Loaches compatible with kuhlis

[bevans]

As I mentioned over on the freshwater forum, I'm getting another 55 gal. tank next week. My intention is to move all the livebearers over there. I've also got a 29 gal. for the wretched red-tailed shark, who is going to take up solitary residence in my son's room.

This means the 55 gal. with the driftwood and the small power head will be empty except for the five kuhlis and a couple of cory cats. I'm thinking I'll go ahead and probaby up the size of the cory group to 4-5, so they'll be happy. But I figure even if I do this, I'll still have a little room for some other kind of loach. I might get a few more kuhlis if nothing else.

Clowns are out of the question-I know my limitations and a 55 gal. is as much as I want to handle. I don't think the waterflow in the tank is good enough to classify it as a river tank. So is there some smaller loach you all would recommend? Preferably something that's a little more social than my kuhlis, that I can actually watch? And if so, how many of them should I get?

[shari2]

Botia striata are lovely fish and get to about 4" as adults. A group of 5-7 would be fun in a 55. They aren't always available, but if you call about and ask you may find some. Worth a try.

[bevans]

I've actually seen them in one of the local chain stores recently, and my local feed store also does fish and would order them for me if she can get them. I quite like them, and so does my son, but I'm worried about the sand thing in the profile. The tank currently has grade 1 pool filter gravel in it-pretty small grains, it's the second finest they had. Would I have to replace that with play sand or something?

[shari2]

If it's small enough for kuhli's to burrow in it should be fine.

[bevans]

shari wrote:

If it's small enough for kuhli's to burrow in it should be fine.

They don't bury themselves in it, but they did move a bunch of it out from under a rock to make their lair bigger. Does that count?

[shari2]

can you try to take pic of a bit of it on a plate next to say, a penny or something? It's hard to envision the size from just your description.

[bevans]

Working on it-finally found the camera the other day and took some pictures of my fish. But getting them onto the computer is taking a bit of thought-my husband never did that, and can't advise me. We've got the cable and stuff we need though. I also have a new computer and am not familiar with it.

What about sids? I like them too-looking through the profiles, they really appealed to me.

[mamaschild]

In my 55g "peaceful" tank, I have Kuhlis with Sids and Horsefaces along with a few schools of Tetras. I LOVE watching since the interaction is fabulous, and no matter where you look, something is going on