Zebra Loach (botia striata) tank mates...

[poeticpyro]

Could I put "zebra loaches" with kuhlis?

[shari]

By zebra loaches do you mean botia striata, or some other fish?

[Erik]

If you mean striatas, then yes. They tend to be very peacefull.
The "dream team" imo is clowns,striatas,histrionicas, yoyo's and kubotais.
All these botias will get along with no trouble together in the proper sized tank like a 75G.
Erik

[poeticpyro]

yeah, i meant striatas. i'm going to move my three clowns and three yo-yos from my 30 gallon tank to a new 90 gallon one. don't worry the clowns are only 2" one i think is like 2.5" maybe 3" and the yo-yos are smaller than that. i didn't have the money at the time when i bought them and didn't know that they would get... huge. so i am going to move them into a new tank in may/june. that should be ok right? and then i wanted to know about how many kuhlis i should get. i was thinking 3, i like odd numbers. any suggestions on anything would be amazing.

[Erik]

For kuhli's the one inch per gallon rule it is null since they are so skinny.
Easily 10-15 kuhli's in a 30G. Yoyo's tend to slow at 4 inches so even 3 in a 33 is ok.
Erik

[JonGuerriero]

I would be a little concerned about the Rainbow Shark, as he grows he will probably claim the entire bottom of the tank as his . They tend to get aggressive and territorial as the age. I had to move mine away from the clowns and in with the skunks.

Again, only my .02

[mikev]

i was thinking 3, i like odd numbers. any suggestions on anything would be amazing.

IMHO, more. Fewer than five is not nice to the khulis....and I mean five of one kind (not 2 black plus 3 striped). You will see more too, since in a large tank most khulis may be hiding and you want to see some.... And keep in mind that you can actually distringuish striped khulis.

For kuhli's the one inch per gallon rule it is null since they
are so skinny.
Easily 10-15 kuhli's in a 30G.

Since this came up (apologies for a possible hijack):

The question that bothers me is what is the rule for khulis.

I am actually thinking of a 30G khuli tank (with no other loaches). My guess was that 15 is ok for a normal 30G, but 30 Breeder would work better and handle about 20 with perhaps 5-6 small topfeeders (danios, if i can find the desired species). Does this make sense? (it is a huge violation of the inch/gallon rule).

[Erik]

Mikev The Inch/ gallon rule is very loose concept. A 10 ich oscar in a 10G tank would not be the same as 5 2inch kuhlies.
A slender bodied fish like kuhlies really have very little bioload impact.
I would ime estimate more 3 inch per gallon for kuhlis as they really don't eat enough to produce a sizable amount of waste products.

I would think a 30 G with at least 20 kuhlis and some endlers live bearers as dithers would be very peaceful. Remember to provide lots of substrate litter as they prefer to root around some what hidden.
Erik

[mikev]

Erik,

Thank you for the confirmation!

The idea is indeed a very peaceful tank next to my workplace where khulis don't hide and can be watched carefully.

I need to think this through a bit...this time I want to try to set it up right (as the ideal khuli environment) and I'm not sure what this means yet. One thing I'm almost certain about is that the dither fish must be around 1", anything larger seems to affect the khulis behavior.

[Mark in Vancouver]

"Easily 10-15 kuhli's in a 30G. Yoyo's tend to slow at 4 inches so even 3 in a 33 is ok."

I'm not in complete agreement with this, Erik, despite my kneeling respect for your experience. I'd want a very large aquarium with quite a big footprint for 10 - 15 kuhlis of any species. A 33 would be too small, IMO. I keep four P. myersi and four P. anguillaris in a 30g, with other loaches, and it seems entirely crowded. I would consider five or six of the P. myersi for a tank that size, but I would want to keep the substrate densely planted with grasses so they had some personal space. Sometimes they sleep in a heap, sometimes they swim in open water.

My yoyos slowed the way you describe, but at 4 - 5 inches in a 75g. I think the tank size may restrict their potential growth. I can't recall the volume of your big loach tank.

The health of Erik's tanks, BTW, is impeccable, and his filtration system is certainly superior to mine - sumps vs. HOBs & Powerfilters.

[Tery]

Not all kuhlies stay skinny and if you stay with the " rule you won't overstock. If you have yoyos in with them, you probably won't see your kuhlies much. My ideal kuhlie tank would be a heavily planted 20L with kuhlies and some kind of tetra or rasbora, maybe a couple of ottos.

[sophie]

Mikev The Inch/ gallon rule is very loose concept. A 10 ich oscar in a 10G tank would not be the same as 5 2inch kuhlies.
A slender bodied fish like kuhlies really have very little bioload impact.
I would ime estimate more 3 inch per gallon for kuhlis as they really don't eat enough to produce a sizable amount of waste products.

I would think a 30 G with at least 20 kuhlis and some endlers live bearers as dithers would be very peaceful. Remember to provide lots of substrate litter as they prefer to root around some what hidden.
Erik

don't endlers need completely different water? hard and basic rather than soft and acidic? a school of harlequins is nice, and they're from the same part of the world and like the same water ...

[poeticpyro]

thanks for all of the advice, but they (kuhlis) are not going into their new home until the 90 gallon is wide open to take in other fish. the yo-yos and clowns will be moving over to the larger tank while the two itty bitty zebras will be staying behind with the kuhlis (once i purchase them). i just needed to know if it was possible to keep them. they will have plenty of "dither" fish in there, i found a couple of giant barbs that i love and would like a tiny school. but... i do thank you for all of the information.

[poeticpyro]

thanks for all of the advice, but they (kuhlis) are not going into their new home until the 90 gallon is wide open to take in other fish. the yo-yos and clowns will be moving over to the larger tank while the two itty bitty zebras will be staying behind with the kuhlis (once i purchase them). i just needed to know if it was possible to keep them. they will have plenty of "dither" fish in there, i found a couple of giant barbs that i love and would like a tiny school. but... i do thank you for all of the information.

[Erik]

Mark ,Well I didn't mean Kuhli's and yoyo's in the same tank.Just kuhli's and some dithers like harlequins rasboras or something else not to big.
I was more referring the to bioload capacity in regards to the inch per gallon rule of the tank not so much the social requirements.
But still Maybe I'm wrong but with lots of leaf litter, mulm and rocks and hidey holes etc would that not be ok?
Regards
Erik

"Easily 10-15 kuhli's in a 30G. Yoyo's tend to slow at 4 inches so even 3 in a 33 is ok."

I'm not in complete agreement with this, Erik, despite my kneeling respect for your experience. I'd want a very large aquarium with quite a big footprint for 10 - 15 kuhlis of any species. A 33 would be too small, IMO. I keep four P. myersi and four P. anguillaris in a 30g, with other loaches, and it seems entirely crowded. I would consider five or six of the P. myersi for a tank that size, but I would want to keep the substrate densely planted with grasses so they had some personal space. Sometimes they sleep in a heap, sometimes they swim in open water.

My yoyos slowed the way you describe, but at 4 - 5 inches in a 75g. I think the tank size may restrict their potential growth. I can't recall the volume of your big loach tank.

The health of Erik's tanks, BTW, is impeccable, and his filtration system is certainly superior to mine - sumps vs. HOBs & Powerfilters.