How many kuhlis in a 36" 30 gallon?

[loachmom]

Loachmom, at the moment i've got a 2ft tank waiting for a nice group of Coolie's, i'm using peat in the filter, hopfully creating a nice soft water enviroment , will see how this works !

piggy4,

I hope you find a nice group of them. And keep us posted.


I'm thinking that now I'll just have kuhlis and shrimp and one betta in the tank. Does anyone have opinions on just one betta? The kuhlis seem so much more active now that the danios are gone. I'd hate to mess that up.

Thanks.

[loachmom]

Hello,

I'm starting to rethink my idea to not have any dither fish in the tank. I've hardly seen my kuhlis in the past two weeks. I think all the kuhli activity when I first started this thread was due to their newness in the tank.

I also added the cherry shrimp, but I can't see that they would cause the kuhlis to hide so much.

I noticed that earlier in this thread zmo63 said she keeps hatchetfish with her kuhlis, and they don't prey on the shrimp.
So maybe I should keep a few dithers. I sure would like to see my kuhlis more often.

Oh, I may be receiving some of Richard Bias's pangio oblonga babies. Is it true that they are more outgoing and might encourage my kuhlis to show their little faces more often?

[Graeme Robson]

It's natural for Pangio's to hide, loachmom. They come from leaf littered environments with shaded to total blacked out areas. These little chaps are only doing what is natural to them. Personally i would like to know that my Pangio's are happy with acting naturally. Water changes will often bring the loachy dance in them as with newly introduced specimens in a aquarium, hence the activity.

It's up to you loachmom, if you want to add dithers. For over 9 years i have kept dithers with mine and for me the Pangio's will decide when they want to come out of the shadows. Normally it's bedtime for most.

[loachmom]

Ok, I guess I was under the impression that the dithers helped the kuhlis feel more at ease so that they come out more. I'm still learning, and that's what I like about this place---all the help I get.

I would like to see something swimming in my tank during the day....so maybe some dithers are in order. I do see the kuhlis sticking their heads out of their hiding places, and sometimes I see them slithering around behind things before quickly hiding again. So I'll be happy that they are happy. I do get up every week day at 3:30 AM to get my husband off to work. With the light from another room, I see a swarm of them swimming the corners and doing laps. I'll just have to enjoy watching them then.

I hope I can find a nice dither that will not prey heavily on my shrimp babies.


Thanks for the help. And sorry for my rambling....

[Emma Turner]

How about some of the Microrasbora species? Stay small and enjoy the same sort of conditions.

Emma

[Graeme Robson]

Like these

[zmo63]

just wanted to chime in here that we've been really happy with our marbled hatchetfish with the khulis. They're completely non aggressive, and they're so still and quiet that they don't interact with the khulis or cherry shrimp at all, but they give life to the tank when the khulis are hiding. Unfortunately, we only have three and are having trouble finding more locally.

I think microrasboras would be very cool too though.

[loachmom]

Thanks for the replies.

Emma, I'll look into the microrasboras. They sound nice.

I was a little confused when I saw Graeme's picture since I thought that fish (that lovely, beautiful fish) was a danio. I did a little googling and found this:

http://www.danios.info/fish/erythromicron.aspx
Glad to see your picture there, Graeme!

Is this little fish as piggish as other danios?


zmo63, I'm still thinking about hatchet fish, too. Thanks

[Graeme Robson]

The genus is undecided at the moment. Perfect companion for Pangio's. More of a nibble eater with floating foods.

[loachmom]

The genus is undecided at the moment. Perfect companion for Pangio's. More of a nibble eater with floating foods.

Looks like I'll be off fish shopping again. I just told my husband today that I thought I had all the fish I needed and wouldn't have to buy any more for a long time.
He had a funny little smirk on his face when I said that. I wonder why.....

[Graeme Robson]

Our other half's know us well.....

[loachmom]

Our other half's know us well.....

Yep....all too well!!

[piggy4]

Hi Loachmom, i'd forgot about this thread , anyway ,a few weeks ago i picked up a group of twenty P.Semicinctus, anyway unluckily ? the external fluval 2 packed up ! i say unlucky , but to be honest since the fluval stopped the Coolies have been more active , there is just a small sponge filter now , it could be that the Coolies had just plucked up courage at that particular time ? anyway there are usually a good few of them pacing up and down the glass ! feeding is mainly consisting of catfish pelets [JMC] and frozen bloodworm , usually eaten in the night , lovely colouration on these fish !
Hi Graeme , i always thought that M.Erythrimicon, prefered a quite high ph ? are yours ok in softer tank ?

[loachmom]

Hi piggy4,

I'm glad you got your pangios. I looked them up in the species profile, and they are a beautiful fish.

pangio-semicincta

I'm glad yours are out and about. Today, I put a piece of blue plastic under my tank light to darken it a bit, and I've seen more of them than usual. I hope it lasts.

[Playfulloach]

I'm thinking that now I'll just have kuhlis and shrimp and one betta in the tank. Does anyone have opinions on just one betta? The kuhlis seem so much more active now that the danios are gone. I'd hate to mess that up.

Thanks.[/quote]
My current setup is kuhli loaches and a betta/. Bettas are happiest alone, though females will tolerate each other if introduced correctly.
The betta and kuhli loaches seem to get along ok.
I don't know if they'd be more or less active as the betta is the only fish I've had them living with here.