Rethinking 40g stocking

[FishyWarrior]

Does your lfs have the same species of kuhlis all the time? Loaches can be a bit seasonal in availability. The "usual" types are "black", "striped" (often p. kuhli) & Meyer's giant striped. It's not that they don't all get along ok but to see the really fun interactions of a group 6 or more of the same kind is what you want. I would strongly suggest getting 8 (or at least 6) all at once since they're more apt to be the same species, but that's not guaranteed either.

I had striped & black together at 1 time & the older striped (either semicincta or kuhli) all hung out in groups of 3 or 4 & the p. oblongas kept separate, mostly all together. I prefer the striped both for looks & "personality" but never kept Meyer's.

The black oblongas were always hyperactive & not at all people interactive but I only had them a year or 2. The striped were more mellow; in fact I could reach into their tank & the 2 that liked to hang in the plants near the surface wouldn't even move much. That scared me the first few times, lol. Stripes also waited for me & food by the door to their room & only "loachy danced" after water changes.

OK, I am a loach nut as you can tell, lol! Everyone here on AC knows that. If you need an excuse to get more, I'm here for you!!

& as another loach nutty idea...have you looked at sidthimunkis (dwarf chain loaches)? They would be my choice over a ram any day & I like cichlids too, just not a much. They have a completely different look & behavior than kuhlis...expensive but oh so cute....ok, I want more loaches now too!!

Yes, luckily my lfs does usually have a very large number of many types of kuhlis and loaches in general. I'm more drawn to the orange stripey ones myself. I ask that not because of their availability, but because price wise it's easier to break it up a bit over a few days rather than all at once. And also if something goes wrong, at least i only lost a few you know? (losing any number would still be heartbreaking though) But if they will do better all at once, i think i can manage that. I'll just add extra care when acclimating them and keep watch to make sure everything turns out ok.

I also totally understand the loach love, they are easily my favorites! They're all just long wiggly friends!

I almost feel bad though, with all the loaches they're gonna take over my gourami's hidey spots! He loves to hide in the caves i made most of all it seems, he's kind of claimed them as his by now, haha.

 

[fishorama]

I can tell a kindred loach nut, or soon to be 1, mwahaha! There's always your next tank!

Like I said, get 6+ that seem to be the same species. That's kinda the schooling/shoaling fish minimum. Save up your $$ & get 6 or 8 at 1 time, they will benefit from more stable tank conditions if you can wait.

I know it's very difficult to wait but you'll be a better loach keeper (all fish & plants keeper, too). & then there's the whole thing of reducing possible disease introduction every single time you add fish. 4 new fish then 2 weeks later adding 4 more doubles the risk to your entire population. That's not a sensible saving plan long term, meds &/or dead fish need to be weighed against "I want them now!". Think about it & learn from all of our "old timer" mistakes.

 

[dougall]

Also note that a lot of stores will give you a price break if you buy a number at once... not necessarily larger chains, but I'm not sure of any local pet stores that will not have reduced rates for buying a handful or more at once.

nd I have wanted silver kuhlies for a while... but have to have an empty tank to put them in... they never seem to remain empty around here for long.

 

[myswtsins]

7.4 and 7.8 would most likely be 2 different tests, pH and high pH. Are you certain they also tested on the high pH test kit? I don't know of a test kit where those colors would look anything alike for you to confuse them but i have not seen every test kit out there either.

Hope they are right of course cause 7.4 opens up lots of options but wanna make sure we get this straightened out too.

 

[FishyWarrior]

7.4 and 7.8 would most likely be 2 different tests, pH and high pH. Are you certain they also tested on the high pH test kit? I don't know of a test kit where those colors would look anything alike for you to confuse them but i have not seen every test kit out there either.

Hope they are right of course cause 7.4 opens up lots of options but wanna make sure we get this straightened out too.

I use the api master test kit, the high range ph one. The readings for 8 and 7.4 look very similar, but it doesn't help that its hard to tell exactly what color is in the test tube when you're comparing two already similar shades of brown. I also checked the regular ph test but it came up really blue every time, that's why i assumed it was higher and only stuck to the high range tests. But the lady at the pet store used both strips and the same test kit i have and said it was 7.4, and i used my own test strips too and got the same reading. So i am only mostly sure about what my ph is at this point.

I definitely want to get this straightened out too, it's causing so much headache. My current fish do seem to be perfectly fine though, and they're typically ones that are recommended for a bit of a lower ph (but can tolerate higher ph too).

 

[fishorama]

Do you have a family member, housemate or friend to see what they see? My husband sees color very differently than I do (but he's a chemist & always right, lol). Do both high & normal pH tests...it's likely somewhere in between.

I ALWAYS slow acclimate my fish over 2+ hours these days...although there are many who believe in "plop & drop", I'm not 1 of them.

 

[FishyWarrior]

Do you have a family member, housemate or friend to see what they see? My husband sees color very differently than I do (but he's a chemist & always right, lol). Do both high & normal pH tests...it's likely somewhere in between.

I ALWAYS slow acclimate my fish over 2+ hours these days...although there are many who believe in "plop & drop", I'm not 1 of them.

Oh yeah, i've had them look at them too, some days they say it looks like 7.4 and other days think 8. So still a mystery it seems.

 

[fishorama]

Still, even if it's kind of in between, say 7.6 or 7.7, it should be ok for most fish including "ordinary" kuhlis. There are a few unusual types you might not want to try but...even then I'd be tempted!

As OrionGirl said here or recently, often pH is most important for breeding (egg hardness & milt ability to penetrate them). But really, breeding kuhlis is rare; very cool, but not something you need to aspire to, to keep them happy. Now IF you did! we'd need a ton of pics & details! Including better pH #s, lol.

Were I you, I'd plan on 2 hours +/- acclimation, adding a bit of your tank water to their bag every 15-20 minutes or so. You can either dump all into a small bucket or other container or carefully dump out some bag water as it gets full. Try very hard to NOT add any store water to your tank. I usually dump the bag (or whatever) of fish into a biggish net, then add that to your tank. Gently, let the fish swim out if you can.

We'd still like pics when the loachy time comes...