Loaches Online Forum

I posted a few weeks ago about setting up a tank just for khulies. I thought the last few posts on khulies has been very helpfull but am a little confused over lighting, in a previous some one suggested 3 watts per gallon or 2 watts per gallon at 6500K, can someone tell me what that means?
My tank is 24''x12''x12'' which equals 57 litres or 15 US gallons. Does that mean I need light of between 30 and 45 watts and if so what does 6500K mean

This is a picture of my set up so far, I,ve got some bog wood soaking in a tub out in the shed, and alist of plants from the previos posts that I hope to get tomorrow. This tank has been doing a fishless cycle for about 4 weeks now, so shouldn,t be long before I can get some fish in it.

Brian.

The Kuhli's won't care what light you put in, but if you've got higher light plants, I'd say 30-45 watts sounds about right. 6500K refers to the Kelvin temperature of the light. As I understand it, it's somewhat related to the spectrum the light gives off, but it has more to do with the visible color. the 6000K range is most common for planted tanks, as it gives off a nice warm yellow-white light. It will make the greens greener. 5000K range will be very yellow, and 10000K will be really white, moving into the cooler blueish spectrum.

I would lower the substrate as i can see pockets which will develop into something much more serious in due course. Apart from that, more shelters and plants like you says, will be good to go!

I agree with Graeme. Those air pockets in the sand are not good. Either stir them out before you add fish, or make a lower substrate level and be sure there's no air pockets in there.
when you stir them out see if you notice a very stinky smell. If so, you've got anerobic bacteria growing in there. Do not add fish till that's cleared up.

I've got my sand sorted, and I've got some plants and bogwood in my tank as I'm now wondering if I've got enough filteration in the tank. As I said above it's a45 litre tank and I've got a Fluval 1, is this enough?

Thanks in advance.
Brian

I would up the filtration system if you can. Overloading with filter media is always more stable with smaller tanks or any tanks, come to think on it. Perhaps a Fluval 2 would be more appropriate.

An ADDITIONAL Fluval 1 or 2 would be much better than just one as you may clean only one per week and keep your tank much more stable with your weekly water changes as one filter would remain undisturbed each week through the stress of a water change

how many kuhli's are you going to be adding to the tank? you should also consider adding some small dithers...i've found that they worked wonders in bringing my kuhli's out from hiding....i had a dojo in with them for some time and he made them go crazy, although i beleive the tank is probably too small to keep a dojo....

Morning all,
I think the Fluval 2 is to long as the tank is only 12'' high so would maybe give me problems with the sand, but I could add another Fluval 1.
I don't know how much I'm going to keep in it. The tank is 15 US gallons, so at the moment I'm thinking about 6 to start with, but I'm sure there was a thread earlier on that suggested I could keep more.
I was thinking about putting something else in beside them but I'm not sure yet any suggestions would be welcome.

Yes, I believe you will have trouble with sand with a Fluval 2 because of the intake proximity. Definitely though I would increase the filtration.

Martin.

i use neon tetras as dithers for my kuhli's... i find they look really pretty in the small tank and add alot more action to the tank, since it looked pretty empty before i got them... lots of people use barbs as dithers though...never had them before, but they are pretty too...don't use danio's though...they nip too much and will keep your kuhli's hiding...you could even try adding one medium/small fish just make sure whatever you add isn't going to harass the kuhli's or you'll never see them

Thanks for the advice so far, but I got offered a 4 foot tank today, so it's back to the drawing board, just got the tank cycled too.