Khuli loach

Khuli loach .... Pangio Sp.

These are fun... I'd recomment very fine, smooth gravel, or sand is even better. 

They spend a lot of time in the substrate, or wrapped around the bottom of plant stems. You will see more of them if you buy a decent group. Like a lot of loaches, they might become shy if kept in 1s and 2s. 

It the shop, I keep them on shallow sand to make catching them easier, but you should provide them with lots of plant cover and hiding holes. They live happily with peaceful fish such as guppies, small tetras and betta.

I've heard of people breeding these, usually by accident. Stories like, 'Well, I only put 5 in, but when I moved house I found 9' are quite common. 

To complicate the breeding, however, is the number of species that seem to arrive all mixed together. It any bag of 50-60 of these that Ive seen, I can usually see at least 4 different species. They're impossible to sort out at shop level, so your best bet would be to buy a large group and grow them on.

Having no scales, they are sensitive to treatments because they absorb the chemicals through their skin and overdose so much quicker than other fish. With this is mind, I'd always recommend quarantining these, or indeed any fish you put in with them.