One more tank...(now with pictures 10-01-07)

[aquachromis]

Haven't really thought about the dithers too much. Maybe some type of rasbora? I saw some last night labeled Brilliant Rasboras, and another labeled Green Eye Rasboras. Does anyone have experience with either of these? What about a Danio? I see Frank has several species available. I also like the looks of Microrasbora erythromicron.

I do plan to have some plants in this tank. Probably an all crypt tank at this point. I want the fish to be the focus of this tank, not the plants.

I like the idea of starting with a lower number and saving space for future nice kubs or kuhlis I run across. I think I'll go with this idea and plan to initially stock 7 or 8 kubs and around 8 kuhlis.

[mikev]

The dither issue is if you care about having nice-looking interesting dither or not.

Brilliant Rasboras (==Blackline Rasboras, ==Redtail Rasboras) are my overall favorite dither. They are hardy, so I don't have to think about their well-being, easily replaceable, and they are pretty passive, so they don't pressure loaches at all. In fact, once I quarantined kuhlis with a few baby rasboras and the kuhlis were so active that one of the rasboras was driven to jumping out... They can be mixed with White Clouds, both species look sufficiently similar that it looks good and they don't mind schooling together.

I have four species of Danios here: Giants, Kyathits, Hikari and Choprae (the last two are from Frank, btw). IMHO, the best are Kyathits with Hikari being close 2nd. Roseus are favored by some people here, but no personal experience with them. But basically nearly any Danio is suitable.

Another possible good option would be small rainbows (neons).

One more thing to keep in mind: Kubs like current, Kuhlis really don't. This is ok, as long as you have areas in the tank that don't have much flow. Most of the dither mentioned will appreciate current too. You should be in a good shape if you put a powerhead high enough that the bottom flow is minimal. I do it in my Kub 65g, and *some* of the Kubs come up to play with the stronger current, some don't care.

And not to forget: quarantine everything separately, including what you get from the most trusted sources. Kuhlis occasionally carry some nasty stuff, while I never met a Kub with anything worse than Ich, there is always the first time...

[aquachromis]

A quick update. I keep meaning to post some photos but I also keep forgetting to buy batteries for the camera. Anyway, following Mike's advice I purchased the kubs and kuhlis last week. So far they all seem to be doing very well and all are eating and active.

I had to lower the water level on the QT tank with the kubs. I heard some splashing one night and found one of the kubs had jumped up into the media basket of the aquaclear! Seemed perfectly contend wedged in there though.

Last night I was watching the tank and noticed I was one kuhli short. I took out the ceramic caves and still no kuhli. I finally found the poor thing under my desk. I'm assuming it jumped out when startled at some point.

I bought the 55 gallon tank this past weekend and plan to set it up this week. I'm considering just a few rock piles, some driftwood and java moss and java fern for decoration. I'd like to go simple with this tank and not do a fully planted one.

I'll try to get some pics of the fish this week and post them. I'm fairly sure I have 3 different types of kuhli (all striped)...I'll let the experts decide though

Adam

[Whitey_MacLeod]

I've got some green-eye rasbora, Rasbora dorsiocellata. They're great fish. Mine were very shy when I first got them- all except one hid in a corner for six weeks before they settled in. Now they're very chilled out fish- they're out and active most of the day, get on well with the white clouds and barbs and ignore the hillstreams. They're not fussy eaters- mine get a mix of several dried and frozen foods and there's nothing they won't eat. The green eye tends to fade as they grow- mine still show the odd flash of green when the light catches them right but not often. They seem to like a good amount of flow, but don't often go into the highest-current areas. They do need some plant cover, but I don't think they require a really densely planted tank as long as they have some hiding places.
I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures.

[mikev]

Cheers, Adam,

Sounds like everything is going good and looking forward to the photos!

Both Kuhlis and Kubs are capable of jumping from a small tank, they seem to be most motivated to do this at the beginning. I had a kuhli jump out from a 10g (fortunately, when I was around, so it went right back), and while I never had a jumping Kub, I know two people who had this happening. Putting some hiding areas into the qtank will drastically decrease the chances of jumping: loaches would rather hide then run away. In case of kuhlis, plants, even plastic, seem to help.

As for planting your 55g: Kuhlis love Amazon Swords. Even a single one will make them happier. A "Compact Sword" I think will work even better, this on my list to try.

[crazy loaches]

Whenever I hear about jumping or loaches getting into the filter I think back of a post a while ago were someone linked to this video of a histrionica being a bit to inquisitive... http://www.schmerlen.de/video/histrion-out1.avi

[aquachromis]

I'll try my best to get some photos this week or this coming weekend.

I've got the wood on the way from http://www.manzanita.com/ and I plan to find some rocks early next week. So, hopefully by the end of next week the tank will be set up and cycling. I was supposed to be out of town this weekend but that fell through, so that gives me a bit more time to mess with the tank this weekend.

I'm leaning toward the Brilliant Rasboras right now. They'll give me a bit of color in the tank, and I like the fact that they're good schoolers. I've also been considering trying to remove the Harlequin Rasboras from my 40 gallon and putting them in the 55. I'm concerned I'm going to be overstocked in the 40 once all the fish mature. I'm also not looking forward to trying to 'fish' them out since it's a planted tank.

On a possibly negative note...I noticed two of the kubs flashing last night. No visible signs of any diseases yet, but I'm going to keep my eye on them. Should I go ahead and do a treatment for ich or wait and see?

[aquachromis]

Finally managed to get a few photos of some of the kubotai and kuhliis.

Kub #1



Kub #2 (w/ friends)


Kub #3


Kub #4


And some of the kuhliis...

Kuhlii #1


Kuhlii #2


Kuhlii #3 (the white spots are on the glass)



#2 and #3 together


There are several other of each species in the QT, but these are the best shots I got last night. If I can get the rest of them photographed I'll add them in later

[loachmom]

Very nice kubs, and you should be able to tell your kuhlis apart easily. They have nice markings.