Botia Kubotia Question

[Rychek]

I know what you mean about the marine tank. I have a 120 reef and can't bear to think about all the $$ I've put into it. Once you get the initial set up the cost becomes more insidious. A coral here, a fish there....

I don't think the marine tank costs will be anymore insidious than my loach tank costs. When one is an upgrade freak like me, "costs" seems to appear out of thin air.

Looks like it'll be about 2 weeks before I can get more kubotias. I'm moving this week then I'll be out of town for a week and I can't justify buying 2 new fish just to stress them with a move then leave them alone for a week. With my luck they would both die. Besides, the lfs that I was going to buy them from (which is also the only place in town that seems to carry them currently) only had little ones and quiet a few didn't look too healthy. I'll give them some time to stabilize.

[bslindgren]

Well that touched a nerve apparently. Like all guidelines one has to take a number of things into consideration, and obviously you wouldn't chose fish solely on the basis of length. I think it's still a useful measure when thinking about overall stocking, but not as a way of chosing fish per se. Call me old-fashioned. I'm sorry if I offended your sensitivities, Shari. Your points are all excellent and valid. I apologize if my comment was taken as some absolute rule.

[shari2]

No, bs!
No ruffled feathers, here. Honest.
And I didn't mean my post to be accusatory of you in any way, either.

I know you weren't making a blanket statement. I was simply unable to resist jumping on that particular issue.
The whole 'one inch' thing is just a sore spot with me. Too many people misuse it, and new fishkeepers are often victims of it. So, yes, in that sense you hit a nerve.

Sorry for the off-topic tangent. Back to kubotai's!

[Rychek]

Currently on my loach tank I'm running a Penguin 170 Bio-wheel filter. According to it's rating it is sufficient for a 30 gal tank, but I'm looking at a used Fluval 204. Any thoughts on swapping the Penguin for the Fluval? Or perhaps using both?

[bslindgren]

No, bs!
No ruffled feathers, here. Honest.
And I didn't mean my post to be accusatory of you in any way, either.

I know you weren't making a blanket statement. I was simply unable to resist jumping on that particular issue.
The whole 'one inch' thing is just a sore spot with me. Too many people misuse it, and new fishkeepers are often victims of it. So, yes, in that sense you hit a nerve.

Sorry for the off-topic tangent. Back to kubotai's!

Yes I can see that it could be mis-used if not used in an appropriate context, which I didn't provide properly. I simply think of it as a very rough guideline to protect against over stocking, which is easy to do, particularly with all the inspiration one gets reading posts on this site. But your comments are absolutely correct.