Kuhli loach questions...

[RedForeman ©®]

1. how much do they add to the bioload of a tank?

2. snail eaters? not a snail problem, but if it were to become one, dont'
want to have to get another to fix it....

3. very demanding or not?

4. gregarious??? meaning it plays hard???

5. recommended tank size is unknown, what's the smallest you've put 1 or 2
in??

Just curious, set up a 10 for a friend and looking for tankmates...

[Kevin]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
> 1. how much do they add to the bioload of a tank?

About the same as a fish of the same length.

> 2. snail eaters? not a snail problem, but if it were to become one, dont'
> want to have to get another to fix it....

Mine never bothered snails (MTS)

> 3. very demanding or not?

Nope. They seem to spend much of their time under rocks, hanging like
snakes in the plants,
or just mucking about on the bottom.

> 4. gregarious??? meaning it plays hard???
Depends. In one tank, (10 g) the 3 I had tended to just play around as in 3
above. In
another (15gh), they tend to hide much of the time and only come out at
night or twilight.

> 5. recommended tank size is unknown, what's the smallest you've put 1 or 2
> in??

2 in a 5g with 1 male betta and 4 ghost shrimp. Tank was heavily planted
and filtered.

> Just curious, set up a 10 for a friend and looking for tankmates...
>
>

[NetMax]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
> 1. how much do they add to the bioload of a tank?

IMHO, very little. 'Fish-inches' does not apply. Bio-load is directly
related to the consumption of food and indirectly related to fish mass.
Kulhis don't eat a lot and they have very little mass (certainly relative
to their length). For every 2" of Kulhi, I would count an inch of fish
(it would be less, but they are still very active fish). From a
territorial viewpoint, their load is almost zero. They cram themselves
together into the smallest spots, and ignore the rest of the tank
inhabitants (unless they pick on the Kuhlis).

> 2. snail eaters? not a snail problem, but if it were to become one,
dont'
> want to have to get another to fix it....

I never noticed any of my Kuhlis to have any skills in controlling snail
populations. They might be able to eat snail eggs, but I wouldn't count
on them to even do that well.

> 3. very demanding or not?

Very undemanding. They tend to disappear for months, and then re-appear
to your surprise.

> 4. gregarious??? meaning it plays hard???

They are oblivious to matters of territorial disputes, and tend to ignore
the other inhabitants.

> 5. recommended tank size is unknown, what's the smallest you've put 1
or 2
> in??

10g heated, but very low (they like cooler waters).

> Just curious, set up a 10 for a friend and looking for tankmates...

They are a niche fish, very comical, not demanding, not a major presence.
I would not get less than 3. Three full grown Kuhlis would be about 5"
of fish load, but they are slow growers IME. They like to hide, so a
planted tank with lots of opportunities for shade is best. I've bred
Kuhlis, - try getting the fry out of gravel ;~)

hth
NetMax

[Haywire]

I've got 2 in my 20G, they are about 4" long had them over a year.

1. Filter size/feeding habits, #of plants etc.
2. Had a major snail problem, they don't do squat for snails
3. not demanding at all, I bought them because I was breeding Kribs in the
20G and I needed something that was nocturnal and would clean the food
scraps for me becuase the kribs were stressing out all cories I had in
the tank.
4. 5 in a crowded 10G when I was kid. I would get at least 3, but
remember they hide during the day time. Nobody will know they are
there but you and them.

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in
:

> 1. how much do they add to the bioload of a tank?
>
> 2. snail eaters? not a snail problem, but if it were to become one,
> dont' want to have to get another to fix it....
>
> 3. very demanding or not?
>
> 4. gregarious??? meaning it plays hard???
>
> 5. recommended tank size is unknown, what's the smallest you've put 1
> or 2 in??
>
> Just curious, set up a 10 for a friend and looking for tankmates...
>
>

[RedForeman ©®]

Great, I kinda knew some, but there isnt' alot about these guys besides on
loaches.com and then it was still limited.... talking to fishgirl at LFS,
she knew quite a bit, but was still unknown on the snail factor....

THis tank doesn't have snails, but it'd be nice to have a place to dump a
few when needed.. oh well.

They certainly are comical, we watched them for several minutes, and they
never stopped.... eventually they found a spot to hide under a log and under
a rock....