Room for botia Kubotai?

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karl71
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Room for botia Kubotai?

Post by karl71 » Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:47 pm

I have 5 botia striata in a juwel Rio 125 litre tank along with 6 ruby barbs. I really would like to add some Botia Kubotai as I seen some at the lfs and they look really nice and active. Would I have enough room for 3 along with my other fish. Would they get along with the botia striata?

Diana
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Post by Diana » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:28 pm

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-kubotai

Not too bad a choice as juveniles, but they will outgrow this tank. I would not add them, unless it is your goal to get a larger tank soon. They are pretty friendly with other species. A good community fish.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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Bully
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Post by Bully » Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:11 pm

I'm in agreement with Diana, and would go so far as to say, get the bigger tank first as it's the only way to ensure you will upgrade.

If stocking capacity & parameters allow, I would increase the number of B. striata instead.

karl71
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Post by karl71 » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:15 pm

I did read on the internet that 3 for a 125 litre tank would be fine, think it was Bradman's web page? and animal planet?

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Bully
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Post by Bully » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:55 pm

Three of what? If three Kubotai, then I think you've already been given your answer. Three is less than an ideal amount for a Botia species anyway.

karl71
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Post by karl71 » Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:25 pm

3 botia Kubotai, Its on this website that [should be the minimum,"Care: Polka-dot Loaches are relatively undemanding fish and once acclimatized can thrive in a wide range of water parameters, although softer and more acidic water is generally preferred. A very social fish, it is best to keep them in groups of three or more. Numerous shelters should be provided which gives them greater security and generally makes them bolder. Like most bottom-dwellers the substrate should consist of a fine-grained or round-edged gravel"

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Bully
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Post by Bully » Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:20 pm

Then you've already been given your answer, your tank is too small for the medium to long-term care of the fish.

Diana
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Post by Diana » Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:55 pm

Your quote about water parameters is from our species index. But the tank size is not.

125 liters is not too far off 30 gallons.(33 American Gallons, 26.4 Imperial gallons) Here (USA) a standard 29 gallon tank (American gallons) is only 30" long. This is nowhere near long enough or enough water for fish that reach 5", especially in a large enough group to have a good social structure.
I had several in a 45 gallon (4' long, roughly 170 liters, 1.2 meters long) and they were plenty active. I sure cannot see sticking them in a smaller tank when they are near adult size.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

karl71
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:26 pm
Location: Dundee

Post by karl71 » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:24 am

I have 5 botia striata in there right now. Can I add a couple more you think?

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Doc
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Post by Doc » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:57 am

I'm definitely in agreement with Diana and Bully. B.kubotai would very soon outgrow the tank you currently have and ideally a tank at least twice the size would be ideal for a group of these. They would get along fairly well with the Zebra Loach in a tank of say 50-60 uk gallons and ideally long and wide rather than deep.

If the other fish are, as you say, only the shoal of barbs then you could be ok to add a few more Botia striata to your existing 5. Obviously as you add more stock then you may need to increase the work the tank needs on a regular basis. My recommendation would be to add extra flow via a small powerhead or circulation pump or preferably an extra filter, perhaps a large external of say 600-700lph upwards.
So many species of fish yet so little time, space and money to keep them all...

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