The popularity of the kuhli loach is sky rocketing right now due to a number of photographs going viral showing the rarer kuhli loach colors recently.
We can definitely see why these photographs have spiked the interest in owning a kuhli loach as most people are only aware of the brown and yellow or brown and orange kuhli loach and then when they see a rarer color kuhli loach, they want one for their own aquarium.
Due to seeing a wide range of questions being asked by so many people on the various kuhli loach colors, we have decided to publish this dedicated article on the subject.
Our hope is that we will be able to help bring awareness to the rarer colored kuhli loachs and potentially find your next addition to your aquarium for you.
As you would expect though, demand is always higher for the less common colors of animals and although some of the less common kuhli loach colors are not that expensive, the rare kuhli loach colors can end up being very expensive.
This is why we will try to add a predicted price for each color of kuhli loach that we will cover in our article below to try and help our readers fit them into their budgets.
What Colors Do Kuhli Loaches Come In?
The most common kuhli loach colors are brown and yellow or brown and orange but you are also able to get kuhli loachs in black, white and gold, chocolate brown, black, reddish brown, silver, black and white, pink, and albino.
The pink and albino kuhli loach colors tend to be the most expensive by far due to being so rare but the rest are usually easy to find, especially if you shop around online.
The Brown And Yellow Kuhli Loach
The brown and yellow kuhli loach color is the most common and usually the cheapest, they have a brown body with yellow stripes around them and usually have a pale bellow.
Most pet stores will carry the brown and yellow kuhli loach due to them being so common but you can sometimes find them cheaper than you would get them in your local pet store if you check online for them.
You will usually be looking at $5-$7 per brown and yellow kuhli loach in your local pet store with them being slightly cheaper online.
The Brown And Orange Kuhli Loach
The brown and orange kuhli loach color is the second most common kuhli loach and is almost as common as the brown and yellow kuhli loach.
They have a brown body with a tan belly and orange stripes around the length of their body essentially looking like the brown and yellow kuhli loach just with orange stripes instead of yellow.
You can usually find the brown and orange kuhli loach online for around $5-$8 with prices being as high as $10 in local pet stores.
The Black, White And Gold Kuhli Loach
The black, white, and gold kuhli loach is essentially a variant of the brown and orange kuhli loach with much darker pigments and is one of the rarer kuhli loach color combinations.
The brown darkens to black and the orange darkens to gold while the tan belly lightens to white.
Most collectors will pay a premium for these but they are difficult to find with your best bet being online dealers but you can expect to pay around $40 per black, white, and gold kuhli loach at a minimum with them rarely being available and selling quickly once they are listed for sale.
The Chocolate Brown Kuhli Loach
The chocolate brown kuhli loach color is less common than the two standard colors but is not as rare as some people may think.
They are usually chocolate brown from nose to tail but can have a tan belly with the rest of their body being chocolate brown.
These do tend to be less expensive than some of the other colors with a price tag of around $20 often being paid but they can be difficult to find even when checking online.
The Black Kuhli Loach
The black kuhli loach color is rarer than the chocolate brown variant due to it simply being a darkening of the chocolate brown pigment.
This results in a black body that can have a tan belly with the tan belly rarely having a gold look to it and a gold belly black kuhli loach often going for upwards of $70 and bidding wars not being uncommon.
A regular black kuhli loach can sell anywhere from $5 up to $20 depending on how quickly the breeder wants to sell and are fairly common online.
The Reddish Brown Kuhli Loach
The reddish brown kuhli loach color is less common than most of the colors mentioned above but can still often be picked up for less than $20 from specialist breeders.
Their body tend to be a reddish brown from nose to tail with a tan or yellow belly also being common.
A few years back there was a reddish brown kuhli loach with a single orange stripe on its body that ended up selling for $83 due to its very unique look but we have never seen any other brown kuhli loach variants with a single stripe since then and we feel that the sale price could easily be double that if sold today due to the spike in popularity in kuhli loachs.
The Black And White Kuhli Loach
Although the black and white kuhli loach is one of the rarer colors, it still tends to sell for around the $20 mark due to there being so many other fish that people can keep in their aquarium with a similar black and white look.
The body tends to be white with black rings with the belly staying white but the black rings can sometimes go all the way around the belly too. Specialist kuhli loach breeders will often sell black and white kuhli loachs online but they are rare in pet stores.
The Silver Kuhli Loach
The silver kuhli loach color is the first rare kuhli loach color on our list and they have a body that is almost all silver including their belly.
Some silver kuhli loachs can have dark specks on their back with some having a single dark line down their backs too.
Prices for an all silver kuhli loach can be as high as $50 but prices do tend to fall if they have the dark specs of lines on them with you usually having to go to a specialist breeder for a silver kuhli loach or order them online but even then, they are hard to find.
The Pink Kuhli Loach
The pink kuhli loach color is very rare and hard to find and is an individual color due to the pink kuhli loach having black eyes rather than red eyes like the albino kuhli loach.
They usually have a pink belly with a salmon looking back and sides without any rings, specks or lines on them and can sell for as much as $80 depending on demand due to them being so rare.
It is doubtful that you would fine a pink kuhli loach in your local pet store so checking online for them is the best option but it is still difficult to find them online due to them being so rare.
The Albino Kuhli Loach
The albino kuhli loach color and pattern is the rarest kuhli loach option and they have been known to sell for over $100 due to being so rare.
Due to the albino kuhli loach being any color or pattern of kuhli loach with albinism they can have a wide range of looks.
They always have their distinct albino red eyes but their body is usually a light pink but they can have darker pink rings around them as well as stripes depending on what pattern the kuhli loach would have had if it did not have albinism.
The main different between an albino kuhli loach and a pink kuhli loach is the eyes with the albino kuhli loach having red eyes and the pink kuhli loach having black eyes.
It is doubtful that you would find an albino kuhli loach in your local pet store and they are rare online but checking the various online breeders is probably your best bet but expect to pay way over the odds for an albino kuhli loach.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the various kuhli loach colors to an end. We hope that you have found it helpful and that we have managed to introduce you to a kuhli loach color that you like the look of and want to add to your tank. As we have mentioned throughout the article though, the rare kuhli loach colors really can spike in price and be as much as twenty times the price of a regular kuhli loach so keep your budget in mind and don’t let yourself get carried away.
