Will Kuhli Loaches Eat Guppy Fry, Are They Safe?

Last Updated on January 24, 2022 by cmoarz

Wondering if it’s safe to breed guppy fry in a tank with Kuhli Loaches? Will Kuhli loaches eat guppy fry? It can be nerve-wracking trying to figure out who eats who and what eats what, So this article will help clarify what you need to know.

Will Kuhli Loaches Eat Guppy Fry?

Bottom line, Kuhli loaches will eat guppy fry if the opportunity presents itself (newly birthed guppy fry resting on the bottom of the substrate for example), But won’t actively attempt to eat them otherwise.

So, put your mind at ease, Kuhli loaches aren’t fry predators. But there are some important things you need to know.

Loaches, like any fish, Will eat just about anything that they can fit into their mouths.

This includes fry of course! However, there is only a small space of time that a guppy fry will be in eyesight and down at the bottom of the tank for this to happen.

Once a guppy gives birth, the newly born fry will often rest on the bottom of the tank for a few hours as they adjust to the water prepare to swim, and generally get their energy back.

That’s fair, Being born is a tough and draining experience.

But there are ways to limit this issue so it doesn’t happen.

Preventing Your Khuli Loaches From Eating Your Guppy fry

You can’t really prevent your guppy fry from laying on the substrate to get some rest after being born, But you can make it so the loaches don’t see the guppy fry doing this.

The best way to do this is to have a heavily planted tank.

If a fry is laying at the bottom of a heavily planted, dark tank, it will be very difficult for a loach to see. This allows the guppy fry some time to rest and recover from birth without being seen by predators.

Then in a few hours, the guppy will swim up to the top of the tank and get big enough to where it’s in no danger of getting eaten by the mostly peaceful Kuhli loaches.

The fact is, These loaches can’t keep up with guppy fry unless they are sitting on the bottom. Guppys are much faster.

And they wouldn’t bother trying either, there are better food sources than chasing around fry.

It all comes down to opportunistic feeding behavior.

That’s really the only time you’re going to need to worry about this situation happening. Otherwise, these 2 fish make great tank mats and it’s perfectly safe to have loaches in your guppy breeding tank provided you have enough cover for them.

The only other time your going to run into an issue is if the fry has died and sunk to the bottom, or something is wrong with it and it’s unable to swim upwards.

Unfortunately, in these cases, the fry is most likely doomed to begin with.

That’s sad, But it’s a reality of life in the fish tank.