the stripes don't really go down all the way so if this picture is accurate then I don't think I have any myersi. I pretty sure the small ones are semicincta but it is kind of hard for me to tell for sure. Is there an easy way to differentiate ? Can they inter breed? I'm not trying to breed them just kind of curious how close they are as a family. The pet shop I've been using is not exactly precise on fish names - they sold me green neon as small cardinals.

You probably have two different species. The real kuhlI loach, (Pangio semicincta) and the giant kuhlI (Pangio myersi) look alike but are quite different.

 

Yea after I posted this I found an article but it doesn't really indicate how to tell the difference.

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But I can't really figure out how to tell the difference. The picture of myersI show that the stripes don't really go down all the way so if this picture is accurate then I don't think I have any myersi. I pretty sure the small ones are semicincta but it is kind of hard for me to tell for sure. Is there an easy way to differentiate ? Can they inter breed? I'm not trying to breed them just kind of curious how close they are as a family. The pet shop I've been using is not exactly precise on fish names - they sold me green neon as small cardinals.

Check this link out to see what species your kuhlis are. Females will become gravid and they can get quite thick as they age.

 

I'll try to photograph them later - right now they are not being very friendly.

Ok the first three pictures are the same fish - one of the smaller ones - the last one is one of the really large ones - they are a little blurry because I turned off the flash (they dislike it when I flash'em)
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during the day one of the big one and two of the small ones tend to be very active; while the other big one hides until night as well as two of the small ones (one of the big one and small one hide together under a piece of drift wood while the other small hider tends to bury itself in random locations - unless it crawls up into the heater).

 

First kuhlI is semicincta and the other is myersi.

 

Thanks but how can you tell ?

First kuhlI is semicincta and the other is myersi.

 

You won’t see the pale belly nearly as much in the myersi. The smaller species has striping that doesn’t usually go all the way down the sides like in myersi.

Here are a few pics of my old myersi.



Bands go all the way down to the belly.




You can see the head of a semicincta under the spoon, notice the different shade of orange/yellow between the two.

 

One difference between your fish and mine is that your black bands are broken (orange circles) and mine are solid - are you sure they are the same fish ?

You won’t see the pale belly nearly as much in the myersi. The smaller species has striping that doesn’t usually go all the way down the sides like in myersi.

Here are a few pics of my old myersi.
View attachment 537870

Bands go all the way down to the belly.
View attachment 537871 View attachment 537872

You can see the head of a semicincta under the spoon, notice the different shade of orange/yellow between the two.
View attachment 537873

 

Not all are the same pattern. Their bands and spots are like finger prints, none are the same.

 

Thanks but how can you tell ?

You can see examples here.

 

The thing is that I almost have two 'pairs' in that one m and one s tend to stay together on the left side of the tank and another m and another s stay together on the opposite side - the 5th just sort or roams around.

You can see examples here.