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 The introduction of any animal to an ecosystem it is not native to can disrupt that ecosystem.  The Bronze Catfish was introduced into Hawaii in 1984.  The effect of the Bronze Catfish on the Hawaiian ecosystem does not appear to have been separately evaluated, but the overall effect of the large numbers of introduced fish to that state has been devastating to the native freshwater fish.   It is a reasonable guess that some of the other fish have been much worse in their effects than the Bronze Catfish.

 

The Hawaiian and Australian ecosystems are examples of the terrible effects of introduced species, and of government mismanagement of the environment generally.

 

Common Names

 

Although I refer to “Corydoras aeneus ? as the “Bronze Catfish ?, it is also called the “Bronze Corydoras ?, “Lightspot Corydoras ?, “Wavy Catfish ?, “Aeneus Cat ?, “Bronze Cory ?, “Brown Cory ?, “Albino Cory’, “Gold Lazer Cory ? and the “Green Lazer Cory ? in English.

 

In France, it is called La “Corydoras vert ?, La “Aeneus ?, La “Fouilleur ? La “Corydoras Cuivré ?, and La “Corydoras Bronze ?.  In French Guiana it is called “Kuikui ?, “Manii ?, “Taya Uipila ?, “Kwikwi ? or “Ilikyé ?.

 

In Mandarin Chinese it is called “侧斑兵鲶 ?, “ ? 斑兵鯰 ?, “ ?眼兵鯰 ? or “ ?眼兵鲶 ?.

 

There are similarly large numbers of names in several other languages, reflecting the popularity of this fish over a long period.

 

Scientific Names

 

The Bronze Catfish is widespread, and there are many different species in the genus.  It is not surprising that some people have collected this species and believed that it was an undescribed one.  There are a number of different scientific names that have been used for this species.

Bronze Catfish Fact Sheet

 

Black Kuhli Loach Fact Sheet

Echinodorus amazonicus – Żabienica amazońska

The Black Kuhli Loach, Pangio oblonga, is a close relative of the Kuhi loach, Pangio kuhlii, but is not as popular in aquariums because of its plainer colouring.  The Black Kuhli loach comes from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

 

 

Size

 

The maximum length of this fish is about 8 centimetres (3 inches), but because it is a thin eel like shape, this is still a small fish.

 

Water Conditions

 

This is a tropical fish and a temperature of between 23 and 28 degrees C (between 73 and 82 degrees F) is acceptable.  This fish comes from soft acid water and the usually recommended conditions for them in an aquarium are a pH of between 6.2 and 7.2, with soft water.  Although it seems logical to approach the water parameters of its natural habitat, Richard Bias of New Jersey, USA has kept and bred this fish with a pH of 8.0 and relatively hard water with a gH of 18-22 and a kH of about 20.

 

It may be that keeping the water clean and with consistent pH and hardness is more important than the actual values of the parameters.

 

In the wild their habitats often have a sandy bottom.  This is generally recommended for aquariums, but Mr. Bias used small rocks of up to 2.5 cm (1 inch in diameter).  I have also had success with keeping this species using a substrate of small pebbles.

 

Plants

 

Tylomelania towutensis
In the wild they are used to plants and an aquarium should have plenty of live plants.

 

Food

 

Black Kuhli Loaches are omnivores, but their diet requires a reasonable amount of animal based food.  My Kuhlis seem to particularly like frozen blood worms (so do many fish).  I also give them frozen brine shrimp once a week.  They will also eat normal fish foods like flakes.

 

They are bottom feeders and only eat what falls to the bottom.

 

Nocturnal

 

Tylomelania species orange poso.
Black Kuhlis are partially nocturnal.  Combined with this they will burrow into the substrate and are good at hiding in the plants, so you may not see them much.  They are difficult to catch.

The Kuhli Loach, Pangio kuhlii, is a small eel like fish.  It comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.  Other names include Coolie Loach, which is a clear miss-spelling of Kuhli; both these words are pronounced in the same way.  It is also called “Prickle Eye” because it has a prickle near its eye. This prickle probably gives this fish some protection from predators.

 

 

 

Length and Longevity

 

The Kuhli loach will supposedly grow up to 12 centimetres (4 and a half inches) long, but I have never seen one this big.  Most of the ones available are much smaller than this.  One of the reasons for this variation is that there are several subspecies of Pangio kuhlii, and the size they grow to varies a lot.

 

They have been reported as living up to 10 years.

 

Water Conditions