[jellopuddinpop]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been struggling with my Cory Cats uprooting my DHG, and something has to go; either the hairgrass or the Corys. I want to have some sort of scavenger fish that will eat leftover food, so I was thinking about replacing them with Kuhli Loaches. Does anyone have experience with Kuhli Loaches and carpeting plants? Will they root around as “vigorously” as Cory Cats do?

I know just the concept of a scavenger fish means that they'll be rooting around in the plants, I'm just looking for somethign that will do it a little more gently lol.

 

[AVN]

Kuhli loaches will root just as hard, they have less mass so maybe it won't be as disturbing to your DHG but they still do it just as much as corycats do. Sometimes they pile on each other and dig in the same spot lol.

They're actively searching for worms and copepods in the substrate so they do it all day every day

I used to use Belem in every tank I had, but there are suitable alternatives that are easier to maintain. I like Lilaeopsis Brasiliensus and Juncus Repens as alternatives to DHG. There's also Crypt Parva, Blyxxa Japonica and a few others with the same shortness/leaf shape

 

[jellopuddinpop]

I used to use Belem in every tank I had, but there are suitable alternatives that are easier to maintain. I like Lilaeopsis Brasiliensus and Juncus Repens as alternatives to DHG. There's also Crypt Parva, Blyxxa Japonica and a few others with the same shortness/leaf shape

For me, the appeal of DHG is that it spreads and fills in on its own. There's no separating rosettes, replanting, or anything like that. Keep it trimmed, and it will fill in the space you want filled in. My only issue is the damned Cory cats insist on uprooting it all.

I swear, they do it on purpose. Just yesterday, I saw one dive into a pocket that they had lifted earlier. He got himself wedged in there, got stuck, and thrashed his way free, ripping up a 3" x 3" patch of grass. The little buggers are spiteful

 

[AVN]

I've experienced that. How about removing the corys until you get a dense patch thats unable to be uprooted?

 

[MissCris]

The only cories I keep around DHG are my pigmy cories (c. hasbrosus). Khulis would absolutely demolish a patch of hairgrass; they are small but every bit as clumsy as cories and have a long body that knocks into stuff like the tail of a big dog next to a low coffee table.

Carpets and bottom feeders don't really mix well, and I prefer the fish, so I don't keep carpet plants in most tanks (and even the one that does have some hairgrass sections still has an open space for the cories).

 

[Shrimpz]

I have, but am removing, DFG because of Kuhlis. They burrow under the grass, same with my monte carlo. I think they are cool fish, but they are a PITA.

 

[Plinkploop]

The only cories I keep around DHG are my pigmy cories (c. hasbrosus). Khulis would absolutely demolish a patch of hairgrass; they are small but every bit as clumsy as cories and have a long body that knocks into stuff like the tail of a big dog next to a low coffee table.

This made me laugh so hard I snorted!! I have stopped trying to keep DHG a long time ago because unless you're super patient and let your grass mature past mat stage there is no keeping bumblers like cories or loaches with it. Even when it's matured it still isn't a guarantee that they won't tear it up trying to find out what's under it.