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

[aquachromis]

I have room for one more tank with my current living situation, a one bedroom apartment, and these are my options:

30 gallon (36x12x16)
30 gallon breeder (36x18x12)
40 gallon (48x13x17)

So, if you had to set up a new tank for loaches. Which tank would you choose? And what would you stock it with?

I'm open to anything at this point. I just know that I want it to be a loach tank

[Mad Duff]

I would go for the 40 gallon and setup either a rivertank or mixed Pangio tank with some Harlequin Rasboras as dithers

[crazy loaches]

I was going to say the same, as I have a 40g long that I hope to setup a river tank eventually. But thats just becuase I want to do something different, its not for everyone.

[Mark in Vancouver]

It's a basic rule, I think. If you have the option of going bigger, do.

[Diana]

Most fish live in a horizontal world, (never mind 3 dimensional- Loaches especially are bottom oriented) so giving them the maximum floor space is always the best option.

[mikev]

If you have space for 40L, you probably have space for 55g. 55g, upon checking, is often cheaper.

[crazy loaches]

Well bottom area is greatest on the 30B but only by a very slight amount over the 40L, so I dont think that slight amount offsets the 33% greater water volume you get with the 40. Not sure how the prices compare with the 40 and 30 though. I got my 40L cheaper than a 55 at the time, but 55's are a lot more common, and the only difference is the 55 is a few inches taller.

[aquachromis]

I guess a 55 gallon is an option too. For some reason I got my brain fixated on something from 30 to 40 gallons and the 55 wasn't even on my mind. I'll check the prices on the 40 and 55 and go from there.

One reason I had the breeder size listed was for the floor area. I'm usually a fan of having more space front to back than the other tanks would provide, but if overall floor area is what I should be looking at, then like crazy loaches said, there's not a lot of difference between the 40L and the 30BR.

So, let's assume I'll get one of the 4' long tanks. Still a mixed Pangio tank? Any other ideas?

I may go the river tank route too. I'm undecided right now so I want to weigh all my options before committing. I posted last week about setting up a 20 gallon long river tank. This new 40/55 gallon may become the river tank now. I'm planning on buying a house in 6 months so no point moving more tanks than necessary!

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Given the chance I'd go for a big shoal of Botia sidthimunki with some matching dithers- there's lots of nice silver and black species of rasbora.

[aquachromis]

Would the 55 gallon tank be a good size for a couple groups of smaller Botia sp.? I see Frank has several species available and I love the darios. So, could I do two groups of 5 or 6 of the smaller Botia?

[crazy loaches]

Maybe a good size group of Sid's and Striata's?

[aquachromis]

Hopefully this will help narrow things down. I went by a couple of the fish stores I frequent after work yesterday to see what loaches they had available. Here's what I found:

Botia striata
Botia kubotai
Botia almorhae
Chromobotia macracanthus
Yasuhikotakia morleti

And two tanks of Pangio...striped and solid. I'm pretty sure the solids ones were oblonga. The tank of striped ones seemed to be at least 2 species. Maybe more. There were definitely some that looked like Pangio kuhlii and some that looked more like Pangio myersi since the stripes seemed to go all the way around. It was hard to get a good look at them though.

I already have some striata. And the clowns are out since it's only a 55gallon tank. I'm really interested in the kubotai. Will they mix with the almorhae or pangios?

[mikev]

Nice selection.

IME a Kub/Yoyo mix does not always work, my Alpha Kub was very aggressive to (larger!) yoyo's when they were in the same tank.

Any Botia will suppress kuhlis to some degree, Yoyo's are perhaps the worst among "peaceful" botias...not because they attack kuhlis, but instead they don't see kuhlis and simply get what they want, or go wherever they want,..and 3"-4" rampaging pigs make kuhlis very nervous. This will be less of a problem with P.Oblonga, who are naturally more outgoing. Kubs+Kuhlis works much better, especially Kubs+Oblonga. Kubs are also fine in combination with non-aggressive schisturas or Zipper loaches, and many keep them with Striata's.

Incidentally, just a Kub tank can be quite interesting too.

I'd probably pass on B.Almorhae in your place...

hth

[aquachromis]

Thanks Mike! Good to know.

I really like the kubotai and the kuhlis so I think I may finally have my combination. So now the question is, how many of each should I plan on stocking? I suppose there's more than one way to go with this? Let's assume I also have a small school of dither fish too.

Thanks

[mikev]

Now, this one is a difficult question.

See what you can come up with by going with the inch/gallon. I'd estimate the Kubs at 3" even if they are smaller now and the Kuhlis at 1" since they contribute very little to the bioload (but you don't want to pack too many, perhaps 8 or 10). The dither should be measured honestly.

8 Kubs + 8 Kuhlis adds up to 32"=32g, with some of the rest for dither, this may be the way to start, preserving some space for an unusual nice Kuhli or Kub you will see eventually.

What are the dither ideas?