I'm doing pretty much a complete restock and I have my eye on these cool little guys. Would a 15g planted be too small for a group of them though?
15g too small for some kuhlis?
- Thread starter DGalt
- Start date
i read everything i could get my hands on about kuhlis for the past 2 or 3 months before i finally got some...20g is recommended but 15g should not be a problem. Is this a kuhli only tank? reason i ask is you may not see much of them 
a 15 gallon would be fine. I kept three of them in a five for a couple of years before I could get a larger tank and up their population. I now have nine in a 20 gallon extra high, which is actually kinda bad for them since the extra highs have a very small footprint. The planting will help though, they love to climb plants/driftwood.
I'd probably put in some surface dwellers as well (which I know will violate the all-mighty fish length / gallon rule), but I haven't decided that yet. Every time I see these guys though I think I want to get some.
And that's what I was thinking. I read several places saying 20g is minimum, but the only difference between 20 and 15 is the height of the tank, which really shouldn't affect the loaches. Since I haven't had water quality issues since the tank cycled and I do large water changes every week (due to EI fert dosing), I'm not particularly worried about excess bioload or anything like that (I over filter the tank too).
Now the hard part is finding the little guys. My LFS store had them back in august but none since.
And that's what I was thinking. I read several places saying 20g is minimum, but the only difference between 20 and 15 is the height of the tank, which really shouldn't affect the loaches. Since I haven't had water quality issues since the tank cycled and I do large water changes every week (due to EI fert dosing), I'm not particularly worried about excess bioload or anything like that (I over filter the tank too).
Now the hard part is finding the little guys. My LFS store had them back in august but none since.
Where in CT are you? I'm in MA now but am from CT, and I actually got my kuhlis in CT. I can't remember the name of the store- it's over by the Buckland Hills mall in Manchester. I <3 my kuhlis.
And I think 15 gallons would probably be fine.
Pff. The fish inch per gallon rule is bunk. Footprint is MUCH more important, as well as bioload.Kuhlis will be fine in there. I would get a group of at least 6. This website is very helpful for calculating stock, although it should not be used as a sole resource.
Where in CT are you? I'm in MA now but am from CT, and I actually got my kuhlis in CT. I can't remember the name of the store- it's over by the Buckland Hills mall in Manchester. I <3 my kuhlis.
I'm actually at UConn (which is in Storrs, which is exit 68 on I84. Manchester is exit 62). I usually got to a fish store in Vernon called Wet Pets because I've never had any health issues from them (unlike animal city, also in vernon). There is a petco near buckland hills mall. Did you go there? I'm not sure what other pet stores are over that way.
Ha, Wet Pets is the one I meant! I didn't realize it was over the line into Vernon. My dad gets all his fish and plants there. Animal City would scare me too- they always seem to have an awful lotta dead fish in their tank, way more than normal.
I've been to Petco but never got fish there (used to take my ferrets to their ferret play group lol). I'm pretty positive they wouldn't have kuhlis anyway.
What about Exotic Fin and Feather over in E Hartford? I haven't been there in years. My dad used to get all his salt water fish there, and I think we got some freshwater, too.
Or you could drive up to Framingham, MA.
I just bought a few more kuhlis from Tropic Isle. Great price too!ETA: FWIW, I couldn't find kuhlis for months. Then one day, every store had them again! Strange.
Yeah the people at Wet Pets are great. Animal city's conditions are "meh" at best, and downright bad sometimes. I've never bought fish from petco either but couldn't think of anything else that might be near buckland mall. I'll call around I guess, won't be getting them until after the holidays.