# Black Kuhli Loaches or Cory Catfish?



## rebmasevolcire (Jun 2, 2011)

10 gallon tank.

All thats in it right now is 5, 3/4inch white cloud minnows and the tank looks extremely bare.


I've been doing a ton of research and I was thinking about adding 1 dwarf gourami, but i cant decided whether I should go with cory catfish or black kuhli loaches. (or other bottom dwelling fish if you have suggestions)


Can you provide some insight on which might go better?

I heard that Kuhli Loaches will hide a lot. Is this true? In the tank right now is about 9 medium-small plastic plants. Would those suffice for Kuhli Loaches if kept in 2?



Thanks Ahead !

- I know these fish will grow and could eventually outgrow the tank, but we own a 20 gallon but right now it has 2 tropical fish and I'm sure these fish could eventually go into it as they mature.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

I don't have experience with loaches, but I've heard that khulis and other loaches should be kept in groups of 3+. 2 might be able to work though. They also really love to hide and play in stuff, so maybe get like rocks and stuff for them to hide in? 

Corys are social too, but I think they are fine with or without rocks, as long as they have a few buddies. They eat like pigs though, and can be a little messy. But still, very cute.

With either of them, or any bottom dweller, you want to make sure you have nice smooth gravel or sand as a substrate, since a rough sub. can scratch up their bellies. Larger rocks for decoration are great too, since it gives them somewhere to hide and play around with, and most fish like having rocks. Drift wood work too, but can make your water change colors.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

You think yours is bare,I have two betta macrostomas,about two and three quarters of an inch in a 29 gallon,and one more in a 25 gallon,lol.
I think the kuhlis are too big for a ten,and I think the cories are as well.Not very many options for a ten gallon,sorry.I think it may be possible for you to do a small school of four cories,if you double the filtration.Also,plastic plants are hard on fish,so if you dont want real look for silk.The cories would enjoy sand more than gravel as it wont irritate the barbels as bad.The main thing is though,to watch your stocking.Not sure if I would go with the gourami with the WCMM and cories.Someone else may have better advice,I stock very lightly and have species only tanks,no communities.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Maybe adding live plants? You might want to simply consider adding decorations instead of more fish, for the time being at least. You might be amazed how much just adding rocks and plants to a tank can add to it, rather than just adding fish. Not to mention live plants help with filtering water.

Some plants I haven't been able to kill so far are anubias and java fern, and my fish love them, I see them snacking on stuff on the leaves and napping on them all the time.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello reb. Since you have such a small tank, I'd keep the number of small fish to no more than six or eight. This will allow the ones you have to grow without crowding. Albino Corydoras would be okay, because they stay pretty small. They do best with other Corries, so you'd need at least two, three tops. Adding these fish to the ones you have would max out your 10 G tank.

B


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## rebmasevolcire (Jun 2, 2011)

Thanks everyone !

I used a website called aqadvisor.com and plugged in 5 white cloud minnows, 1 dwarf gourami, and 3 kuhli loaches and it said the stocking was at 92% which was pretty high. 

I'm going to do alot more research and browsing websites before i make any decisions.


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