Feeding Kuhli Loaches

[J@son]

I have a 300L aquarium with :
7 Penguin tetra
4 swordtails
1 feather fin catfish
1 fire mouth cichlid
2 pearl gourami
1 red striped earth eater cichlid
1 Chinese algae eater

I'm wondering if Kuhli loachs be able to go in this tank?
As the food never last long, and worried that they wont eat? I'm not sure if to feed them at night as the catfish is also nocturnal?
thx

 

[Ruskull]

I always feed my Kuhlis bottom feeder pellets which are brine shimp. Try to get the sinking kind & drop near where they hide/hang out. Most of the other fish tend to like their food free floating or from the top. This let's the Kuhlis have first dibs on the pellets that make it to the bottom.

In before Crossfire, the Kuhli Loach obsessed poster.............she would know better than me!

 

[phoenixgsd]

personally i wouldnt, you have several fish that can become quite temperamental

 

[J@son]

My catfish is super greedy and anything he see is gone , so sink pellets won't last long

 

[Ruskull]

Hey, I just noticed you have a Firemouth with Pearl Gouramis! I think it's fair to say that isn't a good mix as Pearl Gouramis should'nt be kept with Cichlids. Pearl Gouramis do best when they are the dominant fish in the tank. Chinese Algae Eaters are also known to become very aggressive as they get older.

 

[J@son]

My cichlid are still babies and the pearl gourami's swim like they own the place

 

[Ruskull]

That can change quickly when the cichlids mature. I'd suggest a backup plan which may include another tank.

 

[Flute]

I wouldn't say having gourami's with cichlids can never work- I have a pearl gourami with angels, keyholes and krobia xingu, and they get along fine. They've been together for a long time now. Her and my male keyhole will occasionally have a wee argument, but never do any damage. Thankfully the tank in general is very harmonious. So I wouldn't rule it out completely. Just my two cents

That being said, I have no idea what the temperament of the firemouth and the earth eater are like.

 

[Ruskull]

Not that I have personal experience keeping them together mind you, but Angels & Keyhole Cichlids aren't quite the same as Firemouths, Green Terrors, Jack Dempseys, Convicts, Oscars & other larger Cichlids. I don't know anything about the Red Stripe Cichlid in his list. My brother had a few large tanks with all these larger fish & he tried a failed to keep the much more aggressive male Blue Gouramis with them. It didn't work in any of his tanks. Pearls are quite a bit less aggressive by nature than the Three Spot Gouramis so I'd think they'd eventually be picked on by the Cichlids as they mature.

Great Betta art in your signature BTW, fish make great subjects for artwork.

 

[Crossfire]

I'm losing the touch you guys....



Other than the previously mentioned stocking issues, the firemouths and eartheaters will slurp your kuhlis up like halloween colored spaghetti....

For futur reference, the best way to feed seclusive kuhlis is to distract the other fish with food, and then put food either in or near their favorite hiding spot and they'll get their share.

 

[Flute]

Ruskull- that's very true! I think it works because my lot are dwarf/medium cichlids, and as such as much more laid back than their giant relatives. I have no idea what kind of temperament a single firemouth would be like. I suppose if the OP re-arranges the tank often to break and re-establish territorial boundaries, it may work. You never know! And thanks very much They do indeed make great subjects to paint!

Hehe, well pointed out Crossfire! Kuhli are very placid too, aren't they? So they probably wouldn't do very well with more robust and aggressive fish, even if they wouldn't be eaten by them.

 

[J@son]

firemouth and earth eater, they suppose to be the less aggressive south american cichlids

 

[Flute]

Fish have their own individual personalities too though, so just because it wont work for one person doesn't mean it might not work for the next. Just keep an eye on any aggression from the cichlids, and if things start to get too hectic then remove them from the tank, re-arrange everything and then add them back, adding the one that causes to most problems last. Doing that every month or so might be enough to keep them behaving themselves. No need to panic about re-homing yet